High School Baseball
70th Spring Invitational Tournament, 1998
At Hanshin Koshien Kyujo, Nishinomiya City, Hyogo Prefecture
Games of March 25:
Game 2 was a big mismatch between Sendai Ikuei, a high school powerhouse and tiny Nippon Koku High School, making its first appearance. Down by a run in the first inning Nikko opened with a single, stole second, advanced the runner to third on a sacrifice and brought him in on a squeeze to tie the game. Down by two in the sixth, Nikko's first two batters walked. With runners on first and second the number-two hitter squared away to bunt, Sendai's infield charged, the batter pulled back and slapped it past the first baseman and down the right field line for a double, putting runners on second and third with none out. Nikko's clean-up hitter then squeezed in the tieing run that went for an infield single. With the go-ahead run on third, Nikko squeezed again, but Sendai pitched out and nailed the runner at the plate. The trailing runner advanced to third however and on the next pitch he was squeezed home with the go-ahead run.
0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 5 0 Shonan - Kagoshima (6)
1 0 0 1 0 2 1 0 x 5 11 0 PL Gakuen - Osaka (17)
1 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 3 9 0 Sendai Ikue - Miyagi (7)
1 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 x 4 3 0 Nihon Koku - Yamanashi (1)
0 0 0 2 0 1 1 0 1 5 9 2 Toyoda Nishi - Aichi (1)
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 1 Niihatsuda - Niigata (1)
Games of March 26:
0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 3 3 Okinawa Suisan - Okinawa (3)
0 0 1 0 1 2 0 0 x 4 6 0 Urawa Gakuin - Saitama (3)
Round 2 Games...
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 3 Kyoto Nishi - Kyoto (5)
0 0 0 0 2 0 0 4 x 6 9 0 Meitoku Gijuku - Kochi (7)
0 3 1 1 4 0 0 0 0 9 21 1 Joso Gakuin - Ibaraki (4)
0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 2 5 4 Iwakui - Yamaguchi (4)
4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 12 1 Tsuruga Kihi- Fukui (1)
1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 8 0 Shimada Shogyo - Shizuoka (8)
Games of March 27:
All games rained out...
Games of March 28:
Game 1 featured one of the premier pitchers in the tourney, Daisuke Matsuzaka of Yokohama High School. Some of Matsuzaka's fastball were recorded at 150 kph (93.75 mph), but Matsuzaka used mostly curves to baffle the Hotoku batters until Yokohama took a lead, then he turned on the heat.
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 6 1 Hotoku Gakuen - Hyogo (13)
0 0 0 1 1 0 4 0 x 6 8 1 Yokohama - Kanagawa (8)
1 1 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 5 8 0 Higashi Fukuoka - Fukuoka (1)
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 1 Izumo Hokuryo - Shimane (1)
0 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 3 10 0 Koriyama - Nara (6)
1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 5 0 Kitateru - Hokkaido (6)
Games of March 29:
0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 6 2 Kansei Gakuin - Hyogo (6)
0 0 0 0 0 3 1 0 x 4 7 0 Takanabe - Miyazaki (4)
0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 2 9 1 Kokushikan - Tokyo (5)
2 0 0 0 0 1 6 0 x 9 13 1 Hiroshima Shogyo - Hiroshima (20)
0 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 3 7 5 Omi - Shiga (1)
2 1 0 0 0 2 0 1 x 6 8 2 NichiDai Fujisawa - Kanagawa (2)
Games of March 30:
The first sunday of the tournament saw a few records set or tied:
1) TIED--most doubles in an inning by one team, 4, (Imabari Nishi, 2nd inning).
2) SET--most doubles in a game by one team, 8, (Imabari Nishi, 2nd inning).
3) TIED--one run scored by all starting players on a team (Okayama Ridaifu).
4) SET--10 runs or more scored in each game (excluding final games).
The 51 runs scored in three games was the most in any day of the tournament with three games played since the third day of the first tournament in1924, when 53 were scored.
