Yakyuu

Hokushou Nishi had their final baseball game of the school year a few weeks ago. I had a business trip in Nagasaki on Monday, so I was able to catch the game in Sasebo before heading off to Nagasaki.

I was especially interested in seeing the game because Tatsushi, one of my seniors, was playing in the position of catcher for the last time. He, and most of his teammates, were so gung-ho about the game that they all shaved their heads a week or two before the big game.

When I asked them all why they did it, they merely replied, "BASEBALL!"

Hokushou has a freshman pitching for them. He's actually pretty good. He impressed me by striking out lots of players while he was on the mound.

The game was pretty tense. It was a tie game all the way through into the 9th inning. Unfortunately, when Omura HS was up to bat with two outs, one of their boys hit a ground ball into left field and won the game.

Tatsushi and his teammates were crying when they left the field. Tatsushi's mom and the other people in the audience were crying too. I didn't cry. I did, however, sneak out early to avoid seeing a lot of people cry. Awkward.