In Ikeda's 1982 lineup, Mikami and Mizuno were still second-year students. In 1983, the Ikeda team formed around them not only did not decline, but became more competitive. Most importantly, Yuhito Mizuno, who was originally the team's main substitute pitcher, was fully developed after entering the third grade, and his ace ability was fully developed, and he grew into one of the few speedball pitchers in the country. Naturally, he also took over the mantle of Hatoyama Jun, with both ace and four sticks, and outfielder Yoshida Hiroshi taking over the fifth baton.
At this time, Ikeda, the strongest playing line in the country and then one of the best pitchers in the country to be ace, can be described as a tiger, in fact, in '83, they almost suffocated the opponents of japan as a whole.
In the 1983 Spring League, Ikeda won the championship with an overwhelming score of 34 points in five games, while ace Mizuno only conceded two points. In the process, Teikyo (11:0), Gifu No. 1 (10:1), Taisha (8:0) and other national teams were swept by Ikeda with one big score after another, and finally even the final opponent Yokohama Sho was completely sealed by Mizuno Yuhito. In this way, after Hoseiji in the 1960s, Ikeda once again achieved the achievement of summer and spring (only 4 times in the history of Koshien). Now Ikeda can legitimately begin to challenge Koshien's goal of three consecutive hegemons—a feat that no one in Koshien's history has ever achieved.
In the 1983 Summer League, Takashi Ikeda was naturally regarded as the biggest favorite, and more than 10 days after the start of the tournament, its forward momentum still showed no sign of stopping. After an 8–1 win over Ko Ota, a 12–0 win over Takanabe, a 7–3 win over Hiroshima Sho, and a 3–1 win over Nakagyo, Ikeda extended his Koshien winning streak by four more games to 15. This is the longest winning streak in history of all the consecutive uninterrupted appearances of Koshien teams. Of course, another record that looks even more dazzling is that since 1982, Ikeda has won 36 consecutive games in all official competitions, which is undoubtedly a very remarkable achievement.
Constant win over Ikeda VS unbeaten PL
If one can still think of a team that has the potential to beat Ikeda at this time, it can only be PL Gakuen. PL Gakuen's reputation at that time was already very large, and in 1981 and 1982, the order school team led by Coach Shunji Nakamura won the rare 2 consecutive Spring League championships. Of course, what is even more bizarre is that these two years of PL Gakuen failed to qualify from Osaka in the summer preliminaries of that year (Osaka is the most competitive region). The 1983 PL failed to make it into the Spring League. Thus, since 1981, the PL has not actually lost in the Koshien main tournament. Such a team with a "lucky" aura is naturally the perfect candidate to challenge Ikeda. And the opponent Ikeda met in the semifinals was indeed the most anticipated PL.
What is even more bizarre is that PL Gakuen was actually formed around the main axis of first-year students this year. The main pitchers who have been starting since the main game, as well as the fourth base in the team, are actually first-year students. If I told you that these two people's names were Masumi Kuwata and Kiyohara and Hiroshi, respectively, it might not be a very strange thing. However, in 1983, Kuwata and Kiyohara had not yet become famous, and the boldness of Coach Nakamura's use of people must have been the hottest news at that time.
But because of this, pre-match public opinion is generally more optimistic about Ikeda. Kuwata's situation is also a bit like Araki in 1980, he just entered the school, originally not the team's scheduled ace, but because of his excellent performance in the Osaka preliminaries, he was boldly promoted to the starting position by Coach Nakamura. This year, he appeared in the no. 11 shirt that belonged to the bench, but made consecutive starts, becoming the de facto new ace of the PL. After two consecutive wins, Kuwata suffered a lot of points in the quarter-finals, and the PL fought hard to win 10:9 against Kochi Sho. But surprisingly, even so, Shunji Nakamura actually decided that the match against Ikeda would start with Kuwata! And a generation of legends, this is also the beginning.
(The scene when team Ikeda got out of the car and rushed to the semi-final of the PL.) After 2 years, it is PL that enjoys such treatment. (Screenshot from youtube video)
Strongest Showdown! Epic victory for PL
Before the game, many people may have guessed that Ikeda might lose, after all, PL is not a fuel-saving lamp. But no one could have imagined that Ikeda would lose so badly! It took PL Gakuen only 1.5 hours to defeat Tokushima's Koshien overlord, which was undoubtedly a more shocking result than Ikeda's 14:2 victory over Waseda Shigeru a year ago, and the final score was even more unexpected by everyone.
Many times a very accidental result is a series of unexpected combinations, which is called the butterfly effect. At the beginning of the game, Mizuno still threw very smoothly, taking three strikeouts in 2 innings. However, at this time, PL Gakuen catcher Kojima Ichigo played a beautiful timely 2-base run, making the PL take the lead. PL pitcher Masumi Kuwata then stepped into the playing zone. Mizuno still uses his usual straight-ball to decide the winner or loser model when facing Kuwata, and still insists on shooting straight balls after several balls are hit by Kuwata. At this time, Kuwata swung violently, and the ball was hit by the bat and roared past, flying directly into the audience. Home run! It was also his second home run in the summer of that year, so he also set a record for a first-year student Koshien home run (until the 2015 summer first division, he was chased by Kiyomiya Kotaro).
