Women’s Baseball
JWBL: South Dione wins Kochi Tournament Tiara Cup
by Gen on Apr.14, 2013 @ 11:41 pm, under Women's Baseball
Tags: Japan Women's Baseball League, Tiara Cup
South Dione beat North Reia 6-1 in the Finals game for the Kochi Tournament Tiara Cup today. East Astraia finished in third with their 1-0 shutout victory over West Flora. Mika Miyahara (DIO) was named Most Impressive Player.
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April 13 - Game 1 - 11:03
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E | |
| Flora | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 2 |
| Reia | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | x | 4 | 7 | 1 |
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April 13 - Game 2 - 13:47
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E | |
| Astraia | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 2 |
| Dione | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | x | 4 | 6 | 0 |
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April 14 - Game 3 - 11:00
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E | |
| Astraia | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
| Flora | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
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April 14 - Game 4 - 13:22
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E | |
| Reia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 2 |
| Dione | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | x | 6 | 7 | 3 |
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Tiara Cup Standings
| Team | G | W | L | T | WPCT | Chmp | |
| 1 | East Astraia | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | .667 | 1 |
| 1 | North Reia | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | .667 | 0 |
| 2 | South Dione | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | .500 | 1 |
| 3 | West Flora | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | .250 | 0 |
JWBL: East Astraia beats West Flora and takes Kyoto Tournament Tiara Cup
by Gen on Apr.02, 2013 @ 2:13 am, under Women's Baseball
Tags: Japan Women's Baseball League, Tiara Cup
East Astraia beat West Flora 4-2 in the Finals game for the Kyoto Tournament Tiara Cup on Sunday. North Reia finished in third with a 3-1 victory over South Dione. Maya Kawaho (AST) was named Most Impressive Player.
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March 30 - Game 1 - 13:07
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E | |
| Dione | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 1 |
| Flora | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 | x | 7 | 8 | 1 |
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March 30 - Game 2 - 15:45
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E | |
| Reia | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 1 | |
| Astraia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 1 |
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March 31 - Game 3 - 11:00
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E | |
| Reia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 11 | 0 |
| Dione | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
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March 31 - Game 4 - 13:31
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E | |
| Astraia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 1 |
| Flora | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 1 |
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JWBL issues suspensions to players that failed to graduate from vocational school
by Gen on Mar.31, 2013 @ 3:25 am, under Women's Baseball
Tags: Japan Women's Baseball League
The Japan Women's Baseball League started running a "second career" program in 2010 that aimed to provide players with other work options for when they retire from baseball. The league announced on Friday that eight players failed to earn certifications as judo therapists because they did not graduate from their vocational school. The players have been issued partial suspensions from games this season.
Tiara Cup
- Cannot be named to the starting line-up on the first day of the first ten tournaments.
- They will be allowed to play on the first day of the tournament, but not until the 5th inning.
- They can be named to the starting line-up on the second game.
Victoria Series
- Cannot play until the fifth game of the series.
The eight players that were suspended:
Konishi, Mika (West Flora)
Matsumoto, Ikuyo (West Flora)
Atsugase, Miki (South Dione)
Nihara, Chie (South Dione)
Kawaho, Maya (East Astraia)
Iwaya, Miri (North Reia)
Kokubo, Shino (North Reia)
Takizawa, Aya (North Reia)
Players that graduated from their vocational school were not issued suspensions, regardless of whether or not they passed the state examinations.
Source: official announcement
UPDATE @ 8:45pm -
Daily Sports notes that all eight players were Hyogo members when they first started the "second career" program and that there may have been problems with the vocational school they attended.
Source: Daily Sports 3/31/2013
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The JWBL season began on Saturday with the Tiara Cup Kyoto Tournament.
Dione 3 - Flora 7
Reia 4 - Astraia 4*
Fiora will play Astraia in the Finals on Sunday. Dione and Reia will play for third place.
* captains from each team drew lots to determine winner
JWBL games will be carried by Tokyo MX and KBS Kyoto
by Gen on Mar.28, 2013 @ 9:31 pm, under Women's Baseball
Tags: Japan Women's Baseball League
The Japan Women's Baseball League announced today that Tokyo MX will broadcast thirty games and KBS Kyoto ten games.
The 2013 Tiara Cup begins in Kyoto on March 30.
