Yasutaka Hatakeyama, 38, who served as the captain of the Sendai Ikuei High School Baseball Club in 2002, is located in Yahata, Tagajo City, Miyagi Prefecture. Nearby, juniors go there. “Let me win the championship and treat me to oil soba.” With a unique expression, he cheers on his juniors who are facing the big stage of the final.
Mr. Hatakeyama, who stepped on the soil of Koshien in the spring tournament of 2001 when he won the second place. He wanted to open a shop in Tagajo, where he spent his youth, so in 2012 he founded the shop in a place 20 minutes on foot from his alma mater, Tagajo. Since then, the store has been a regular stop for baseball club members. Signed colored papers of professional baseball players produced by Sendai Ikuei High School, such as pitcher Kosuke Baba (Hanshin), infielder Keiyu Kumagai (same), infielder Hirasawa Okouchi (Lotte), decorate the store.
The juniors calmly eat up the special serving. “I remember those days when I was tired and hungry from training. When the Sendai Ikuei team won second place in the summer of 2015, he served dozens of club members with abura soba to celebrate. If I win this time, I’ve decided to treat all the members.
He has a close relationship with Director Wataru Sue, who is a year older than him, since he was in school. He asked Mr. Sue, who was the ground manager, to knock hundreds of pitches twice a week. Looking back, he says, “I’ve always been a stoic person to myself and others.”
It is said that Sue’s power of observation, which has not changed since that time, left an impression on her performance at Koshien, her alma mater, this summer. In the scene of the second inning with two outs and third base in the quarterfinals on the 18th, he did not miss the defense of the opponent’s infield, which he defended deeply, and decided a safety bunt. “From that time on, I had strong observation and analytical skills, and when I consulted with Mr. Sue, my worries were immediately resolved.”
Mr. Hatakeyama served as the captain of the club when he refrained from activities for half a year due to a scandal involving a member of the club. It is said that discipline was disrupted due to the principle of victory supremacy, and at that time, the three letters of “Koshien” were a taboo phrase. Twenty years later, the responsibility and regret still remain.
Mr. Hatakeyama said, “High school baseball attracts a lot of attention, and the high school days will be with you for the rest of your life. I want my juniors to become the first Tohoku champions in Japan, leave their name in history, and be honored for the rest of their lives.” .