4 2 2 0 2 2 0 0 2 14 15 1 Kansei Dai Ichi - Osaka (2)
0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 4 3 Suzuka - Mie (1)
0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 6 2 Tochiku - Fukuoka (2)
0 8 2 1 0 1 2 0 x 14 16 1 Imabari Nishi - Aichi (6)
0 2 7 1 0 3 4 0 1 18 18 3 Okayama Ridaifu - Okayama (4)
0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 8 1 Kyoto Seisho - Kyoto (1)
Games of March 31:
Tiny Nihon Koku High School was knocked out of the tournament, losing in its second-straight game against a national powerhouse. Nikko played super defense but eventually their pitchers couldn't keep the Tokushima Shogyo hitters from hitting line drives that eluded the Nikko fielders.
1 2 1 2 0 0 1 1 1 9 15 0 PL Gakuen - Osaka (17)
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 3 Soka - Tokyo (2)
1 0 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 4 6 1 Nihon Koku - Yamanashi (1)
0 2 1 0 0 3 1 1 x 8 14 1 Tokushima Shogyo - Tokushima (18)
0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 2 7 0 Kosei Gakuin - Aomori (2)
0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 x 3 7 1 Toyoda Nishi - Aichi (1)
Games of April 1:
All games rained out...
Games of April 2:
0 0 0 3 0 3 0 1 0 7 10 2 Urawa Gakuin - Saitama (3)
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 3 2 Tomakomai - Hokkaido (4)
0 0 0 0 2 0 1 2 0 5 7 2 Meitoku Gijuku - Kochi (7)
2 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 2 2 Joso Gakuin - Ibaraki (4)
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 8 0 PL Gakuen - Osaka (17)
1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 x 3 6 0 Tsuruga Kihi- Fukui (1)
Games of April 3:
Yokohama's ace Daisuke Matsuzaka struck out 13 Higashi Fukuoka batters, propelling his team into a best eight confrontation with Koriyama High School of Nara. Koriyama will try to reverse Kanagawa prefecture's dominance of Nara prefecture's representatives atspring and summer tournaments at Koshien. Teams from the two prefectures have met eight times in the past and Nara has yet to win.
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 Higashi Fukuoka - Fukuoka (1)
0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 x 3 9 1 Yokohama - Kanagawa (8)
0 0 0 2 1 2 0 2 0 7 13 3 Koriyama - Nara (6)
0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 3 11 3 Tokushima Shogyo - Tokushima (18)
0 1 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 4 7 2 Takanabe - Miyazaki (4)
1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 4 1 Hiroshima Shogyo - Hiroshima (20)
Games of April 4:
1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 4 7 2 NichiDai Fujisawa - Kanagawa (2)
1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 1 1 Toyoda Nishi - Aichi (1)
0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 4 12 1 Okayama Ridaifu - Okayama (4)
1 4 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 6 6 1 Urawa Gakuin - Saitama (3)
1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 0 Imabari Nishi - Aichi (6)
0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 6 1 Kansei Dai Ichi - Osaka (2)
Games of April 5:
Three of the four quarter-final games were gems. Game 1 went to extra innings befor PL Gakuen kept alive the dream that their legendery manager, Nakamura--for whom this may be his last appearance at Koshien--will go out a winner.
Game 2 featured Nara prefecture's team, Koriyama get thrashed for the ninth time in Koshien history by a team from Kanagawa.
Game 3 also went to extra innings until Kanagawa's other team, NichiDai Fujisawa, won on a "sayonara homer" in the bottom of the 10th.
The victory of Kansei Dai Ichi high school in Game 4 means that the semi-finals will feature two teams from Kanagawa against two teams from Osaka..
0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 6 0 Meitoku Gijuku - Kochi (7)
0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 1x 3 6 1 PL Gakuen - Osaka (17)
0 1 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 4 14 1 Yokohama - Kanagawa (8)
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 2 Koriyama - Nara (6)
0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 3 11 0 Takanabe - Miyazaki (4)
0 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 1x 4 6 0 NichiDai Fujisawa - Kanagawa (2)
0 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 3 12 0 Kansei Dai Ichi - Osaka (2)
0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 11 4 Urawa Gakuin - Saitama (3)
Games of April 6:
All games rained out...
Games of April 7:
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0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 x - x (x)
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