Source: Daily Sports 3/28/2013
2013 NPB Slogan: Play Fasters
by Gen on Mar.25, 2013 @ 9:23 pm, under NPB, Women's Baseball
The NPB announced today that their slogan for 2013 will be Play Fasters. The slogan is supposed to represent the league's goal of getting a nine inning games to end in under three hours to help lower electricity use (tied in global warming). Players will show their support by wearing green sweatbands during the opening series.
Source: Sports Hochi 3/25/2013
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The NPB and the Japan Rubber Baseball Association announced today that the NPB Girls Tournament (for elementary school-aged youths) will take place between August 17 and 21. Twenty-eight teams across Japan (two from Tokyo) will take part in the tournament. Brackets will be selected on June 28. The opening ceremony will take place at Tokyo Dome. Games will be played at Akishima Municipal Baseball Stadium and the baseball field at Mitaka Osawa Ground.
Source: Sponichi 3/25/2013
Japan Women’s Baseball League uniform go on display in HoF in Tokyo
by Gen on Mar.24, 2013 @ 4:46 pm, under Women's Baseball
Tags: Japan Women's Baseball League
The Japan Women's Baseball League (JWBL) donated team uniforms to the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Tokyo on Saturday. Miri Iwaya (North Reia), Chihiro Sato (North Reia), Mika Konishi (West Flora), and Yasuko Ozawa (East Astraia) took part in the presentation ceremony at the museum.
The uniforms will be on display in the main hall through the weekend and will move to a JWBL section on Monday.
Source: official announcement (JWBL), official announcement (HoF)
JWBL holds tryouts at Toyonaka Rose Stadium
by Gen on Mar.18, 2013 @ 12:13 am, under Women's Baseball
Tags: Japan Women's Baseball League
The Japan Women's Baseball League (JWBL) added thirteen new players during the off-season. However, expansion has left each of the four teams with fourteen to fifteen players. Concerned about injuries, the league announced earlier this month that they were going to hold tryouts to find new talent that can play right away.
The tryouts took place on Saturday at Toyonaka Rose Stadium. Only one person showed up -- a twenty-two-year-old junior Olympic javelin thrower with no baseball experience.
The league will continue to actively pursue new talent by holding regular tryouts throughout the year.
Source: Daily Sports 3/18/2013
JWBL posts schedule for Tiara Cup and Victoria Series
by Gen on Mar.13, 2013 @ 11:23 pm, under Women's Baseball
Tags: Japan Women's Baseball League
The Japan Women's Baseball League posted schedules for the Tiara Cup and the Victoria Series.
Source: official announcement
JWBL: Additional details for Tiara Cup (Kyoto Tournament) released
by Gen on Mar.03, 2013 @ 3:25 pm, under Women's Baseball
Tags: Japan Women's Baseball League
Kyoto Tournament
Venue: Wakasa Stadium Kyoto
March 30 (Saturday)
Game 1 @ 13:00 - West Flora vs South Dione
Game 2 @ 15:30 - East Astraia vs North Reia
March 31 (Sunday)
Third Place @ 11:00
Championship @ 13:30
Source: official announcement
Girls Professional Baseball League becomes the Japan Women’s Baseball League
by Gen on Jan.18, 2013 @ 2:21 am, under Women's Baseball
Tags: Girls Professional Baseball League, Japan Women's Baseball League
The Girls Professional Baseball League (GPBL) announced some major changes on Thursday.
New Name
The GPBL will now be called the Japan Women's Baseball League (JWBL).
New Teams and New Season Format
The Kyoto Asto Dreams, Hyogo Swing Smileys, and Osaka Brabee Honeys will be no more.
There will essentially be two seasons. That means there will also be champions.
Victoria Series (regular season)
Teams: West Flora and East Astraia.
Western Japan Opening Day: March 30, 31 at Wakasa Stadium Kyoto
Eastern Japan Opening Day: April 20, 21 at Meiji Jingu Stadium
The two teams will play a twenty-four game season that is split into two halves (twelve games each, split between Western Japan and Eastern Japan). Each team will be able to carry up to thirty players, but only eighteen will be eligible to play on any given day.
Tiara Cup (tournament)
Teams: West Flora, South Dione, East Astraia, and North Reia.
Opening Day: April 13, 14 at Kochi Municipal Baseball Stadium
The four teams will battle it out over a two-day tournament. Games will take place in sixteen different locations across Japan.
The four teams competing in the Tiara Cup will be made up of players from the two teams in the Victoria Series. West Flora will be split into West Flora and South Dione. East Astraia will be split into East Astraia and North Reia.
Source: official site, Sponichi 1/17/2013
Below is footage from the press conference (as posted by the JWBL).