Day 11 Wrap Up and Quarterfinal Preview
Holeeee shiiiiiit. 4 one run games. Crazy. I don't know how the quarterfinal day can top this but you never know.
Day 11 Wrap
Game 1 Takasaki Kenko Fukushi Daigaku Takasaki 3 - 4 Akita Shogyo. Kendai Takisaki got the "easy" draw in third round with Akita Shogyo and sent out their second pitcher to save the ace as much as possible. As it would turn out, this was a costly decision. Meanwhile AkitaSho ace Narita threw 149 pitches on Day 5 with 16 strikeouts. AkitaSho played a gutty game, giving up hits but never breaking - and more importantly staking out a 3-1 lead into the late innings. Kendai Takisaki put their ace in during the 5th and AkitaSho could not hit him. At all. Then Kendai Takisaki tied it up on a terrible defensive inning for AkitaSho and I really thought it was over - no way they could last in extra innings. But yes! AkitaSho got the go ahead run in the 10th and Narita closed it out! The underdogs from Akita go to the quarterfinals. Trying to save your ace at this point makes sense but if you don't make it, it was a waste.
Game 2 Kanto Daiichi 1-0 Chukyo Daigaku Fuzoku Chukyo. This game comes down to this play:
Bases loaded in the first. Deep hit to left center. Kanto Daiichi center fielder Okoe Rui makes a spectacular catch to get the third out and keep it scoreless - if that had gotten by him, 3 runs score easy and as we later saw, that would have been ballgame. This was an amazing pitching game. Kanto Daiichi had big questions at pitcher yet managed, though good situational pitching and amazing defense, to shut down Chukyodai Chukyo. Meanwhile Chukyodai ace Ueno pitched his heart out - a no hitter through 5 and kept it scoreless through 9. But in the 9th Nagashima walked it off with a sayonara home run and Kanto Daiichi advances!
Game 3 Sendai Ikuei 4-3 Hanamaki Higashi. This game had top billing and after an iffy start, lived up to it. Both teams elected to rest their aces, and both had to pull the ace in early. Sendai Ikuei took a 3-1 lead before Hanamaki Higashi sent their ace in; and it took a HR followed by tying runners on before Sendai Ikuei followed suit, sending Sato Sena in the fifth. Sato would pitch the next 4 and a half innings with only 44 pitches, and only gave up a run due to a bad throwing error. Hanamaki Higashi's running game - which has been exciting all tournament - let them down in this game. A failed double steal cost them an opportunity early, and they ran themselves out of a chance to win in the 9th with the tying runner caught stealing with one out. Sendai Ikuei moves on and Sato should be in good shape for today's game.
Game 4 Konan 4-3 Toba. Props to Toba. Forget keeping it close, they had a 3-1 lead after 5! But Konan clawed back with late runs in the 7th and 8th to advance to quarterfinals (I didn't watch this one and haven't seen Konan play yet in the tournament).
Quarterfinal Preview
So here we are at quarterfinals. 8 teams left. 4 teams from Kanto region (both Tokyo champs included), 2 from Tohoku - who sadly play each other, 1 from Kyuushu, and 1 from Okinawa. After today there's an off day, with semifinals starting on the day after tomorrow.
Game 1 8:00 早実 Waseda Jitsugyo - 九州国際大付 Kyushu Kokusai Daigaku Fuzuoku. Do I need to say much about this game? It all comes down to how Waseda Jitsugyo manages pitchers and whether Kyushu Kokusai Daigaku Fuzuoku can keep the Kiyomiya/Kato duo in check.
Game 2 10:30 花咲徳栄 Hanasaki Tokuharu - 東海大相模 Tokai Daigaku Fuzoku Sagami. Tokaidai Sagami is the favorite here; will be interesting to see how they manage pitchers. Ogasawara threw 114 two days ago and has an off day next, so I won't be surprised to see him start, but if they get a good lead, switch him out to left.
Game 3 13:00 秋田商 Akita Shogyo - 仙台育英 Sendai Ikuei. AkitaSho up against it again. Unless they are hiding something, they have no choice but to go with Narita on no rest after throwing over 150 pitches. I can't see how this will work out for them, but boy am I rooting for them.
Game 4 15:30 興南 Konan - 関東第一 Kanto Daiichi. I am a fan of Okoe Rui and the Kanto Daiichi team now. Keys to the game for them are the same as they were yesterday.