The audience immediately boiled over. You know, at this time, Yuhito Mizuno was an invincible pitcher in high school baseball, and he hardly knew what failure was since the second grade. It was a shame for him to have a first-year student hit such a crucial home run (1 on base, 2 points). This can also be seen from the expression on his face at that time. After that, Mizuno obviously did not adjust his mentality, facing the next hitter of the PL, second baseman Hiroyuki Sumida, and actually hit a home run.
(After being hit by 1st grade pitcher Kuwata on a home run, Mizuno yujin showed an expression of disbelief.)
At this time, Coach Tsubasa also probably already felt very bad - the bad thing is not only the 4-0 on-court score, but more terrible is that it only took 1 year, and the high-roller he created was followed by someone, and now PL Gakuen also has the ability to hit a batch home run. Mizuno's nightmare wasn't over yet, and he was hit by Kojima for his third home run. Mizuno, who was already depressed, vented all his anger on the inexperienced 4 sticks, Kiyohara, and all 4 hits knocked Kiyohara Out. But such tactical victories are difficult to reverse the defeat.
Although Mizuno accidentally conceded a large number of points, if Ikeda's proud playing line could burst out, then there was still one hit in this game. However, this game Kuwata has divine help. Although the balls he threw were constantly knocked out, they were almost no threat, but gave the opponent a number of outs. Kuwata later said: "Looking at the 0s that keep appearing in the Ikeda column on the scoreboard, my confidence is unprecedentedly high, and the more I shoot, the better." "And Ikeda is playing more and more urgently, and the last 10 hits are either high-flying or rolling, and they can't even pose a threat to the PL." In the end, the score was 7-0.
There have always been many opinions about why first-year student Masumi Kuwata was able to complete the Ikeda team. I think the more reasonable explanation is that Kuwata, who won the Osaka tournament champion in middle school, has excellent basic skills, good ball control and skills. As a 1st grader, his ball speed wasn't going to be fast anyway. But in the '80s, when most high school pitchers were only proficient in straight and curved balls, pitching strategies were undoubtedly important. Daisuke Araki once concluded that he blindly practiced ball control and ball speed in the process of growing up, but lost his own characteristics, and as a result, there were more balls that were easy for the hitter. This year, Kuwata had the dexterity and brains of Araki's first grade, and made good use of the impatient mentality of the Ikeda team. In this game, Kuwata only had 1 triple strike, and Mizuno had 8 triple strikes. However, Kuwata defeated his predecessors who were much more famous than him at that time, indicating that the three-strike ability was not the only one.
The tears of General Changsheng
At the press conference after the game, Ikeda head coach Tsubasa also laughed and seemed to be very open (and may also be a superficial effort to the media), but repeatedly lamented that Koshien's three consecutive championships were indeed not an easy task. Ace pitcher Yuhito Mizuno, on the other hand, was like a deflated ball, unable to say a word.
(After the game, Mizuno Yuhito tearfully pressed the press conference)
Because of his resemblance to a folklore figure, Mizuno Yuhito, nicknamed "Kimtaro Awa" (Tokushima Prefecture's former name Awa), burst into tears at the press conference, and his performance is completely difficult to remember, this is a winner who has already won the spring and summer koshien championship. In fact, people can't criticize him at all, leading the team to achieve 15 consecutive wins in Koshien is really an incomparably brilliant achievement, where in the world will never lose? Even so, Mizuno showed strong reluctance to this defeat. Behind this, there is probably a strong desire to win and a love of baseball.
After this koshien, Mizuno was named by the giants Yomiuri Giants and selected to join the baseball, highlighting his status at that time. In the 1987 season, he won 10 games and contributed to the Giants' league victory. However, due to too much pitching in his high school years, Mizuno suffered shoulder injuries, elbow injuries and other injuries after entering the Giants, and since the 1990s, he has rarely started first, and can only appear as a successor shot. In the end, although he won the championship twice with the team, Mizuno personally only accumulated 39 wins and 29 defeats in professional baseball, winning 519 three strikes, which is similar to Daisuke Araki's professional baseball experience.
(Yujin Mizuno in the Age of giants)
This year's Chunkaku conference march was based on "The Lullaby of the Virgin" (also one of my favorite songs in the Haruka march) sung by Yoshimi Iwasaki's sister Hiromi Iwasaki. And the lyrics of this song have such a content as "men are scarred warriors", and many people think that they can indeed be compared to players. Daisuke Araki and Yuhito Mizuno are such scarred warriors, hard work and hardships, which are a portrayal of their baseball careers.
The first grade dominates the country
After defeating Ikeda, there was only one opponent left, and that was Yokohama Shogun, the runner-up of The Spring League, led by another koshien pitcher, Shoaki Miura. And Masamune Kuwata was also in the hope of returning, and made his debut again. In this game, Kiyohara and Hiroshi, who had been a little silent before, finally broke out, and the first-year four-bar threw Miura the ball and played his debut home run in Koshien, and since then, he has been unable to receive it, starting his own journey of Koshien home run king. With this goal, the PL also scored a key first point.
