Louis Nakasaki, a third-year ace who led Korean high school Kyoto International High School in Japan to win the Koshien championship in Japan, has been selected as the Japanese national team for the Under-18 Asian Baseball Championship, which will be held in Taiwan from the 2nd of next month. Attention is focusing on whether South Korea, which is seeking to win the championship with top high school baseball prospects Jung Woo-ju (Jeonju High School) and Jung Hyun-woo (Deoksu High School), and Japan, led by Louis Nakazaki, will face off.
On the 24th, the Japanese national baseball team selected and announced 18 members of the under-18 national baseball team to participate in the 13th Asian Baseball Championship, which will be held at Taipei Teicho Stadium in Taiwan and Rakuten Taoyuan Stadium in Taoyuan City, Taiwan from the 2nd to the 8th of next month. This was named by Louis Nakasaki, the third-year left-hander who led Kyoto International High School to victory at Koshien in the summer, Japan’s best high school baseball tournament this year. It also included pitcher Sakai Haru, Kanto Daiichi High School, the runner-up team.
Starting with the preliminary round in Kyoto, Japan, which was held from the 13th of last month, Rui Nakasaki played 12 games with his team’s second-year left-hander Iski Nishimura until the final match held at Koshien Stadium in Hyogo Prefecture, Japan on the 23rd, leading Kyoto International High School to the championship. Nakasaki, who is 178cm and 78kg in physique, has an average speed of 130km, but he has completely overwhelmed prestigious high school hitters in Japan with his control of putting a sharp fastball into the batter’s body and his superbly bent and falling slider.
The left-hander duo of Nakasaki and Nishimura have displayed overwhelming performances at Koshien this year. In 12 games including regional qualifiers, the two players only gave up 12 earned runs. They allowed only six runs in six games from the first round to the final round at Koshien Stadium.
They competed only in the quarterfinals, the semifinals and the finals of the regional preliminary round, and in the remaining nine games, the two players took turns to complete the entire game. Nakasaki had two shutouts, while Nishimura had three shutouts.
In the Koshien finals, Nakasaki pitched 31 innings in four games with an ERA of 1.45. In the third game, he pitched 143 pitches, drawing attention.
In particular, Nakaki threw 104 pitches in nine innings against Daiichi Kanto, who came to the Koshien final as a starter in the final on the 23rd, and pitched a perfect pitch with four hits, five strikeouts, and three outs. Kyoto International High School, which had a tight 0-0 game until the 9th inning due to Nakasaki’s good pitching, won the Koshien title with a 2-1 one-point victory thanks to Nishimura, who was a relief pitcher in the 10th inning, giving up only one run. Shin Sung-hyun, a former Kyoto International High School player and also a Korean professional baseball player, said Nakasaki is “a really good slider,” adding, “He is a player who can succeed wherever he goes professionally in the future.”
Eight countries, including South Korea and Japan, Taiwan, Pakistan, Thailand, the Philippines, Hong Kong and Sri Lanka, will participate in the under-18 Asian Baseball Championship in Taiwan. South Korea, Taiwan, Pakistan, and Thailand are in Group A of the preliminary round, while Japan, the Philippines, Hong Kong and Sri Lanka are in Group B of the preliminary round.
The first and second place winners of each group will start the full league-style Super Round from the 6th. The first and second place teams will meet in the final on the 8th, and the third and fourth place teams will meet in the third place match.
Jung Woo-joo, a right-handed high school baseball ace, and Jung Hyun-woo, a left-handed Deoksu High School ace, have been selected for the Korean under-18 national team against Louis Nakasaki. Jung Woo-joo, who boasts an average fastball speed of 150 kilometers, led Jeon to the first high school championship in 47 years at the Blue Dragon Open Championship last month. Jeong Hyeon-woo, a left-hander of Deoksu High School, is regarded as the highest among left-handers in this year’s rookie draft.
The under-18 Asian Baseball Championship, which is held every two years, has been suspended due to COVID-19 since the 2018 Miyazaki Championship in Japan and is meaningful because it will resume for the first time in six years. South Korea, which won the 2018 tournament, will try to win the title for the second time in a row with top high school pitchers such as Lee Ho-min (Jeon High School) and Kim Tae-hyung (Deok High School) with Jung Woo-ju and Jung Hyun-woo’s one-two punch at the forefront.
In terms of power, South Korea and Japan are likely to face off in the Super Round. Attention is also focusing on how the showdown between the Kyoto International High School ace, Rui Nakasaki, and the Korean high school team ace will unfold.
BY: 안전놀이터