【U18】Osaka Toin to be a back-to-back champ -the 53rd Meiji Jingu Tournament-

11/25/2022 0 Comments

【U18】Osaka Toin to be a back-to-back champ -the 53rd Meiji Jingu Tournament-

The final game in the high school baseball category in the 53rd Meiji Jingu Baseball Tournament was held at Jingu Stadium on November 24, JST. The matchup was between Osaka Toin from Osaka, Kinki, and Koryo from Hiroshima, Chugoku, the same as last year.

Osaka Toin had a 6-5 comeback win from a 5-0 deficit over Koryo to become a back-to-back champion. The champion became the first team to win the title two years in a row in the Meiji Jingu Tournament history.

Koryo aiming for its first title, reeled off three runs on two consecutive infielder's errors and an RBI single in a bases-loaded situation with one out to put it on the board in the bottom of the second inning. Koryo's slugger Keita Manabe crushed a two-run home run, the 49th of his high school baseball career, giving his team a 5-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth inning.

The defending champion, however, made a big inning to collect five runs with five hits, including Taisei Yamada's RBI double and a sacrifice fly, tying the game at 5 in the top of the fifth inning. Taisei Yamada hit a go-ahead infield single in the following inning to make it a 6-5 game.

Osaka Toin's ace lefty, Yugo Maeda, took the mound in relief from the bottom of the sixth inning, giving up three hits and striking out seven batters in four scoreless innings to lift his team to the victory.

Osaka Toin won one more spot to participate in the 2023 Spring Koshien from the Kinki district, expanding six to seven teams.