After that, the game fell into a state of stalemate. Kuwata and Miura performed well, and until the end of the sixth inning, the PL only led 1-0. At this time, perhaps to disrupt yokohama's deployment, or perhaps to give his No. 1 pitcher a chance to play in the final, Coach Nakamura replaced Kuwata, and Hara Ace Fujimoto, who was wearing the No. 1 jersey, came out to shoot the last three sets. This recruited an effect, Yokohama Sho was ill-prepared for the curved ball pitcher Ko Fujimoto, the rhythm was suddenly disrupted, and the PL also took the opportunity to score another 2 points. As a result, after consecutively sealing the spring league champions and runners-up Ikeda and Yokohama Sho, PL won the most domineering championship in history. Ikeda's all-team record of seven home runs set last year was also broken by the PL with eight home runs.
In this way, Masaru Kuwata and Kazuhiro Kiyohara did incredible things, as the main pitchers and 4-bar players in the first year, they won the most important Summer League championship in high school baseball. Kuwata started all competitions and scored no points against his most powerful opponents, Ikeda and Yokohama, becoming the second well-deserved first-year Summer League winner since the legend of Nakagyo Sho Yoshida. In "Baseball Heroes", the manga finally confesses that Mingqing defeated The Kwanghoku Gakuen of Xia Chun Lianba and dominated the whole country, and this may be the historical fact that PL Gakuen once overthrew Ikeda of Xia Chun Lianba. The difference is that the protagonist Tatsuya Uesugi is already in the third grade at the time, while Kuwata is only in the first grade. So Anda Chong once said: "My pitchers are not king players, Kuwata and Kiyohara are the real monsters." This is not an overstatement.
For Kuwata, the whole world changed overnight. A month ago, he was a nameless freshman known to almost no one, and after Koshien's triumphant return to Osaka, he became a "public enemy." According to his own recollection, when he woke up, his name was on the slogan of almost all of Osaka's baseball schools, and these slogans read: "Down with Kuwata, Down with PL." (According to "Hot Dou Koshien")
Indeed, the era of the KK group (Kuwata Kuwata and Kiyohara's surnames are all K) has arrived.
1984: KK's tempered year of Double Asia
Iwakura reprises the Tokyo Dream
In 1984, PL Gakuen, which owned the KK combination, naturally regarded the summer and spring consecutive hegemony that Ikeda had achieved as its primary goal. With the power of the first year, the Summer League, the KK combination in the autumn of 1983 was full of momentum, first successfully winning the Osaka Autumn Conference Championship, and then winning the championship in the Conference, successfully entering the following spring Koshien. Since the KK combination, PL Gakuen's previously unstable preliminary play has disappeared. Like Waseda Shigeru, who owns Daisuke Araki, since the summer of 1983, PL Gakuen has been participating in koshien for 6 consecutive years.
In the Spring 1984, the PL continued to show excellent form, passing through the barriers with consecutive big scores and reaching the final. In the process, Kuwata finished sealing his opponent twice, and Kiyohara and Hiroshi hit as many as 3 home runs, equaling the record of a free run in the Spring League. Didn't everything look too smooth? However, PL is ultimately using KK combinations against the strong players of the country, and unexpected strong opponents soon appear one by one. The first of these was Iwakura High School in Tokyo, led by ace pitcher Shigeyuki Yamaguchi, who participated in Koshien for the first time.
Shigeyuki Yamaguchi took out a weapon that no one else had — he was able to master sliding ball, which was relatively rare at the time (even the main change ball of Kuwata's high school days was a curved ball). The PL line was unprepared for this and was thrown dizzy. In this game, Kuwata's performance was very good, a total of 14 times to Iwakura's hitter three strikes out, but unexpectedly he did not get the support of his own line at all. In the end, Iwakura scored a fatal point through a second base in the 8th inning, and the PL lost the game 0:1, achieving the miracle of Iwakura's early appearance and initial victory.
This is a typical feature of Chunjia. Because the Spring League is at the time of all grades of further education, many strong teams have not yet matured, and the cool climate is more conducive to strong throwing, making Spring A often have the saying of "spring pitching power". This means that many lesser-known schools, as long as there is a top pitcher on the team, can also occupy a place in the championship team. But in any case, Iwakura High School did create manga-level achievements (this year's spring koa's entry song was the theme song of "The Three Sisters of Cat's Eye"). You know, the famous Waseda Shi High School, 5 consecutive koshien have rushed to the championship, before 2006, the team history has only won 1 spring league championship. Shigeyuki Yamaguchi's Iwakura won the championship in just one chance.
In koshien in the 7th and 80s, miracles always seemed to be a major feature of tokyo teams, which was the first time that the Tokyo team achieved a "magical blow" after the first appearance and first victory of Sakuramibayashi High School in 1976. Iwakura has also retained a magical record to this day, namely that Haruga was undefeated (because he never scored again) and Hakaya was unwinnable (he went in but did not win).
