108th National High School Baseball Championship, 3rd Round: Yokohama vs. Kasumigaura

(16th, 108th National High School Baseball Championship, 3rd Round: Yokohama 5-2 Kasumigaura) Trailing by a run, Yokohama turned the game around in the bottom of the 6th with two outs and bases loaded thanks to a 2-run pinch-hit single by No. 9 batter Taisuke Chishima. No. 1 batter Shunyuke Ono followed with a 2-run double. Oda, who took the mound starting in the 6th, protected the lead by pitching 4 hitless innings with 7 strikeouts. Kasumigaura repeatedly weathered crises with solid defense, but their offense went silent from the 6th inning onward.

[Tournament Records] ▽ Errorless game = Yokohama vs. Kasumigaura. 6th time in this tournament.

Kasumigaura Captain Murakami Shows Spirit in Offense and Defense Leading Kasumigaura as they desperately clung to Yokohama was captain Hijiri Murakami (3rd year). He demonstrated his fighting spirit for this game through both his batting and fielding. First, playing third base in the top of the 4th with one out and a runner on second, he caught a foul ball at the very tip of his glove. Even as he tumbled into the camera well, he held onto the ball, thrilling the stands. In the bottom of the 5th, he hit an RBI single that temporarily gave his team the lead. During the Ibaraki tournament, he fell into a slump with just 4 hits across 6 games, vowing, "Everyone carried me. At Koshien, I want to lead the team myself." In this tournament, he tallied 7 hits across 3 games. Though they missed out on the quarterfinals, he declared, "I have no regrets." "We tested our skills against the nation's top level and gave it everything we had on this stage. It was a lot of fun."

Kasumigaura Infielder Yuta Nishino As the cleanup hitter, he recorded 2 hits. "It was truly fun. Koshien is a dream-like place where the atmosphere can change with a single pitch."