Osaka Toin Tops Chiben Gakuen for Record-Tying 5th Spring Crown

The Japan News

19:07 JST, March 31, 2026

Left-hander Haruto Kawamoto struck out 15 and allowed just six hits in going the distance, but wasn’t assured of the victory until Osaka Toin’s seventh-inning uprising.

Osaka Toin, which saw an early three-run lead evaporate against a scrappy Chiben Gakuen team, exploded for four runs in the seventh to pull away for a 7-3 victory in the final of the National High School Baseball Invitational Tournament on Tuesday at Koshien Stadium in Nishinomiya, Hyogo Prefecture.

The win gave Osaka Toin its record-tying fifth title in the prestigious spring tourney and first in four years, while denying Nara Prefecture’s Chiben Gakuen what would have been its second after winning in 2016. Combining the spring and summer tournaments, Osaka Toin is now 10 for 10 in championship games.

“I told the boys yesterday that winning and finishing as runner-up is totally different,” Osaka Toin manager Koichi Nishitani said. “The captain [Taiga Kurokawa] also firmly told his teammates this, and that led to the team’s commitment to winning.”

After Chiben Gakuen’s Yusei Osaka tied the game at 3-all with a solo home run in the bottom of the sixth, Osaka Toin struck back right away, and in a big way.

Loading the bases with no outs, Shunta Utsumi drew a walk to force in the go-ahead run, and a fielder’s choice added a second.

But the Osaka school wasn’t finished, as Kurokawa, who had been 0 for 3 with two strikeouts, delivered a two-run single to left to make it 7-3.

Chiben Gakuen put two runners on with two outs in the bottom of the seventh, but Kawamoto got Kanata Shimura to ground out to short to snuff the rally. He then retired six of the next seven batters he faced, with one walk, to secure the championship for his school that tied the record of five overall titles held by Aichi’s Toho.

“I allowed runs in the middle of the game, but I was able to hang in there and I think I did a good job,” said second-year student Kawamoto, who started the game by striking out the side in the first inning.

Osaka Toin jumped out to a 3-0 lead off Chiben Gakuen ace Mahiro Sugimoto on Yuto Nakamura’s RBI single in the second inning and Hiroto Fujita’s two-run double in the third.

Chiben Gakuen chipped away at the lead with small ball, scoring in the third when No. 9 hitter Hayato Yagi drew a 10-pitch walk, went to second on a wild pitch, advanced to third on a groundout, then scored when Shimura beat out an infield single to first.

In the fourth inning, Osaka blooped a double to left, went to third on a sacrifice, then scored on Atsuhisa Kitagawa’s successful suicide squeeze to cut Toin’s lead to 3-2.