(Koshien, who has only been there once, won, and Yamaguchi Shigeyuki cheered with joy)
PL impact Xia Lianba
Losing the spring league final was not a big deal, but it was completely different when placed on the PL Academy, which caused a lot of waves at the time. This match means the end of PL Koshien's 20-game winning streak. Of course, this record is not continuous, because there are several times in the middle of koshien PL failed to score, but the result was lucky to save the gold body. This makes people inevitably think that PL is favored by the god of baseball, after this game, people suddenly found that PL, although powerful, is not invincible, and the mood to challenge PL has been greatly encouraged. In addition, the PL line was almost completely blocked by Shigeyuki Yamaguchi in the final, and only struck a single. As a result, the second-year four-bar Kiyohara and Hiroshi bore the brunt of it, surrounded by reporters after the game, questioning how his performance in the final was so different from before.
In any case, Xia Chun Lianba has been lost (perhaps only KK "enjoys" such a term), but PL still has Xia Lianba to fight for, and Xia Jia is undoubtedly more important. Entering the summer of July, the stability of the PL Gakuen with KK began to manifest itself. Shigeyuki Yamaguchi's Iwakura unexpectedly failed to qualify during the fierce battle in the famous war zone of East Tokyo. And Ikeda doesn't seem to have recovered from last year's fiasco and hasn't made it through the Tokushima preliminaries. The prospect of PL defending Thea Chard has become quite favorable.
In the first game of the Summer League, the PL fully recovered its strength. In this game against Aichi Powerhouse, Kuwata struck the opponent 11 times, and the opponent's excessive pitcher hit Kiyohara's heart. Kiyohara accurately grasped the ball path and struck the ball high one by one, as a result, he hit 3 home runs in a row, thus setting a record for a single home run in The Summer League, and it remains to this day. The PL won 9-1. Subsequently, the PL defeated the next 4 opponents one by one and reached the final again. In these matches, Kuwata conceded points, but only 1 point was conceded in 4 of those games and 2 points in 1 match. Like Daisuke Araki, the second grade is often considered Kuwata's best year.
It seems that no one can stop Xia Lianba of PL Academy until the start of the Summer League final. This game was called "KK's most humiliating fiasco" by a Japanese program, and although it was said by the Japanese, I felt that it was a bit inappropriate. You know, this is the summer A final, the opponent has gone through more than 10 consecutive wins from the preliminary round, is one of the best teams in the country, who wins and who loses, in fact, is very normal. If the object is not the KK combination, then isn't anyone's Koshien trip a humiliating fiasco? Of course, there is also a factor that if it were not for a series of accidents that led to Kuwata's aberration, the PL might have won this game. But this kind of accident is undoubtedly part of the charm of Koshien.
Civilian Dark Horse sank PL battleships
Another reason why japanese media described the match this way may be that the final opponent of the PL, Ibaraki Prefectural Second High School, is a public school with little reputation. Before the game, public opinion was almost one-sidedly optimistic about PL, but the success of taking the second hand was a surprising success in attacking Kuwata. However, in terms of strength in that year, this team led by Fumiki Ace Ishida, captain Yoshida Tsuyoshi (Ichiba), Ande Kuwabara Junya, the fourth stick, is really a first-class team, especially the fierce playing line. This team has a good long and short play, from 1 to 5 sticks, everyone has the ability to hit a home run, and the style is also very tenacious. In the team's first match, it was 0:3 behind the veteran mijima, but finally miraculously reversed 5:3.
Before the game began, it suddenly rained in Koshien, and the black soil in the field was completely watered into a muddy mess, and there was water everywhere. However, due to the heavy rain, the referee team insisted that the game start as scheduled. In this game, Kuwata, who was the first to play the ball, slipped his hands under the influence of water vapor, and lost control of the ball, either being knocked out or throwing an outrageously biased bad ball. Kushiji took the opportunity to launch an onslaught, and by the time Kuwata adjusted, PL Gakuen was already in the second set with a 0:2 deficit.
This incident is called providence by many PL fans. They think that the god of baseball, who has always taken care of PL, may think that PL is boring to win, and turned his back on PL in this game (Forever の四番者 ~Kiyohara and Bo の High School Era (4)). This mentality is understandable, after all, Kuwata has been invincible in the summer league game, but this game was defeated due to abnormalities, and it is easy to feel that it is not the opponent who beats Kuwata, but the rain of Koshien (just like Egawa Toraku once lost due to the slip of his hand in the rain). The PL Academy is a school established by the PL Order, and it is reasonable to have superstitious psychology. But don't forget that the second hand fights under the same conditions.
