Sixteen schools that had won their regional qualifying rounds participated in the 69th National High School Baseball Championship, which was held at Akashi Tocalo Baseball Stadium and Wink Baseball Stadium in Hyogo Prefecture from August 25th. On August 30th, despite a typhoon approaching, the final match was held without incident, with Chukyo (Gifu, representing Tokai), aiming for their second three-peat victory in a row for the first time in history, facing Sendai Commercial (Miyagi, representing the Tohoku region), who had advanced to the big stage for the first time in 27 years.

The traditional Chukyo “tataki” move was a success! The ball was slammed down to score a point.

Although there were occasional strong winds, the final match began without the feared rain. Both starting pitchers, Chukyo’s Takumi Kawaguchi and Sendai Commercial’s Kenshin Kusumoto, pitched well. The match unfolded in a typical high school softball style.

Chukyo was the first to seize the opportunity. In the third inning, No. 7 Mizuno Junya, who was leading off the infield, hit a ball that fell into the foul zone, a peculiar to softball, and returned to the fair zone with a complex rotation to reach third base. Yamashita Kenta was walked. Kawaguchi Takumi followed with a sacrifice bunt, creating a golden opportunity with one out and runners on second and third.

Here, No. 1 player, Seiya Kakiuchi, scores with the traditional Chukyo technique of “tataki,” in which the ball is slammed down and the runner advances while it bounces. The runner on third base scores while the pitcher’s grounder bounces up. With their well-trained attack, they turn their first hit into the lead.

In the fourth inning, Chukyo’s No. 3 Noboru Nishio got on base with the team’s second hit and immediately stole second base. Koki Kuroda made a perfect throw to the plate, creating a chance with one out and a runner on third base, which is considered a scoring position in softball high school baseball.

Pitcher Kusumoto, who had allowed one point in the third inning, said, “I knew they were going to try to hit me, so I tried to defend it, but they were one step ahead of me.” No. 5 player Taguchi Amaterasu also did a brilliant hit, and the runner on third base scored on a grounder to first base, scoring a valuable second point.