Koshien Stadium cheering fever overpowers heat wave Tears everywhere at ‘miraculous victory’
Koshien Stadium cheering fever overpowers heat wave Tears everywhere at ‘miraculous victory’
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The game was scheduled to start at 10 a.m., but crowds of supporters began to gather in front of the stadium about two hours before.
At around 8 a.m., Kyoto International High School faculty and staff set up a booth in front of the stadium for parents who had made reservations to join the cheering squad and handed out tickets. Some fans who had not made reservations bought tickets individually.
A grandfather in his 70s from Okayama Prefecture waited outside the stadium with other parents to enter, and when he met a reporter, he smiled happily and boasted that his grandson was a member of the baseball team, even though he did not make it to the starting lineup.
On this day, about 2,800 people gathered at the Kyoto International High School cheering section. They all wore headbands that said “Kyoto International,” giving off a sense of “seriousness.”
On one side of the cheering squad were about 10 students from Yangcheon Middle School who had visited Japan for the Korea-Japan middle school baseball exchange event. Lee Seong-jae, a third-year student at the school, said, "I hope Kyoto International High School wins."
A brass band from a nearby school also rented a bus and came to join the cheering squad.
As it turned out, Kyoto International High School, which only had 160 students including 22 middle school students, did not have an ensemble club and so had asked a nearby school for support.
This school has 138 high school students, about half of whom are 한국을 boys and half are girls, and 61 of them are members of the baseball club.
As the game began, the students cheered and sang along to the beat of the drums. Parents also cheered along.
It was so hot that it was hard to breathe even if I just sat down, but the cheering was so hot that it beat the heat wave.
The cheers grew louder as the Kyoto International High School players scored two runs in a tiebreaker game with runners on first and second base and no outs in the top of the 10th inning after both teams finished the regular 9th inning without scoring.
Then, when relief pitcher Itki Nishimura, who appeared in the bottom of the 10th inning, gave up only one run to the opposing team, Kanto Daiichi, and secured the victory, the cheering atmosphere reached its peak.
The students cheered loudly, as if they could no longer raise their voices in joy at their victory, and some even shed tears.
Among the students who shed tears was Shinnosuke Yamamoto, a third-year student at the school and the cheerleader.
He said the secret to his alma mater's victory was "strong teamwork" and "I really wanted to see them win before I graduated."
Yamamoto originally played as a catcher for the baseball club, but was depressed after being unable to participate in long-term practice due to lumbar spondylosis and COVID-19 infection, but it was reported that he took on the role of cheerleader with the intention of doing what he could for the team.
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