(The rain of Koshien, the tears of the PL people)
In any case, this game that the PL may have been sure to control the situation has become a chaotic battle, in addition to Kuwata's pitching, the PL's attack has also lost its standard in the mud and cannot be attacked for a long time. In the 7th inning, with someone on the base, Yoshida just blasted the entire sleepwalking Kuwata pitch into the stands and directly scored 2 points, so that the PL fell behind 1:4, and the situation was even more unfavorable. However, PL is PL after all, and has always been known as a never-say-die, good at reversing masters. In the 8th set, led by Kiyohara's homer, the PL launched a major counterattack and recovered 2 points in one fell swoop. In the bottom half of the 9th inning, Coach Nakamura played the last trump card, replacing Tetsu Shimizu, a 3rd grade substitute pitcher who had been pressed by Kuwata on the bench and could not play, to play in the contemporary game. Japanese high school pitchers tend to have good strike skills, and Tetsu Shimizu has almost become the savior of PL. As soon as he came on the field, he blasted Fumiki Ishida's pitch into the stands.
4 to 4. The home run brought the PL back to life and even saw the hope of another turnover. Because, at this time, the hitter who appeared was Kiyohara, and there was someone on the base. If you play a long fight, PL can directly take down Xia Lianba. However, the second head coach, Yukio Kinuchi, saw the weakness of Kiyohara's large swing and instructed Fumiki Ace Ishida to carry out a "thorough inner corner attack" against him. As a result, Ishida struck Kiyohara three times at a critical moment, dragging the game into the extended round. Straight balls attack the inner corner and generally require good ball control. Because it was already clear at this time, Ishida's possession was not affected. From this point of view, the second hand has indeed made more adequate preparations for this match and the rain battle.
Entering the 10th inning, Kuwata reached his limit. What was even more unfortunate was that he had accidentally injured his fingers in the game before, and the blood even stained the ball. Although Kuwata insisted on pitching, his power had dropped considerably. Subsequently, the two-two sticks Sasaki (hit the ground) and the four sticks Kuwahara (four bad balls) went to base one after another, and there were already 2 people on the base. The fifth stick, Shoichi Nakajima, gave the PL giant ship a final blow, and the ball roared and flew up the left wing stand. At this time, Coach Nakamura remembered to use Shimizu Tetsu to replace Kuwata, but it was too late. 4:8 (after which the PL lost another point due to a mistake), the PL was gone, and finally lost to the second hand, relegated to the second place.
(Kuwata was very helpless after being hit by a 3-point home run)
aftermath
If Chunjia's defeat, Qingyuan's responsibility is greater. After the defeat in the final of the Summer League, Kuwata finally became a back cooker completely. After the game, he even strode forward in the field, unwilling to be interviewed by reporters. Kuwata later recalled that the match changed his life and made him indomitable. Moreover, the scene of grinding his fingers and insisting on pitching reminded him of the famous scene in his favorite comic "Giant Star", so he was full of emotions.
Ironically, from 1981 to 1983, PL created a magical record of at least one Koshien championship per year (81, 82 Spring League, 83 Summer League), KK entered the second year of 1984, but tasted the taste of "Double Ya King". This comparison also really highlights the pressure on PL players, almost all high school players, to Koshien is how far to go the goal, only PL can be used "to protect the championship", "lose the crown" and other words. But in any case, with the defeat, Kuwata and Kiyohara will also become more mature and stronger in their junior year of high school.
He then won the National Sports Conference (one of the three major national competitions, referred to as the national sports), proving that he defeated the PL in the Summer League, not just by luck and chance. Perhaps everyone has also noticed that in the "Baseball Heroes" in the third year of high school, there may be many players and coaches whose surnames are taken from this team. Except for Yoshida, who is purely coincidental (the name appeared in the 1983 series), the rest of the people really can't rule out this possibility. After all, Anda Chong had planned to use 1984 as the ending year in the setting, but finally changed his mind. Then, after seeing the name Yoshida Gang, it is indeed possible to simply write the names of other people into it. By the way, it has been said that civilian names such as Yoshida and Nishimura foreshadow their fate in the manga, but in the historical koshien, such civilian surname players often succeed in counterattacking like this.
(Celebration in the dormitory after the second match)
Fumiki Ishida, a pitcher who took the second ace, decided to go to university first after Koshien and entered Waseda University. However, only half a year later, he announced his withdrawal from school and joined the social team instead. After that, due to winning the Tokyo Social Competition, he returned to the public eye again, and was selected by Yokohama in the 5th place in the draft. However, Ishida's professional baseball career was a disaster, with only 25 appearances in the first army in three years, accumulating 1 win and 0 losses. So he quit the group after 3 years and returned to the social team. It is said that there are many koshien pitchers who went to Waseda University, but few of them have been able to achieve great success, which has made Waseda University bear the notoriety of "pitcher cemetery". In 2008, Fumiki Ace Ishida, the former winner pitcher of Natsuka and the only one who won Kuwata in Natsuka, died at the age of 41 due to rectal cancer.
(Fumiki Ishida during the Hands 2 and Professional Baseball period)
1985: Koshien's "Sword on Mount Hua"
Legendary famous battles
In the spring and summer of 1985, Koshien has been talked about by Japanese fans, because there were so many historic and landmark topics in koshien competitions in this year that koshien could not be matched in other years. The number of top stars participating in the competition is also impressive. It can be said that it was the peak of Koshien's golden age.
