Yokohama pitcher Oda amazes Kasumigaura at Koshien
Listen to the story
Shoki Oda plays baseball for Yokohama High School. He is a pitcher. Yokohama played against Kasumigaura High School. The game was at Koshien. Koshien is a big baseball tournament for high schools in Japan.
Oda faced twelve batters. He got seven strikeouts. He threw many different kinds of pitches. His pitches changed speed and direction. This is called a changeup style.
A Kasumigaura player named Nishino plays fourth in the batting order. This is an important position. Nishino said Oda's pitching was so good that he started to laugh. He said, 'I just laughed.'
Oda has been the team's stopper for two games in a row. A stopper is a pitcher who stops the other team from scoring. Yokohama fans are happy with his pitching.
At Koshien this year, half of the final eight teams have never won the summer tournament before. Some schools are playing at Koshien for the very first time. Four teams still hope to win their first title.
Vocabulary10 words
- pitcher
- a player who throws the ball to the batter
- Koshien
- a famous baseball tournament in Japan
- tournament
- a competition with many games
- batters
- players who try to hit the ball
- strikeouts
- when a batter misses three times and is out
- changeup
- a pitch that looks fast but is slow
- fourth
- number four; an important batting spot
- stopper
- a pitcher who stops the other team scoring
- final eight
- the last eight teams in a tournament
- title
- the prize for winning a tournament
Quiz
Answer key
1. Yokohama 2. Seven 3. True
Fill-in-the-blank listening
Play the audio again and fill in the missing words as you listen.
Shoki Oda plays baseball for _____ High School. He is a _____. Yokohama played against Kasumigaura High School. The game was at _____.
Oda faced twelve _____. He got seven _____. He threw many different kinds of pitches.
A Kasumigaura player named _____ plays fourth in the batting order. He said Oda's pitching was so good that he started to _____.
Oda has been the team's _____ for two games in a row.
At Koshien this year, half of the final eight teams have never won the summer tournament before.