The Tokyo Metropolitan Area University Baseball League (SSBL) announced today that they will begin using a tie-breaker rule for the 2012 Spring League.

Rule: extra inning games will begin with one out and the bases loaded.  Stats from extra innings, other than win/loss data (which team won/lost, which pitcher won/lost) will not be officially recorded.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Area University Baseball League canceled both its opening day games at Hiratsuka Stadium on Saturday out of concern that there might be radioactive materials in the rain.  It seems the league has already decided to immediately cancel games on days that it's raining.

The two canceled games have been re-scheduled to Monday.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Area University Baseball League (SBBL) announced today that spring season games will begin earlier than originally posted in a bid to avoid playing late into the day.

On days with 2 games (30 minutes earlier)*:

Game 1 will begin at 10:00
Game 2 will begin at 12:30

On days with 3 games (90 minutes earlier):

Game 1 will begin at 8:30
Game 2 will begin at 11:00
Game 3 will begin at 13:30

* the 2 games taking place on 4/9 at Hiratsuka will begin at 11:00 and 13:30.

The Tokyo Big 6 is apparently setting up a blog called "Tokyo Rocks" where each of the six captains from the league will write updates about their seasons.  It's apparently set to open on the 31st and will primarily be written for younger fans that haven't watched any baseball games.

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Hirokazu Sawamura made a relief appearance in an exhibition game against Tokyo Gas on Friday.  He tossed two shutout innings, starting in the 6th, and gave up 2 hits, 2 walks, and struck out 5.  He topped out at 148km/h.

Six scouts from the Yomiuri Giants, Nippon Ham Fighters, Softbank Hawks, and Chiba Lotte Marines were on hand to watch him pitch.

Josai University's (Tokyo Metropolitan Area University Baseball League) new manager, Shigeyori Koharazawa, held an 8 hour practice session on his first day at the job on Wednesday.

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Former high school baseball coach, Narumi Ogawa (60 years old), was arrested on an assault charge on Thursday. According to Sanpo, Ogawa allegedly struck a 41-year-old man on both the head and face, the latter causing a cut on the victim's lip, at a bar on the 16th at about 9:20pm. Ogawa has apparently admitted to police officers that he struck the victim on the head with his palm, but did not strike the victim on the face. He says he hit the victim because he was "growing tired of the his behavior."

If this were an isolated case, perhaps Ogawa would get the benefit of the doubt. Unfortunately for him, he has a bit of a track record. In 1990, Ogawa stepped down as manager of Hiroshima Kogyo High School when reports of him beating players surfaced. And in 2003, he was dismissed from Kouyouhigashi High School for using physical punishiment on players. Ogawa was set to retire at the end of March.

As for his record as a manager, he did lead teams to the Koshien 7 times, and even advanced as far as the final four. He also coached former NPB / MLB player Shingo Takasu.

Practice for the 82nd Spring Koshien kicked off today at Koshien Stadium.

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Tatsuya Ohishi threw 57 pitches during Tuesday's practice game against Ristumei.  He also topped out his at 150km/h.  His last pitch was clocked at 149km/h.

Yuki Saito topped out at 145km/h.  He threw a total 68 pitches, 21 of which were hit foul.  Of the 14 pitches he threw in the first inning, 10+ were fastballs.  He also worked in his new pitch, a cutter.  Saito faced a total 15 batters over 5 innings of work (he surrendered a single in the 2nd but picked him off).

A total 300 fans, including 25 scouts (4 from Lotte and 3 from Yomiuri), were at the practice game.

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The Japan Student Baseball Association has approved Josai University's (Tokyo Metropolitan Area University Baseball League) request to hire Shigeyori Koharazawa as their manager on Tuesday.  Under high school / university baseball rules, teams must seek permission from the Japan Student Baseball Association when hiring personnel with professional experience.

Koharazawa first day as manager of Josai begins on Wednesday.

League 1

League 2, Group A

League 2, Group B

The Japan Amateur Baseball Association held a committee meeting on Friday and decided that all levels of amateur baseball (including soft baseball) will have counts called balls to strikes instead of strikes to balls.

The JABA also set up an investigative commission to do research into what it might take to change the licensing procedures for umps.

=== UPDATE 3:12pm JST

To clarify, four organizations agreed to the adoption of the balls to strikes  count calls: the Japan High School Baseball Federation (JHBF), the All Japan University Baseball Federation (JUBF), the JABA, and the Japan Rubber Baseball Association.  The JHBF had already adopted the rule the JUBF just recently adopted the rule.

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Ashikaga Kogyo University is joining the Tokyo Metropolitan Area University Baseball League (SBBL) beginning this Spring (they will be in the second league).  They started things up on Friday at their indoor practice facilities in Tochigi with about 51 players (all freshmen that will begin attending Ashikaga this April).

Josai University (Tokyo Metropolitan Area University Baseball League) named Shigeyori Koharazawa as their new manager for the 2010 season on Monday.

Koharazawa is a Josai University alum and was drafted by the Yomiuri Giants back in 1991.  He was later traded to the Chibe Lotte Marines before retiring after the 1998 season.