Spring Koshien Begins Today

» 22 March 2011 » In Koshien »

In an attempt to return to some degree of normalcy, 83rd Spring Koshien (Senbatsu) will begin today.

While NPB is still sorting out their issues and starting dates, the 32 team high school invitational tournament will begin Wednesday morning as scheduled.

If you’ve followed Japanese baseball for any length of time, you know that the two major annual high school tournaments are breeding grounds for the NPB stars of tomorrow. The games are followed closely not only by passionate fans and alums, but pro scouts as well.

Games can normally be watched for free online here. If you need rosters, scheduled match-ups, or game times in either Japanese or English, the Kokoyakyu blog is an excellent source. Game recaps and analysis are also provided.

Pick a team and let the games begin!

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  1. Ken
    Michael Westbay
    23/03/2011 at 7:41 am Permalink

    And I host the Koshien chats here twice a year as well.

  2. Ken
    Ken Dick
    23/03/2011 at 10:07 am Permalink

    As a veteran of Mr. Westbay’s chat room, I can say that it is filled with knowledgable and fun people. Come join us during the games!

  3. Ken
    Kevin Liu
    25/03/2011 at 4:19 am Permalink

    I had watched Kanazawa vs Kakokita,
    The start pitcher of Kanazawa(kamata-釜田佳直) is definitely Top 3 pitcher
    in this annual.

    He gets great stuff. Nasty Slider,and Terrific Straight.
    But Kanazawa’s Defense was terrible,no doubt lossed.

    Here is video of Kamata
    http://draft-bbs.com/2011kamata.html

  4. Ken
    Ken Dick
    25/03/2011 at 10:31 am Permalink

    Absolutely, Kevin.

    I was telling anyone who would listen that after 3 batters I could see Kamata-kun has pro “stuff.” He hit 150 MAX but more importantly he had good movement, command, has excellent secondary pitches, and his pitch selection was intelligent.

    His command did tail off towards the middle of the game, I thought, especially when he ran his fastball in and hit a batter.

    His defense really let him down, too. I wonder if frustration/throwing extra pitches contributed to a lack in focus later on.

    I am looking forward to seeing him in Summer.

  5. Ken
    Ken Dick
    25/03/2011 at 10:32 am Permalink

    lack of focus, rather…

  6. Ken
    Billy D
    25/03/2011 at 6:23 pm Permalink

    Nice find, Kevin. The kid got an interesting delivery. A lot of jerking involved.

    I saw a bunch of movement (slider?) from a pitch around 138-141 km/hr. But other than that, his fastball looks average to me.

  7. Ken
    Billy D
    25/03/2011 at 6:34 pm Permalink

    Hmm, I don’t want to mislead anyone, but by “average,” and I should have picked a better word for his fastball, I meant it’s flat and perhaps predictable. He set up his pitches well, like Ken said, and those breaking balls are fine out-pitch. Not a lot of solid contact, but at I have the impression that most high school batters in Koshien games rarely make solid contact.

  8. Ken
    Kevin Liu
    26/03/2011 at 4:59 am Permalink

    Well,Billy. I’m wondering which level that your standard of average means ?
    NPB or Minor League?

    Comparing with other Power Pitcher in NPB like Tanaka Masahiro and Sato Yoshinori , there are still a lot things to progress for Kamata.

    But what makes me surprised is Kamata did great control to his Straight,
    that makes he outstanding in some Japan Scout reports.