Until the first half of 2022 (target: April to August), we will announce the best 5 articles that received a great response on NumberWeb. Click here for the 5th place in the sports general category! (First public release date August 22, 2022 / titles etc. are all at that time).
In the first part of the article, <“I really hate Keio.” A scout from the University of Tokyo baseball team talks about the efforts of the University of Tokyo, which has no sports recommendations or internal admissions, we looked at an overview of the University of Tokyo baseball team’s scout activities. I would like to introduce an example. We interviewed Kazushi Hamada, the head of the scout office established as a volunteer by the University of Tokyo baseball club alumni association and former coach of the University of Tokyo baseball club.
“Our activities have paid off, and the number of club members that used to be about 10 per grade has increased to 20 to 30 in recent years. The population density is too high and there is a negative aspect that it is not possible to practice.The current situation where two people in the same grade compete for one position is just right.”
“One person from Hanamaki East also joined the club.”
What’s more, there are several Koshien players among them, so it must be a splendid achievement. After all, in the 100-year history of the University of Tokyo baseball club, there are only 24 Koshien players.
“Currently, the University of Tokyo baseball club has one Koshien player from Shizuoka and one from Tochiku (Fukuoka), and there are also members from the same school (two from Shizuoka and one from Tochiku) who did not make it onto the Koshien bench. Last year, one player from Hanamaki Higashi, a strong school, joined the club, even though they weren’t Koshien participants.”
Shizuoka boasts a total of 43 Koshien appearances in the spring and summer, and has a track record of winning the championship once and runner-up twice in the summer tournament. Tochiku has participated in Koshien nine times in spring and summer, and is also the alma mater of Akira Ogi (deceased), who has served as director of Kintetsu and Orix.
However, both schools are baseball powerhouses and are the top preparatory schools in the prefecture. It is no wonder that such a player already has the potential to enter the University of Tokyo. The case of Hanamaki Higashi deserves special mention.
“Ohmaki-kun was a real ‘Dragon Sakura'”
Hanamaki Higashi is a strong school in Iwate that produced Shohei Otani (Los Angeles Angels) and Yusei Kikuchi (Toronto Blue Jays). Masato Ohmaki (2nd year), who belonged to the school’s baseball club, passed the University of Tokyo last year after his second wave. It is the first time in history that the school passed the University of Tokyo. For Hamada, it is said that he is the most impressive player in his scouting activities.
