Changes in high school baseball and the stagnation of Shikoku
About 20 years ago, when I told him where I was from, he replied, “Ehime is a baseball kingdom, isn’t it? There are many high schools in Shikoku that are strong in baseball.”
In the summer Koshien tournament ranking by prefecture, Ehime has long reigned supreme (currently second only to Osaka). In addition to Matsuyama Commercial, which has won the national championship seven times, there are high schools known nationwide such as Saijo, Imabari Nishi, Uwajima Higashi, Nitta, and Semi. The other Shikoku teams also have many powerhouses that have won national championships, such as Takamatsu Commercial in Kagawa, Tokushima Commercial in Tokushima, and Kochi Commercial and Meitoku Gijuku in Kochi.
However, for the past 15 years, the Shikoku team has been unable to win at Koshien in the summer. At Koshien in the summer of 2002, all four schools (Champion Meitoku Gijuku, Best 4 Kawanoe, Best 8 Naruto Kou, and Jinsei Gakuen) all made it to the quarterfinals.
Takamatsu Commercial’s Shogo Asano (right) and manager Kenji Nagao (left), who hit two homers in a row in the first round.
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“If you don’t score points against your opponent, you won’t lose,” was the underlying idea of Shikoku baseball in the past. In order to win the game with a close margin, he trained his defense, polished his baserunning, and practiced sign play repeatedly.
However, high school baseball has completely changed. “Baseball to score as many points as possible” has become mainstream rather than “baseball that does not score points.” In Koshien, teams that have the power to “smash” their opponents with heavy blows rather than widening their chances with okuri bunts have come to win. The bodies of the players became larger and thicker.
In the summer of 1996, former manager Katsuhiko Sawada, who led Matsuyama Shogyo to a national championship, spoke about the changes in high school baseball.
“Until the 1970s, the mainstream of high school baseball was to play based on well-trained defense. What changed that drastically was Ikeda High School coach Fumiya Tsuta, who won the national championship in 1982. He maximized the power of the metal bat. The “Yamabiko batting line” that I made use of was shocking.
Another major change occurred in the year 2000. Private schools such as Yugakukan, Seibi, and Kamimura Gakuen have all risen to the top ranks in Japan, even nationally, despite being just established. If you have a manager with a proven track record, promising players, and the equipment to play baseball, you can win nationally. How many pitchers can I gather to throw 140km or more, and how many batters can I get to hit those speedballs?”