At that time, the most concerned thing was, of course, that the KK group had been promoted to a third-year student in this year. Now their goal is to win another Koshien championship in the last year of their high school. In the Spring League of 1985, after sweeping Tenri 7-0 (you know, Tenri was the champion of the Summer League in the following 86 years), PL Gakuen once again reached the final four, and they once again encountered a strong opponent who was destined to be. This is tomoo Watanabe, the ace pitcher at Kochi Prefecture's Ino Commercial High School who is also playing Koshien for the first time. The pitcher, who always wears glasses to play, has a ball speed and momentum that is completely out of proportion to his appearance.
If the PL lost slightly against Iwakura and Daiji, the match against Ino Waso was a convincing defeat, not only because the PL was always behind, and finally lost 1:3, but more importantly, the weapon used by Tomo Watanabe to subdue the KK combination was the straight ball. In this match, Watanabe relied on a series of straight balls of more than 140km/h, and 4 hits a total of 3 times Kiyohara (the remaining 1 seat was four bad balls). In the last game, it was a straight ball of 146km/h, and three goals and three strikes clear. This wonderful performance not only made the audience applaud like thunder, but also extinguished the counterattack momentum of the PL that urgently needed to chase points. At the time, the ball speed was almost the limit of what could be thrown in a strong dialogue.
After winning the PL, Watanabe completed the final and led Ino to succeed Iwakura in achieving the miracle of debut and first victory. After this, Iino, like Iwakura, failed to win another victory at Koshien. Tomoo Watanabe became famous with the legendary personal ability of this year's Spring League, and many fans believe that he was the strongest high school pitcher in the 80s, because only he could beat and beat the strongest KK combination in his junior year of high school.
Andazir was also very impressed with this match, in "H2" there is a team named "Iwa Shin", and in Iino Sho is only a word difference, but it is this team, in the manga, became the only team to defeat Kunimi Hiru's Chikawa in the official match.
(Glasses-wear high speed ball ace - Tomoo Watanabe)
(Watanabe Sanju Sanjin Kiyohara's famous scene moment)
Yuzhang Nakayama vs. KK
This year, Kochi Prefecture seems to be rich in high-speedball pitchers. In the final of the Kochi Summer Preliminary Tournament in July 1985, veteran kochi sho, led by Hiroaki Nakayama of his team, managed to capture Yoshino, led by Watanabe, and blocked the latter from the gate of Natsuya. It is said that Yuki Nakayama's ball speed is faster than that of Tomoo Watanabe. Such an intelligence undoubtedly aroused the vigilance of Kuwata and Kiyohara.
After three consecutive Koshien reached the final four, but all of them failed, fans from all walks of life in Japan could not help but question, that is, can the KK combination in the last summer really grow to the strongest strength as expected? Kuwata and Kiyohara immediately gave answers. In the first battle of PL Gakuen, they actually slaughtered their opponent Tokai Oyamagata with a super score of 29:7. In this match, koshien's record of the most points scored and the most hits in a single game was refreshed (the record for the most home runs in a single game was also set by PL in the 1984 Spring League game against Sagawa Kita, which was 6). In the end, Coach Shunji Nakamura simply replaced the substitute pitcher and replaced the original to pitch the ball "drill", and Tokai Oyamagata, who had only scored 2 points, was able to recover 5 points in one game. But this situation undoubtedly makes the players of the team more self-conscious.
Kochi Shang is not to be outdone. In its first round against Fujisawa High School, after a high-speed straight ball from Yuaki Nakayama entered the catcher's glove, the narrator suddenly cried out in excitement. It turned out that since the speedometer was activated, the record for the fastest ball speed in Koshien in the 1980s was finally born, and it was exactly 150 km/h. However, whether Yuzhang Nakayama was the first high school player in history to throw 150km/h is controversial, because the speedometer was not put into use before the 80s, and the ball speed of previous players, such as "monster" Jiang Chuanzhuo, can never be verified, can only rely on speculation.
There's nothing more exciting than koshien's fastest man vs KK combo. Perhaps by fate, in the quarter-finals, Kochi Sho and PL Gakuen really met together, and the content of the game did not disappoint the media and fans.
In the second inning of the match, Kochi scored two points first. But PL Gakuen was clearly well prepared for the match, and quickly launched a counter-attack, and after a wave of heavy blows, it scored four consecutive points in the third set to overtake the score. In the 5th inning, the exciting moment arrived, Kiyohara hit, and Nakayama also threw an inner corner speedball with all his might. This time, Qingyuan reacted quickly, exerted all his strength, and hit the ball out. The ball flew straight to the top of the stand, and it is said that this home run flew a distance of 140 meters. (Forever の四番破者 ~ Kiyohara and Hakubaku High School Era (5))
The ball clearly hit Nakayama's momentum a lot, and he was subsequently hit by Kuwata on a home run. In the end, the score was fixed at 6:3, and the PL successfully advanced.
