Chiben Wakayama's second summit in five years led by coach Hitoshi Nakatani

It has been five years since he won the national championship in 2021, which was his third year in office, and he has reached the top for the second time. Hitoshi Nakatani (47), the coach of Chiben Wakayama, said with a smile, ``I'm overwhelmed with emotion. We were caught in good waves and good winds throughout the tournament.''

During his high school days, he was the captain and catcher for Chiben Wakayama, which won the championship in the summer of 1997. He joined Hanshin as the No. 1 draft pick and later transferred to Rakuten, where he learned the importance of preparation under coach Katsuya Nomura. On the other hand, he is reluctant to talk about himself, saying, ``High school baseball should put the spotlight on high school students.'' "I don't want to be called a great general. I don't want to be called a great general, so I think of myself as a support player."

The tradition of being a strong team built by former coach Hitoshi Takashima sometimes weighs heavily on their backs. He was expected to perform well at Koshien, where he competed almost every year, and he came to the conclusion that ``It's hard for us adults, too, but it's different to put that burden on children.''

In practice just before this tournament, I saw the main players with hard faces repeatedly making common mistakes, and I thought to myself, ``If I carry the tradition of being a strong team, my atmosphere will definitely be transmitted to the players.These kids are easy to sense.Maybe I need to change my atmosphere.'' As he watched his team effortlessly advance to victory, he laughed and said, ``It was my fault after all.''

The slogan we created last fall was ``Japan's Best Communication Team.'' That idea took shape on the big stage this summer.