Baseball: A Two-Way Player

March 23, 2011.

Japan, Osaka Prefecture, Hyogo, Hanshin Koshien Stadium.

Today marks the opening of the 83rd Senbatsu High School Baseball Tournament, the 2011 Spring Koshien event, but at this moment, the stands inside the Koshien Stadium appear somewhat empty: the large venue, capable of accommodating fifty thousand people on Hanshin Tigers' game days, hasn't even reached an attendance of twenty thousand today.

The vacant seats and the scattered spectators on the stands are like unsightly scars that are somewhat shocking to behold.

Based on past experiences, although the Spring Koshien lacks the "last summer" aesthetic of regret and thus is less attractive than the Summer Koshien, it is nevertheless a major event that mobilizes on-site attendance of over 500,000 and boosts the surrounding economy by over 30 billion yen— yet the current spectacle at the stadium seems mismatched.

The aftermath of the Great East Japan Earthquake continues—due to ongoing post-disaster reconstruction, this year's Koshien event has less laughter and more of a solemn atmosphere.

Initially, after the earthquake, Takano Ren considered canceling this year's entrance ceremony; ultimately, for various reasons, they decided to retain this segment—however, all segments of the opening ceremony have been significantly simplified.

The entrance ceremony for various schools no longer includes the previous parade around the field; instead, all players directly enter the infield through the player passage behind the central field.

The entrance march as players enter is no longer performed by the police band as in previous years; under the context of streamlining everything during this special period, live band performances have been replaced by broadcasts of CDs.

On the billboards behind the outfield, instead of the names or other content of various sponsors, this year's tournament's special slogan is shown throughout:

"Go, Japan!"

The highlight of the entrance ceremony occurred when the Tohoku Region representatives entered the stadium—when the two schools representing the Tohoku Region in this year's tournament: Mitsuhoshi Academy from Aomori Prefecture and Tohoku High School from Miyagi Prefecture, as well as the Kantou Region representatives heavily affected by the disaster: Mizuchiyama High School from Ibaraki Prefecture and Odate Fengming from Akita Prefecture, entered the stadium, all the spectators in the stands and all the players collectively applauded them, with many fans holding up support signs and banners reading "Go, Tohoku" to cheer them on.

Following the Kantou Region representatives were the two representatives from the Tokyo Region, with the biggest favorite to win this year's Spring Koshien, Nihon University High School, entering first—the team, which had just claimed victory at Shengong a few months ago, is full of ambition, with their sole goal this tournament being to win the championship again, aiming to challenge the remarkable "Triple Crown" achievement accomplished by Yokohama High School in 1998.

Following closely were the players from Waseda Industrial School.

Lin Guanglai has now become the team captain, and this is also the first national event he is leading.

At the forefront of the team, Lin Guanglai held high the flag of Waseda Jitsugyo, striding into the stadium with firm and powerful steps, followed by the new Waseda Jitsugyo– a team that shone brightly last summer, naturally garnering a lot of media attention.

However, most media are not overly optimistic about their prospects in this Spring Koshien: compared to those 5A-level strong teams, the current Waseda Jitsugyo has quite a few strengths but also evident weaknesses, and their strength is not as balanced as the popular teams;

Moreover, in the view of some professional Takayama industry experts, after last summer's brilliant debut, the second-year Lin Guanglai is bound to be comprehensively studied by many schools from top to bottom, inside and out, although the autumn tournament proved that his solid skills remain intact, the outcome when facing stronger opponents in future matches remains uncertain.

Therefore, on the assessment of Waseda Jitsugyo's combat power, different media outlets have varying opinions:

Daily News, Asahi Shimbun, and Tokyo Sports are quite optimistic about Waseda Jitsugyo's prospects, rating them as an A-level team; but Daily Sports and Sports Hochi have a relatively conservative stance, or rather, they are not optimistic that Lin Guanglai can replicate last summer's godly performance under the siege of strong schools, hence they only rated the team's overall strength at a B-level.

When all the players had entered the stadium and stood neatly on the infield, the opening ceremony commenced, hosted by Sato Youmi, a third-year student from Kochi Prefecture, and Ogata Sayo, a second-year student from Chiba Prefecture—the segment for the minister's speech, originally part of the opening ceremony, was also canceled, leaving only the student representative's oath.

Before the oath segment began, the new captain of last year's winning school, Konan High School, stepped forward alone to return the blue-purple victory flag symbolizing the glory of the Spring Koshien championship—after losing all of its third-year main players, Konan, which accomplished the Spring Koshien consecutive wins in 2010, significantly reduced in strength and did not qualify for this year's Spring Koshien.

Subsequently, under the spotlight, Nozaki Shinji, a first-year student from Chuangzhi Academy, stepped out from the crowd and stood at the forefront of the queue to begin his oath—it is worth noting that Chuangzhi Academy, representing the China Region from Okayama Prefecture, consists entirely of first-year students, and this is the first year of the establishment of their baseball team, which has qualified for the Spring Koshien based on their skills.

"We were born in the year of the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake 16 years ago."

"Now, with countless precious lives lost in the Great East Japan Earthquake, our hearts are filled with sorrow."

"In the disaster areas, everyone is united, fighting alongside their companions."

"We firmly believe that only with the support of our peers can human beings overcome great difficulties."

"At this moment, what we can do is give our all in this competition, fighting passionately."

"Go, Japan!"

"Here, we pledge: we will be grateful for the lives given to us, and complete the matches with full dedication and integrity!"

With the melodious theme song "You Are Here" of the Senbatsu High School Baseball Tournament playing, the opening ceremony ended; following immediately was the tournament's opening match between Kagawa West High School and Japan Literature and Science—due to the disaster's influence, all pitching ceremony segments in this tournament were canceled; all teams were prohibited from using any instruments besides megaphones during supports.

According to the scheduled itinerary, Waseda Jitsugyo's match is only set to begin on the fourth day of the tournament; thus, after completing the entrance ceremony, the players returned to their chosen training ground to continue their practice.

In the afternoon practice, a light drizzle began to fall, reminding Izumi Minoru of one thing—as he gathered all the players, Izumi Minoru addressed his disciples:

"The Spring Koshien matches are not as hot as in the summer, so there's no worry about heatstroke; however, what's important is that each year there is a chance that rain will interrupt or temporarily halt the games. Even though the weather forecast predicts no rain on the day of our match, I still hope everyone can mentally prepare."

"If a shower interrupts the match, be sure to do the corresponding warm-up in the resting area, otherwise, it's easy to make mistakes once the game resumes;"

"If necessary, I also hope everyone can be prepared for rain battles!"