【Japanese Baseball History】2012　Shohei Ohtani VS Shintaro Fujinami on thier high school days in 2012

In the 84th tournament in 2012, Shohei Otani (Nippon Ham) of Hanamaki Higashi and Shintaro Fujinami (Hanshin) of Osaka Toin clashed in the first round. The game was the talk of the town.

　The game began in the bottom of the second inning. Otani, the leadoff batter, hit a homer to the right field stands on the fifth pitch of the inning with the count 2-2. Otani’s homer was the signal for the game between the two high-profile schools. While Otani was circling the diamond, Fujinami was smiling, which was impressive.

　The game was 2-0 in favor of Hanamaki-Higashi, but Osaka Toin turned the tables in the top of the 6th inning to take a 3-2 lead. Osaka Toin then added runs in the seventh and ninth innings to knock Otani out of the game and win the game. Otani the batter” hit a home run off Fujinami, but “Otani the pitcher” had a rough outing, throwing 11 walks. Fujinami was defeated by the pitcher.

　Fujinami beat Otani and started his quest for consecutive spring and summer championships.

　2012年の第84回大会、1回戦では大谷翔平（日本ハム）擁する花巻東と藤浪晋太郎（阪神）擁する大阪桐蔭が激突。大きな話題となった。

　試合が動いたのは2回裏。先頭打者の大谷がカウント2-2から5球目の変化球を右翼スタンドへ本塁打を放つ。注目校同士の一番は大谷の本塁打が号砲となったのだ。大谷がダイヤモンドを一周している間、心なしか藤浪が笑顔だったのが印象的だった。

　試合は2対0と花巻東リードで進むが、6回表に大阪桐蔭が3対2と逆転。その後も大阪桐蔭は7回、9回に追加点を挙げ、大谷をノックアウトして勝利。「打者大谷」は藤浪から本塁打を放ったが、「投手大谷」は11四死球と大荒れ。藤浪に投げ負けてしまった。

　藤浪は大谷を倒し、春夏連覇へ向けてスタートを切ったのだ。#甲子園 #高校野球 #大谷翔平#甲子園 #高校野球 #大谷翔平