Nitta vs Hanamaki Higashi

Hanamaki Higashi struck first in the top of the second. A lead-off single and a sacrifice bunt put a runner in scoring position, and the Iwate side punched across the opening run on a two-out RBI single to take a 1-0 lead.

They doubled the advantage in the fourth. Another lead-off hit — this time a double — and a groundout moved the runner to third before a second two-out RBI hit made it 2-0.

Nitta's offence was stifled through the first four innings. Hanamaki Higashi's starter kept the Ehime champions off the board, allowing only scattered singles while retiring the side in order through the third.

The scoreboard finally moved for Nitta in the bottom of the fifth. A lead-off walk, a sacrifice bunt and a single put runners on the corners, and a sacrifice fly brought Nitta's first run of the game — and their first of the tournament — to cut the deficit to 2-1.

Hanamaki Higashi answered immediately in the top of the sixth. A double and a productive groundout moved the runner to third, and another two-out RBI hit restored the two-run cushion at 3-1.

Nitta refused to fold. In the bottom of the sixth, they manufactured their own response: a single, a stolen base and a two-out RBI knock pulled them back to 3-2.

But Hanamaki Higashi had the final answer in the eighth. A lead-off walk, a sacrifice bunt and a single plated an insurance run to make it 4-2. Nitta mounted no threat in the ninth, going down in order to end the contest.

The decisive sequence came in the top of the eighth. With the score 3-2 and Nitta within one run, Hanamaki Higashi's lead-off batter drew a walk. A perfectly executed sacrifice bunt pushed him to second, and a two-out RBI single scored the runner — stretching the lead to 4-2 and forcing Nitta to face a two-run deficit in their final turn at bat.

That insurance run fundamentally changed Nitta's approach in the bottom of the ninth. Rather than a single runner tying the game, they now needed a rally, and Hanamaki Higashi's pitcher closed the door with a 1-2-3 frame.

Hanamaki Higashi's pitching staff deserved the headlines. They scattered six hits across nine innings, walked few, and induced weak contact when it mattered — Nitta never strung together multiple hits in any single inning after the fifth.

Hanamaki Higashi's clean-up hitter delivered in key spots, driving in runs during the sixth-inning response and contributing to the eighth-inning insurance rally.

Nitta's middle infielder was their offensive standout, reaching base twice and scoring one of their two runs, but he lacked support from the bottom of the lineup.

The box score tells a clean story. Hanamaki Higashi's 8 hits to Nitta's 6 reflects consistent pressure — they put a lead-off man on base in four separate innings (2nd, 4th, 6th, 8th) and scored in every one of them. Their zero errors across nine innings matched Nitta's defensive cleanness, but Hanamaki Higashi executed the small-ball fundamentals — sacrifice bunts, productive outs — that turned baserunners into runs.

Nitta's runs came in the fifth and sixth, both times after they managed to put a lead-off man aboard. But once Hanamaki Higashi's starter settled after those two frames, Nitta's final three innings produced zero baserunners.

Hanamaki Higashi advance in the 108th National High School Baseball Championship bracket and will face the winner of the Nihon Bunri vs Oita Commercial match in the second round. Nitta's tournament ends at the first hurdle — a tough result for the Ehime champions, who were making only their fourth Koshien appearance.

Hanamaki Higashi now carry the weight of their prefecture's expectations — and the legacy of a programme that produced major leaguers Shohei Ohtani and Yusei Kikuchi — into the next round.

A textbook Koshien first-round contest: Hanamaki Higashi did the little things right, scored in clusters, and never let Nitta seize momentum. Nitta had their chances in the middle innings but couldn't string together the multi-hit rally required to flip the script.