Koshien High School Baseball: Third Round Underway
High school baseball teams in Japan are competing in the third round of the summer Koshien tournament.
Koshien is a famous baseball stadium where the national high school championship is held every summer. It is one of the biggest sports events for students in Japan.
On the eleventh day of the tournament, several third-round matches are taking place. Teams are hoping to reach the final eight, which means the top eight teams remaining in the competition.
Two of the featured matches are Takagawa Gakuen against Tenri, and Tsuruga Kehi against Chiben Wakayama.
In the match against Tenri, the opposing team scored the first run of the game without getting a base hit, a situation often called a no-hit run. This kind of score usually happens through other plays, such as walks or errors.
Before the game started, a player from Tenri spoke about the team's strategy. He said that the speed of the first three batters in the lineup was a very important point for the team.
Fast runners at the top of the batting order can help a team score more easily, since they are more likely to reach base and then advance using their speed.
The tournament is being closely watched by fans across Japan, as high school baseball has a long and popular history in the country.
Coverage of the games is being updated live, with reports on scores and key moments from each match as the third round continues.
Vocabulary7 words
- Koshien
- a famous stadium in Japan for high school baseball
- stadium
- a large place built for watching sports
- final eight
- the top eight teams left in a competition
- no-hit run
- a point scored without hitting the ball successfully
- batters
- players who try to hit the ball
- lineup
- the order in which players bat in a game
- tournament
- a series of games to find a winner
Quiz
Answer key
1. The final eight 2. Without getting a base hit 3. The speed of the first three batters
Fill-in-the-blank listening
Play the audio again and fill in the missing words as you listen.
High school baseball teams in Japan are competing in the third round of the summer _____ tournament.
Koshien is a famous baseball _____ where the national high school championship is held every summer.
On the eleventh day of the tournament, teams are hoping to reach the _____, meaning the top eight remaining teams.
Two of the featured matches are Takagawa Gakuen against Tenri, and Tsuruga Kehi against Chiben Wakayama.
In the match against Tenri, the opposing team scored the first run without getting a base hit, called a _____.
Before the game started, a player from Tenri spoke about the team's strategy.
He said that the speed of the first three _____ in the lineup was a very important point.
Fast runners at the top of the batting _____ can help a team score more easily.
The tournament is being closely watched by fans, as high school baseball has a long history in the country.
Coverage of the games is being updated live as the third round continues.
Discussion questions
- Why do you think fast runners at the top of a baseball lineup are considered important?
- Have you ever watched or played in a school sports tournament? What was it like?
- Why might high school sports events like Koshien be so popular in a country?
- What do you think makes a team successful in a knockout-style tournament?