(Yuaki Nakayama was hit by Kiyohara's large home run)
This year, Koshien's top pitchers were far more than Kuwata, Watanabe and Hiroaki Nakayama. The famous star of the future professional baseball, Sasaki Tōhiro, who was also in his third year of high school this year, participated in the Koshien Competition, but unfortunately lost to Konishi High School 5:6 in the quarterfinals. Sasaki's most iconic stunt in the baseball is the fork ball, but in high school, his main variation ball was koji ball (高生は球種制限すべき "投げすぎ"は問題じゃない). At this time, Koshien was so popular that straight balls were decisive, which was naturally related to the small number of balls, which can be said to be a characteristic of the times.
"Realistic version of Nitta" - Fujii Jin
In the middle of the manga Baseball Heroes, during Ikeda's storm, the author Anda Chong seems to have a premonition that a golden age of home runs is coming. Subsequently, the talented batsman Akio Nitta appeared, playing 4 home runs in Koshien, helping the team to win the second place in the Summer League with a large number of RBIs, and becoming the protagonist's strongest opponent. At the time, Koshien's single-time home run record was three. In 1985, in Hagar, there was indeed someone who copied Nitta's deeds.
(Ube Shang's strongest hitter - Fujii Jin)
This person is Fujii Jin, the fourth stick of Ube Shang High School in Yamaguchi Prefecture. When PL Gakuen swept the semi-finals against Ashi 15:2 and reached the final, the KK team got even more surprising news, that is, the number of home runs (4) had surpassed Kiyohara and broke the historical record of a single session of The Summer League. At the time, Kiyohara and Hiroshi had already made 11 home runs in 5 Koshien, far ahead of the all-time overall list. It also holds a number of historical records such as the most home runs in the Summer League, the most home runs in the Spring League, and the most home runs in a single conference of the Spring League. However, the record for the most home runs in a single summer league with the most gold content may be lost.
More coincidentally, this person is also about to become the final opponent of KK. With an active performance of three consecutive home runs, Fujii brought Shin Ube to the final of the Summer League. So perhaps a unique scene in koshien's history began, a final carrying meaning not only the championship, but also the first record in history. Kiyohara not only had to hit a home run as much as possible, but he also counted on Kuwata to block Fujii as much as possible. On the Ube side, due to the fact that his ace has been in poor shape since the start of the tournament, the coach decided to start with the No. 10 Furutani Yuhiro, who had performed well before, and played a decisive battle against Kiyohara. This decision was half successful and half unsuccessful.
At the beginning of the game, Ube Sho gave Kuwata a way out. In the second inning, Fujii, who played first, went to base with Kuwata's four bad balls, and then he cleverly stole second base and advanced to third base through teammates' home runs. Under the sacrifice of his teammates, Fujii scored a first point for Ube Sho.
This made Kuwata realize that Fujii, who was a fielder and was very fast, could not just put on the barricades. In the 3rd inning, Fujii's second double was met with a good chance to have two outs. With no way back, Kuwata did everything in his power. After knocking several straight balls out of bounds, Fujii finally did not hold back and was knocked out by Kuwata's decisive straight ball.
However, Fujii is not an idle person after all, in the 6th game, he hit Kuwata's straight ball beautifully, but unfortunately the ball bounced back on the outfield wall, just a fraction of a centimeter away from home run. But the three-run still gave the team a one-pointer. After that, his teammates used a sacrificial hit to get him back to home run. In this round, Ube Sho scored 2 points in one fell swoop, and at one point won 3:2 to win the score.
In the 8th set, Fujii played the last seat, this time Kuwata aimed at the inner corner and soared a spray ball, once again sending Fujii Sanzhen. So far, in this game, Fujii Jin has a total of 4 seats, 2 times by Kuwata Sanzhen, Kuwata undoubtedly showed the strength of the super ace. However, Fujii used only 2 chances to get 1 hit and 2 points, making the PL into a crisis again.
Koshien, which belongs to Kiyohara
At this time, Qingyuan stood out, and finally completely broke out.
As early as the 4th inning, Kiyohara threw the pitch of opposing pitcher Furuya and blasted a home run straight to the left field audience. The goal allowed the PL to tie the score at 1-1. In the 6th inning, when it was Kiyohara's turn to strike again, his chance came again.
Tomohiro Furuya still decided to fight Kiyohara hard, and he quickly pressed Kiyohara with 2 good balls. But Kiyohara is no longer the hairy guy he was in the 1st and 2nd grades, and he can be described as surprisingly calm and focused in this game. He then caught the straight ball again, and the ball whistled off the field to the right of the center, right over the head of mid-range stalwart Fujii. This goal, Kiyohara's fifth home run in the summer of 1985, surpassed Fujii's record and became Koshien's record for a conference home run to this day.
At that time, Koshien's commentator Sadao Uekusa could not suppress his excitement and suddenly screamed loudly: "Home run! Home run! That's awesome! Kiyohara raised his hands! Is Koshien は清原のためにあるのか)? This explanatory word, as soon as it was exported, immediately became a famous saying in the history of Koshien. Indeed, Kiyohara was fortunate to have caught up with an era of popular duels. In 1992, when Hideki Matsui, whose skills could be compared to his, went to the final summer with the goal of breaking Kiyohara's record, he was escorted by the opponent Matilda Yoshijuku, and he could not play a single home run, so he regrettably bid farewell to Koshien.
