Yusei Kikuchi (菊池雄星) started the game strong, retiring the first 12 batters in a row.

On the other side of the mound, Imamiya (今宮健太) held Hanamaki Higashi to 1 run over the first 3 innings. But things fell apart for Imamiya in the 4th. He surrendered a lead-off double and single before allowing Hanamaki's second run of the game to score on an infield single to Sasaki (佐々木大樹).

Kikuchi was up to bat next and he laid down a bunt to move the runners up a base. The bunt was good, but Kikuchi ran hard into first and bumped into the first baseman. He crumpled to the ground and looked to be in pain, but he got up, shook it off, apologized to the first baseman, and returned to the dugout.

With runners on second and third, Yamada (山田隼弥) poked a single through the left side to push Hanamaki's third run across the home plate. Meiho then brought in Noguchi (野口昂平) to try and get out of the inning without surrendering any more runs, but Noguchi gave up a first-pitch single back up the middle to Kashiwaba (柏葉康貴) that gave Hanamaki a 4-0 lead.

Meiho finally scored a run off Kikuchi in the bottom of the 5th on a sac fly by Kawano (河野凌太). Kikuchi retired the next batter on a pop-up to short, but he also began putting his left hand on his right hip, as if to try and stave off some pain. Kikuchi was relieved by Sarukawa (猿川拓朗) after that.

In the bottom of the 6th, with the bases loaded and 1 out, Sarukawa surrendered a 2-run single to Kotobuki (寿雄大).

The game really started to move in the bottom of the 8th as Imamiya led off the inning with a double. A strike out and an HBP later, Kawano (河野凌太) drove in the tying run with a double down the first base line. Kimori (木森恭平) followed that with another double that cleared the bases and gave Meiho a 6-4 lead.

Two consecutive singles put runners on second and third for Hanamaki in the top of the 9th. Yokokura (横倉怜武) followed with a single into right-center that cleared the bases and tied the game at 6. One batter later, with a runner on third, Imamiya returned to the mound and struck out the next two batters to end the inning.

Imamiya had a chance to win the game for Meiho in the bottom of the 9th when he stepped up to bat with a runner on second and 1 out, but Hanamaki played it safe and gave him a free pass.

In the top of the 10th, Kashiwaba picked up an infield single with 1 out. Sato (佐藤涼平) bunted him over to second and hit Meiho's first baseman pretty hard and had to be taken off the field on a stretcher.

It was now up to the captain, Kawamura (川村悠真), to make some noise, which he did, with a single back up the middle that scored Kashiwaba from second. Hanamaki had their lead.

Sarukawa gave up a 1-out walk, but retired the next two batters on ground outs to give his team a 7-6 victory.

Key Offensive Players
Hanamaki Higashi: Kashiwaba (柏葉康貴) 2-for-4, HBP, IBB, R, RBI; Kawamura (川村悠真) 2-for-6, R, RBI; Yokokura (横倉怜武) 3-for-4, 2B, 2 R, 2 RBI; Yamada (山田隼弥) 2-for-3, RBI

Meiho: Hirai (平井徹) 2-for-5, R; Kotobuki (寿雄大) 2-for-4, HBP, R, 2 RBI; Kawano (河野凌太) 1-for-3, IBB, 2B, R, 2 RBI; Kimori (木森恭平) 1-for-3, BB, 2B, 2 RBI

Hanamaki Higashi

Meiho

* Imamiya (今宮健太) hit 154km/h on the radar gun.

===

This game was actually a pretty close contest early on.

In the bottom of the second, with the bases loaded and 1 out, Sakida (崎田聖羅) gave up a run-scoring single to Nakamura (中村大地). But he bounced back and got out of the inning on a double play.

Trailing 1-0 in the top of the 4th, Rissho got runners on first and third with 2 out. Narita (成田渉) followed with a bloop single into center that scored the runner at third and tied the game at 1. Ito (伊藤直輝) walked the next two batters and gave Rissho a 2-1 lead. In the bottom of the inning, Ito (伊藤直輝) hit a 1-out double and came around to score on Nakamura's (高橋隼之介) single through the left side.

Rissho took the lead again in the top of the 6th on Sakida homer into the left field stands. But that lead wouldn't last very long as Nihon Bunri quickly tied the game in the bottom of the inning on an RBI triple by Kitte (切手孝太). A first pitch wild pitch to the next batter then allowed Kitte to cross the plate and give Nihon Bunri a 4-3 lead. A double and a ground out later, Sakida's second wild pitch of the inning gives Nihon Bunri a 5-3 lead.

And from this inning on, it was pretty much over for Rissho. They went down in order in the 7th, gave up a run in the bottom of the inning (RBI double by Nakamura), got 2 runners on in the 8th but failed to score, and gave up 5 more runs in the bottom of the 8th (RBI triple by Yoshida, a 2-run homer by Y. Takahashi, and a 2-run single by Kitte) before going down in order in the top of the 9th.

Still, what a gutsy performance by Sakida. 9 innings and 165 pitches.

Key Offensive Players
Risshodai Shonan: Sakida (崎田聖羅) 3-for-3, BB, HR, 2 R, RBI; Narita (成田渉) 2-for-3, BB, RBI

Nihon Bunri: Kitte (切手孝太) 2-for-4, HBP, BB, 3B, R, 3 RBI; Takahashi (高橋隼之介) 3-for-5, 2B, R, RBI; Takahashi (高橋義人) 3-for-5, HR, R, 2 RBI; Nakamura (中村大地) 4-for-4, 2 2B, 2 R, 2 RBI

Risshodai Shonan

Nihon Bunri

===

Some other news and notes:

...And then there were 6...

...Sanspo has pictures from the stands from Day 12.

...Yusei Kikuchi had x-rays taken of his back and everything appears to be ok with him. He probably won't do anything throwing today (Saturday) to give his body some time to heal. It is still not known whether or not he'll be ready to pitch on Sunday.

Kikuchi also gave the crowd a big scare when he ran into Meiho's first baseman really hard in the top of the 4th on a sac bunt.

...Hanamaki Higashi's Sato (佐藤涼平) caused a bit of a scare in the 10th when he crashed into the first baseman on a sac bunt. He left the field on a stretcher to get treatment and didn't return to the field immediately after the inning ended, so there was some concern that he may have injured himself badly. But moments later, he ended up running out of the dugout with a big smile on his face; he played out the rest of the game.

...Hanamaki Higashi's Yamada (山田隼弥) was taken out after the 6th inning because of a cramp in his left calf, likely brought on by a heat stroke.

...Nihon Bunri became the first team to play 2 straight games where where every member in the starting line-up has at least 1 hit.

...Rissho ace Sakida (崎田聖羅) tossed 165 pitches in his team's loss on Friday. For the tournament, he threw 3 complete games and threw 413 pitches.

===

What's on tap tomorrow:

11:00 Teikyo vs Ken Gifu Sho

13:30 Miyakonojosho vs Chukyodai Chukyo

Be Sociable, Share!

•