“Today is a bad day…”
It is said that Wataru Sue, manager of Sendai Ikuei, felt that way on the bench on the first base side.
On August 11th, the Tottori sales battle of Koshien’s first match (second round). Sendai Ikuei has been repeating the attack from the beginning.
Directed by Ikuei Sendai and Wataru Sue, who claims to be Japan’s number one Osaka Toin maniac
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Pinch hitter for the starting pitcher who got 1 hit
In the bottom of the first inning, Koga Hashimoto (2nd year) got on base with a hit in front of the center, but failed to steal the third pitch. In the bottom of the 2nd inning, while making chances for first and third base with consecutive long and short hits, No. 8 Koki Takahashi (2nd year) tried a three-bunt squeeze, but it failed. Even the runner on third base died of anger. He collected five hits in the first three innings, and scored no points while having multiple runners each time.
Hashimoto’s stolen base was a “green light” left to the player’s own judgment. However, Tottori Sho’s starting pitcher Tazo Yamane (2nd year) persistently threw a check ball, and the start was delayed until the third pitch. Coach Sue regretted not being able to communicate thoroughly, saying, “If you want to go, you have to make it by the second pitch.
On the other hand, Takahashi’s failure to squeeze was simply taken as “the director’s mistake.” Sendai Ikuei missed the chance again and again, and “0” was lined up on the Koshien scoreboard.
No matter how great a coach you are, there are bound to be days when your commands and the movements of the players don’t mesh. Director Sue himself thought, “Today is a bad day.”
Still, Director Sue continued to move. In the bottom of the 5th inning, when the 0-0 stalemate continued, Takahashi, the starting right-hander, who had been almost perfect with 1 hit until then, made a pinch hitter. In the top of the 6th inning, he sent Tsubasa Furukawa, the left-hander with the uniform number 1, to the mound.
However, there was no hesitation in this decision.
“Takahashi played his role well with his stable pitching.
Japan’s No. 1 Osaka Toin Maniac
Manager Sue is a 39-year-old commander who is about to get fat right now. When he was the manager of Sendai Ikuei Gakuen Shumitsu Junior High School, he won the national tournament in 2014, and raised the school (currently belonging to the boys league from the rubber baseball club to the hardball baseball club) to become a regular school in the national tournament. After taking office as manager of Sendai Ikuei in 2018, he advanced to the best 8 twice at Koshien.
