In the top of the 4th, PL Gakuen finally got on the board with a run. But they may have been able to score more had Nakai (中井都雄) not been so aggressive on the base paths and gotten thrown out at home for the second out of the inning. It was a pretty close play, so perhaps it was a fair risk.

After Yamada (山田智弘) led off the bottom of the 4th with a double, a throwing error by the first baseman on a sac bunt allowed him to score, giving Ken Gifu Sho a 4-1 lead.

Murata's (村田穏行) double in the 5th with a runner on first pulled PL Gakuen to within 2 of Gifu. But a home run by Yamada (山田智弘) in the 5th pushed PL Gakuen away once again.

The two sides exchanged singles runs again in the 7th: Yoshikawa (吉川大幾) hit a home run for PL Gakuen and Ikai (井貝星良) drove in a run with a double for Gifu.

After Yoshikawa's home run in the 7th, Yamada (山田智弘) retired the next 9 batters in a row to give Gifu a 6-3 win over PL Gakuen.

Ken Gifu Sho makes it into the Best 8 for the first time in 31 years.

Key Offensive Players
PL Gakuen: Yoshikawa (吉川大幾) 1-for-4, HR, R, RBI; Murata (村田穏行) 2-for-4, 2B, R, RBI; Nanba (難波清秀) 1-for-2, RBI

Ken Gifu Sho: Matsuda (松田智宏) 2-for-4, R; Ikai (井貝星良) 1-for-3, BB, 2B, R, RBI; Yamada (山田智弘) 2-for-4, 2B, HR, R, 3 RBI

PL Gakuen

Ken Gifu Sho

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Nihon Bunri collected 20 hits and scored 12 runs. And while Ito gave up 5 runs, he still picked up a complete game victory.

Nihon Koku Ishikawa did make things a bit interesting in the top of the 9th when they managed to collect three straight hits after a double and a ground out to score three runs. But Ito (伊藤直輝) ended the game by getting pinch-hitter Ebisu (胡寛志) to ground into a double play.

Nihon Bunri makes it into the Best 8 for the first time in 25 years.

Key Offensive Players
Nihon Koku Ishikawa: Fukui (福井航輝) 2-for-4, 2B, R; Kitadera (北寺宏規) 2-for-4, 3B, 2 R; Izumi (泉隆史) 2-for-4, R, 2 RBI

Nihon Bunri: Kitte (切手孝太) 3-for-5, 2 R; Takahashi (高橋隼之介) 1-for-3, 3B, R, 3 RBI; Takeishi (武石光司) 2-for-5, 2B, 2 R, RBI; Yoshida (吉田雅俊) 2-for-5, 2 2B, 2 R, 2 RBI; Takahashi (高橋義人) 4-for-5, 3B, 2 R; Ito (伊藤直輝) 3-for-4, HR, R, 6 RBI; Nakamura (中村大地) 2-for-3, 2 2B, 2 R

Nihon Koku Ishikawa

Nihon Bunri

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5 hit batsmen, 2 of which came around to score in the 6th and 8th innings, and timely hitting by Sakida (崎田聖羅) allowed Rissho to get back into the game after trailing for most of it.

In the top of the 9th, Rissho finally broke through for a lead. With 2 outs in the books, Hayashida (林田真央) drove a ball to deep right-center that split the outfielders. He was running hard right out of the box and slid safely into third. Ono's (小野友輔) double over the center fielder's head scored the go-ahead run and Goto's (後藤静磨) double down the first base line gave Rissho an insurance.

Sakida hit a batter with 1 out in the bottom of the 9th, but retired the next two batters to give his team a 4-2 victory over Tono-dai Ni.

Key Offensive Players
Rissho-dai Shonan: Hayashida (林田真央) 1-for-3, 2 HBP, 3B, 2 R; Ono (小野友輔) 1-for-3, HBP, BB, 2B, 2 R, RBI; Goto (後藤静磨) 2-for-4, BB, 2 2B, RBI; Sakida (崎田聖羅) 1-for-4, 2 RBI

Tono-dai Ni:Machida (町田卓也) 3-for-4; Numazawa (沼沢茂) 2-for-3, RBI; Tsuruta (鶴田龍斗) 2-for-4

Rissho-dai Shonan

Tono-dai Ni

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After Kobayashi's (小林知弘) solo homer put Kyushu up 3-1 in the top of the 7th, it appeared as though all the momentum had shifted away from Teikyo. But in the bottom of the 8th, with runners on first and third and 1 out, Nodomi (納富秀平) threw a wild pitch that allowed a run to score. After walking Hirahara (平原庸多) to put runners on first and second, Nodomi (納富秀平) threw a wild pick-off throw to second that allowed the runners to move up a base. A failed squeeze attempt followed by a bad snap throw to third by the catcher allowed the runner at third to score and tie the game at 3.

In the bottom of the 9th, with the score still tied at 3, Teikyo managed to load the bases on a walk, a sac bunt, a single, and another walk. That set the stage for Kaneko's (金子竜也) walk-off single to right that gave Teikyo a 4-3 victory over Kyushu.

Key Offensive Players
Kyushu Kokusai-dai Fu: Kobayashi (小林知弘) 2-for-3, HR, R, RBI; Kunieda (国枝頌平) 3-for-4, 2B, R; Miyoshi (三好匠) 2-for-4, RBI

Teikyo: Kaneko (金子竜也) 3-for-4, 2 R, RBI; Taguchi (田口公貴) 2-for-4, 2B, R, RBI

Kyushu Kokusai-dai Fu

Teikyo

* Ito maxed out at 148km/h
** Nodomi threw 293 pitches over 3 games

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Some other news and notes:

...And then there were 12...

...Sanspo has pictures from the stands from Day 10.

...According to a TV report, Yusei Kikuchi was experiencing some tightness in his left shoulder and limited his throwing session to just 20 pitches on Wednesday.

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What's on tap tomorrow:

8:30 - Meiho vs Tokoha Gakuen Tachibana

11:00 - Nagano Nichidai vs Chukyodai Chukyo

13:30 - Hanamaki Higashi vs Tohoku

16:00 - Miyokonojosho vs Chiben Wakayama

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