Ariake Team Names Starters for Koshien Baseball Match
Listen to the story
The Ariake high school baseball team has announced its starting lineup for a game at Koshien, Japan's famous national high school baseball tournament.
The team's goal is to reach the top eight, meaning the final eight teams still in the competition.
Ariake is known for its strong pitcher-catcher pair, often called the "Saito-Ko" combination by fans and reporters.
Before the match, the coach explained the plan, saying, "As always, Ko starts, then Saito comes in."
This shows the usual order the team uses during games, with one player starting and the other joining later.
The starting lineup is the official list of players chosen to begin a match.
Announcing the lineup early lets fans and opposing teams know who will play from the first inning.
Koshien is one of the biggest sporting events for teenagers in Japan, watched by millions on television every summer.
Teams from across the country compete for a chance to be champions.
Reaching the top eight is a strong result, and many schools work for years to get this far.
Alongside Ariake's news, another team, Higashi Nihon Kokusai University Shohei, also made headlines.
Their pitcher, Yutaka Terunuma, has started for three matches in a row.
His coach, Egai, said Terunuma is "a type of player who gets better by pitching."
This means the pitcher improves his form the more he plays.
Meanwhile, fans have noted that Fukushima and Kumamoto prefectures have met three times before at Koshien in past tournaments.
These matches show the long history of competition between different regions in Japan's baseball tournament.
Vocabulary8 words
- Koshien
- Japan's most famous high school baseball tournament
- pitcher
- the player who throws the ball to the batter
- catcher
- the player who catches the ball from the pitcher
- starting lineup
- the official list of players who begin a game
- prefecture
- a large area or region in Japan, like a state
- inning
- one part of a baseball game when both teams play
- tournament
- a series of games to find a winner
- coach
- the person who trains and leads a sports team
Quiz
Answer key
1. The Saito-Ko pitcher-catcher pair 2. One who gets better by pitching more 3. Three times
Fill-in-the-blank listening
Play the audio again and fill in the missing words as you listen.
The Ariake high school baseball team has announced its starting _____ for a game at Koshien.
The team's goal is to reach the top _____, meaning the final eight teams.
Ariake is known for its strong pitcher-_____ pair.
The coach explained the plan, saying, "As always, Ko starts, then _____ comes in."
The starting lineup is the official list of _____ chosen to begin a match.
Koshien is one of the biggest sporting events for _____ in Japan.
Reaching the top eight is a strong _____.
Their pitcher, Yutaka Terunuma, has started for three matches in a _____.
This means the pitcher improves his _____ the more he plays.
Fukushima and Kumamoto prefectures have met three times before at _____.
Discussion questions
- Why do you think teams announce their starting lineup before a big game?
- What might be the benefits of having a well-known player pair, like Ariake's pitcher-catcher combo?
- Why could pitching regularly help a player improve, as suggested about Terunuma?
- Why do you think historical matchups between regions, like Fukushima and Kumamoto, interest fans?