At the 73rd All-Japan University Baseball Championship held in Tokyo in June, players from Tenri University’s baseball team made it to the final four for the first time since the team’s founding. They visited Tenri City Hall in Nara Prefecture to report to Mayor Namikawa Ken.

The university’s baseball team was founded in 1946 and is a member of the Hanshin University Baseball League. This is the team’s 10th appearance in the All-Japan University Baseball Championship. They won the second round against Hachinohe Gakuin University by a shutout score of 11-1, and advanced to the semi-finals, but lost 10-2 to this year’s champion Aoyama Gakuin University.

Genta Shimobayashi, a fourth-year student and former captain, said, “All of the team members have been trying to communicate with each other and have been able to turn it into strength. The environment that our seniors have cultivated has led us to our first appearance in the top four.” Fourth-year player Tomohiro Ishitobi, who won a special award for hitting in seven consecutive at-bats in this tournament, smiled and said, “I want to use this tournament as motivation to fight in the fall season.”

Namikawa expressed his delight, saying, “It’s very pleasing to hear that we’ve made it to the top four, considering that teams from the Kanto region are so strong. I hope that the players will use what they have learned through baseball to their advantage in their future lives.”