Two years ago was “Summer without Koshien”.
In May 2020, it was announced that the summer Koshien tournament and the local preliminaries for the right to participate in it would be cancelled. After that, each prefecture held its own tournament, and a “Koshien Exchange Match” was held by 32 schools that were scheduled to participate in the Senbatsu. Eyes, if you’re a player who went on to college, the summer of your sophomore year. I followed the present of the “Koshien cancellation generation”. (To the first part/second part of all two times)
In professional baseball, Hiroto Takahashi of the Chunichi Dragons marked four wins (ERA 2.53), and Reito Nakayama of the Yomiuri Giants (both from Chukyo University Chukyo) is struggling to fill the void of captain Hayato Sakamoto. Souma Uchiyama (Hoshiryo) of the Tokyo Yakult Swallows has played in 51 games, showing a lively play with good defense.
Even at the Tokyo Six Universities, the activities of the second-year students stand out. Rui Sozan (Koryo), who hit third in the shortstop of Meiji University, who won the spring league game, won the top hitter with a batting average of .429 and was also selected as the best nine. Taichi Inde of Waseda University (Chukyo University Chukyo) wore a mask in 13 games and marked a batting average of .349. And there is another player who showed more brilliance than the record of 2 wins and 1 loss. Masamune Oki (Iwaki/Iwaki) from Rikkyo University.
Iwaki, who had the ace Oki, entered the best 8 at the Tohoku tournament in the fall of 2019, and was decided to participate in the 21st century frame. It was the first time in 46 years to participate in the Senbatsu, and the locals were very excited, but it disappeared as a dream. The cancellation was announced on March 11, 2020. Oki recalls those days.
