It’s time for Senbatsu!
Welcome to the NeoGAF discussion thread for Senbatsu 2016, the Japan National High School Invitational Baseball Championship (Spring Koshien). (The thread for Summer Koshien 2015 is here.)
Games start tonight and will be streamed live at MBS’ Senbatsu site (http://mainichi.jp/koshien/senbatsu/live).
The National High School Baseball Invitational Tournament of Japan (referred to in shorthand as “Spring Koshien” because it takes place at Koshien Stadium) is an annual high school baseball tournament organized by the Japanese national high school baseball federation in partnership with Mainichi Shinbun. Unlike the Summer Koshien, where all the competitors are the winners of their respective regional tournaments, the Spring Invitational, as the name implies, is an invitational tournament. In practice, since the bulk of the invites go to winners of fall regionals, getting to Senbatsu is a lot like getting to Summer Koshien: just win. But unlike the summer tournament, there are a few additional ways to get an invite. The winner of the fall Meiji Jingu tournament gets an automatic invitation (and as a result, another team from the winner’s regional tournament will get an invitation). Additionally, the federation will invite two more teams from the Kanto/Tokyo area and the Chugoku/Shikoku region. Finally, the federation extends invitations to so called “21st Century Schools” - schools that historically are not necessarily competitive, but the federation wants to give a chance to see what the nationals are like. The 21st Century School program is intended to encourage the development of baseball programs around the nation at a time when the sport is dominated by a few select private schools.
The tournament was founded in 1924 and this year is the 88th tournament.
As I said back in the summer, the Japanese baseball nationals are pretty much the hypest thing ever. It’s a single elimination tourney consisting of second and third year players (it takes place right before the beginning of the new school year, so first year players do not join the team until after Senbatsu).
Every player on the field has been dreaming of getting to this stage and as a result the games are high drama with lots of emotion. Plus you’re pretty much guaranteed to see players who will be drafted out of high school to play pro ball in Japan and eventually make it to the US (like current Yankee ace Masahiro Tanaka). Last year’s NPB All Star Game featured several guys who were at Koshien only a few years ago - guys like Otani, Fujinami, and monster rookie Tomoya Mori.
However, unlike the Summer Tournament, here we’re really getting the first chance to see what some of these guys can do on the national stage. There are a few players I have my eye on and I’ll try to call them out below.
The first round games begin today at 8:00pm Eastern. In the first few rounds, there are three games per day. You can see the full schedule here (start times are local Japan time).
You can watch all the games at MBS’ Senbatsu site: http://mainichi.jp/koshien/senbatsu/live/
Mainichi Shinbun also has Senbatsu apps on the Google and iOS stores.
If you want to watch a full game replay, go to:
http://mainichi.jp/koshien/senbatsu/2016/schedule/
Then click the game you want and you'll be taken to a page with all the videos from the game. The last video is the full game replay (look for フルバージョン ("full version")).
YakyuBaka.com will have full schedules, results, and stats for the tournament. Schedules are available here at YakyuBaka: http://yakyubaka.com/2016/03/11/3112016-88th-spring-koshien-schedule/
Goroshigeno.blogspot.com is the blogging site for @eigokokoyakyu, where you can find a ton of preview information, and he generally does live blogs of all the games. Rosters for all teams are here from Goroshigeno: https://goo.gl/HjDyGo
The broadcasts will be in Japanese, but it’s not too hard to follow.
When you’re looking at stats, some quick things you can look for:
打率 = batting average
打点 = RBI
本塁打 (likely abbreviated in stat lines as 本
= home run防御率 = ERA
2年 or ３年 = second year or third year student
Some things you’ll hear during the broadcasts:
“Sanshin” = strikeout
“Karaburi sanshin” = swinging strikeout
“Tsu base” = two base, e.g. double
“Haitaa!” = home run call, it’s gone
“Douten runnaa” = tying runner on base
“Straighto” or “massugu straighto” = fastball
“Kaabu” = curveball
“Forku” = forkball
“Slidaa” = slider
For position players the broadcasts tend to use equivalents to the US terms rather than the native Japanese, so I won’t list those because it’s pretty easy, like “sentaa” is the Center Fielder and “shorto” is the Shortstop.
if you want to participate on twitter, use the hashtags #高校野球 (high school baseball), ＃センバツ (Senbatsu) and #甲子園 (Koshien).
Here are the few schools I have my eye on this year:
Tsuruga Kehi. They won Senbatsu last year with the arm and bat of their ace Shota Hiranuma (drafted as an infielder in the fourth round by the Nippon Ham Fighters last fall). New ace Souchiro Yamazaki throws around 145 kmh with a slider and curve, and pitched well at the Meiji Jingu tournament, suffering a heartbreaking loss in the final game. Offense is solid but not quite as good at Osaka Toin. Left fielder Atsuya Hoshimoto and SS/Captain Yuuki Hayashinaka power the offense. Tsuruga Kehi’s first game is set for day 6 (Thursday night in the US), the last day of the first round.
Tsuruga Kehi ace Souchiro Yamazaki
Osaka Toin. The evil empire and clear favorite to win Senbatsu. They also have the dorkiest hats in high school baseball. Osaka Toin is a private school in Osaka that came to prominence over a decade, eclipsing rival PL Gakuen. Like PL Gakuen was for decades, Osaka Toin is now a factory generating future NPB stars. Where to focus on their lineup? First baseman Kouki Furutera, third baseman Kazuto Yoshizawa and shortstop Yuuto Nakayama all bring power. Ace Yuuki Takayama does give up some walks but that’s about it. Osaka Toin’s first game will be on day 4 (Tuesday night in the US).
Osaka Toin ace Yuuki Takayama
Kanto Dai-ichi. One of the most entertaining teams from 2015 Summer Koshien is back, but without phenom Louis Okoe - who was drafted in the first round by the Rakuten Golden Eagles and already pegged as a potential rookie of the year. Their pitching is average; ace Kaito Kawai holding things down. The lineup doesn’t have the power hitting that Tsuruga Kehi and Osaka Toin have, but it does have speed. Eigo Miyamoto steps into center field to replace the departed Okoe and it looks like he’s got the speed to do it. Their first game is Day 3 (Monday night in US).
Kanto Dai-ichi speedster Eigo Miyamoto
Akashi Sho. Called the “hottest team” going into Senbatsu by Hoichi’s high school baseball magazine, this is Akashi Sho’s first ever appearance at Senbatsu and they have their work cut out for them. Their ace is Sou Yoshitaka who comes in sporting a 0.91 ERA (though as Goroshigeno notes, their competition has been so-so). Their big hitter is first baseman Shota Konishi, a third year right handed batter who hits for power and average. Unfortunately, the rest of the lineup isn’t as strong. Akashi Sho’s first game will be on Day 3 (Monday night in the US).
Akashi Sho ace Sou Yoshitaka
I’ll be rooting for Tsuruga Kehi and Sapporo Dai-Ichi, but expecting that Sapporo will be out after the first round barring a miracle.
Goroshigeno has previews for the first round matchups here: http://goroshigeno.blogspot.com/2016/03/draw-rosters-and-matchup-previews.html
And rankings here: http://goroshigeno.blogspot.com/2016/03/88th-senbatsu-revised-rankings.html
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