In a historic turn of events, Keio High School from Kanagawa Prefecture emerged victorious in the national summer high school baseball championship, ending a drought that had persisted for 107 years. The triumphant Keio team defeated reigning champions Sendai Ikuei High School with a decisive score of 8-2 in the final held on Wednesday.
Last year, Sendai Ikuei High School, hailing from Miyagi Prefecture, made history by becoming the first school from the Tohoku region to secure victory in one of the two major annual tournaments conducted at Hyogo Prefecture’s iconic Koshien Stadium.
Keio’s manager, Takahiko Moribayashi, expressed his pride in the team’s achievement, stating, “We were able to play our style of ball against the strongest opposition. The players grew up in excellent fashion.” Moribayashi is renowned for advocating a more liberal high school baseball culture, symbolized by allowing players to wear their hair at a normal length, bucking the convention of closely cropped hairstyles that had been a hallmark of high school baseball.
“I have strived to overturn what was considered to be the norms, and was able to create a kind of baseball I wanted to have,” Moribayashi explained. “Perhaps this was a victory that will lead to a new look for high school baseball.”
Participating in its third summer final and the first in 103 years, Keio High School’s championship win marked a momentous occasion. The school’s previous title had been secured in the tournament’s second edition back in 1916.
The championship match saw Keio High School launch with a leadoff home run by Minato Maruta. Holding a narrow 3-2 lead in the fifth inning, Keio went on to score five additional runs with two outs, establishing a commanding advantage that they maintained until the end of the match.
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