However, Kiyohara's two home runs saved the team by himself, but he only equalized the score. In addition, Furutani Yuhiro played quite well in the whole game, and his pitching was very skilled, so that PL Gakuen could not connect into the line, and could only rely on Kiyohara's personal ability. The 3:3 draw lasted until the 9th inning, when an accident determined the final outcome of the match.
In the bottom half of the 9th inning, PL was already two outs, and the last batter also hit a center high fly ball that was generally not threatening. However, Fujii and Ube's second baseman gave way to each other, and as a result, the ball landed on the ground, allowing PL's second baseman Masahiro Yasomoto to base. Aberdeen then succeeded in stealing the second base. At this time, it is the turn of the PL's three sticks, captain Hideaki Matsuyama to strike. Matsuyama did not miss this opportunity and hit the long hit perfectly. Aberdeen rushed back to home run in one breath, 4:3, PL Gakuen goodbye hitter, won the championship again! Baseball, indeed, "really started after the second half of the 9th inning."
Forever KK combination
With the final air defense siren sounding, Kuwata finally vented his anger at last year's final defeat and cried loudly, while Qing Li held up his own bat to celebrate, which also became a classic picture of Hakaja.
A series of historical records that are difficult to replicate in Hakagar were born: Masasumi Kuwata won his 20th victory in Koshien, 14 of which were Inagu. This equalized the record set by legendary Pitcher Masao Yoshida, making Kuwata the most winning pitcher in The History of Hakata. Kiyohara and Hiroshi became the king of home runs in Koshien's history with 13 home runs in their three years of high school, and in second place was Masasumi Kuwata (6 hits). PL Gakuen achieved a record of 16 wins and 1 loss in the three years of summer leagues from 1983 to 85.
KK's career baseball approach is almost unsustainable. But there were waves in the process. In the bat, the batter's control is higher than that of the pitcher, because the pitcher needs to rotate, and the hitter can be key on the field of play. Therefore, Kiyohara has become the object that all professional baseball teams want to grab (such as multiple teams named, need to be decided by lottery). The coach of the giants Yomiuri Giants, Wang Zhenzhi, thought that Kiyohara was too difficult to grab, so he turned to Kuwata and reached a private agreement with Kuwata. In order to divert public attention, Kuwata pretended to say that he wanted to go to college. On the day of the draft, when the news of the Giant's naming of Kuwata came, Kiyohara, who had always thought that the Giant's first choice was his own, was stunned. Since then, the KK group has dismantled the gang and embarked on the road of the enemy. It is said that this matter has always been the prototype theme of the manga "H2".
People are not as good as heaven, the Giants' strongest opponent at that time, the Seibu Lions, actually drew Qingyuan. Since then, Kiyohara has become the youngest four-bat in Seibu history as soon as he joins the regiment, and unexpectedly became a teammate with Tomoo Watanabe, who had defeated himself (professional baseball accumulated 45 wins and 40 defeats, won 502 three strikes, and then retired due to a waist injury). Seibu, who already had excellent pitchers such as Kudo Kōyasu, Shu Higashio, and Hisanobu Watanabe, and top hitters such as Yukiji Akiyama, was able to win the championship six times in 7 years, making the Kiyohara champion soft. In 1987, when Seibu was about to defeat the Giants in the finals to win the championship again, Kiyohara, who was bent on revenge on the Giants, shed tears in front of the TV camera. It turns out that giants are after all a generation of allies in the Japanese football world, especially Kiyohara's generation of players, influenced by the manga "Giant Star", the idea that "the best players must go to giants" is deeply rooted. Although Qingyuan is an enemy of the Giants, he still has feelings for the Giants in his heart.
In 1996, Kiyohara's contract with Seibu expired and he became a free agent, and at the age of 29, he chose to go to the Giants and returned to Kuwata's side again, and the KK group finally re-emerged. At this time, Kuwata had also won the championship twice, and with the help of Kiyohara, at the turn of the century from 2000 to 2002, the Giants won two championships in 3 years. In his career, Masamune Kuwata has accumulated 173 wins and 142 defeats, and won 1992 three strikes. With a total of 2122 hits and 525 home runs, Kiyoshi entered the ranks of Japanese clubs. Both became recognized as a generation star.
(Kuwata of the Giants and Kiyohara of Seibu)
Relatively speaking, Fujii's baseball career is much more lonely. After Koshien, he decided to go to university first. However, in the wild ball department of his school, Aoyama Academy, the seniors were generally jealous of his Koshien's great activity and even almost knocked down the strongest KK, and often ridiculed him and bullied him. Fujii felt that baseball could no longer bring him happiness, but only mental pain. So he chose to retire. Like a meteor, Fujii, who once shined, disappeared from the Japanese rod altar. He is the same as Qingyuan and Bo, who were originally honored and have long been a winner in life, but their marriage failed, and they were found to be hiding drugs this year, which makes people feel the impermanence of life.