Summer Koshien 2019: Schools with a Seibu Lions connection

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The 2019 Summer Koshien tournament will begin on August 6. Unlike how the 2018 tournament had its 100th edition and a field of 56 schools, this year's version will only have 49 with two coming from Tokyo and Hokkaido. All 45 other prefectures will have one representative as each school had to earn their bid to the tournament in an all-out prefecture tournament of their own.

In a twisted spoiler alert: Osaka Toin did not make this year's tournament, meaning we will have a new champion for 2019. Even with one of the most famous baseball high schools in the nation not participating, the Lions still have several players and other personnel connected to a high school in this year's edition.


Here are all the schools connected to the Saitama Seibu Lions, as shown on the visual map:

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Maebashi Ikuei (Gunma): P Kona Takahashi (5th appearance overall, 4th consecutive)

Kona Takahashi is remembered as a high school legend for taking a then-first year school as a Junior to a Koshien championship in 2013. It appears that Maebashi Ikuei is now the powerhouse of Gunma as they've continued to make appearances in Summer Koshien.

With the Lions, Takahashi was a first round pick in 2014 unopposed and threw a shutout in his first season back in 2015. He has seen rotation time, but struggles with control and remains up and down. This year, he made the All-Star game for the Pacific League and is a regular rotation starter, but has remained inconsistent.

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Sakushin Gakuin (Tochigi): P Tatsuya Imai (15th appearance overall, 9th consecutive)

Imai helped Sakushin Gakuin win the tournament in 2016 and was drafted by the Lions in the first round unopposed. Playing on a loaded team, majority of Sakushin Gakuin players will become Shakaijin or go to University, but Imai was taken straight out of high school. The only other current NPB player out of this high school is Kazunari Ishii of the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters.

With the Lions, Imai missed the entire 2017 season by failing to play an ichi-gun game after the team shut him down due to injury. Last year, he made up for lost time and showed promise. This year, he has flashes and is still only 21 years old. The Lions hope he can be the team's future ace, but he is making progress to at least be a front end starter.

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Hanasaki Tokuharu (Saitama): OF "Aito" Takeda and IF/OF Manaya Nishikawa (7th appearance overall, 5th consecutive)

Hanasaki Tokuharu has been a recent powerhouse out of Northern Saitama prefecture and has had several players drafted as a result. Aito was part of a team that made a decent run in 2015 before being drafted by the Lions in the fourth round. Nishikawa won the Koshien tournament in 2017 and the Lions drafted him in the second round.

Kenya Wakatsuki of the Orix Buffaloes is the only notable NPB starter currently at the ichi-gun level, but many prospects have potential including Koya Takahashi (Carp), Yuki Nomura (Fighters) and Tatsuya Shimizu (Dragons).

Nishikawa has yet to play an ichi-gun game for the Lions, but they've used him at multiple positions at the ni-gun level trying to figure out his future role. On paper, he has the tools to hit and they can utilize his speed. Aito saw ichi-gun time as early as 2017, but recorded his first career base hit in 2019 and sees occasional time as a replacement or spell outfielder.

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Sendai Ikuei (Miyagi): Coach Takanori Hoshi (28th appearance overall, 3rd consecutive)

Sendai Ikuei is a huge powerhouse of the region and has produced several professional ball players. Among recent prospects, Kosuke Baba (Tigers) and Taiga Hirasawa (Marines) are notable first round draft picks that could continue this legacy.

Takanori Hoshi spent majority of his career as a backup catcher on the Yomiuri Giants behind future Hall of Famer Shinnosuke Abe. He was traded to the Lions in the middle of 2011 and served as a backup/reserve catcher. After retiring as a player in 2016, he has served as an ikusei coach to work with ni-gun catchers. Recently, the Lions had to sign him to an ikusei contract with the shortage of farm catchers due to injury. He has appeared in a handful of games, but is mostly there as a mentor.

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Koku Gakuin Kugayama (West Tokyo): Battery coach Kosaku Akimoto (3rd appearance overall, first in 28 years)

As a player, Akimoto was with the Lions as a dropout of college and was part on outsider draft, a system from 1965-1992. He didn't appear in any ichi-gun game, but made an appearance as a farm prospect in San Jose, California as part of the San Jose Bees and because of how the minor leagues operate, his nickname was "Rattoo". He saw time as a backup catcher and coach for the Yokohama Baystars from 1990-2000 and won a Japan Series in 1998.

Koku Gakuin Kugayama has only one player currently in NPB. IF Shin Matsuda was a 7th round shakaijin draft pick of the Chiba Lotte Marines in 2018. Their most famous player is Tadahito Iguchi, currently serving as the Marines manager.

Since his playing days ended, Akimoto has been in the Lions organization  as a battery coach since 2011 at the ni-gun level. He earned a promotion to ichi-gun in 2017.

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Shizuoka (Shizuoka): OF Shohei Suzuki (25th appearance overall, first in 4 years)

Shizuoka High School is a traditional powerhouse of the area given its number of appearances. Among current NPB players, Hirotoshi Masui (Orix Buffaloes) is the most accomplished while Kengo Horiuchi is a prospect for the Rakuten Eagles. Past players who had lengthy careers include the late Yoshihito Oda, Kazuharu Yamazaki, Motoyuki Akahori, Toshikazu Hattori and Yasunari Takagi.

Suzuki was a fourth round draft pick of the Lions in 2016 and made his ichi-gun debut earlier this year as a pinch runner. He has seen time in left field and is viewed as a future starting outfielder when Shogo Akiyama leaves the team.

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Naruto (Tokushima): Tetsuya Shiozaki (13th appearance overall, second consecutive)

Shiozaki never made it to Koshien, but did make a name for himself as a shakaijin amateur. During the 1988 Summer Olympics in Korea, baseball was a demonstration sport ans Shiozaki participated in it, earning a silver medal. As a demonstration sport, this didn't count towards the country's overall medal count.

With the Lions, he was mostly a reliever and saw the very back end of the Golden Era in the early 1990s. His playing career ended in 2004 and began serving with the Lions as a coach in 2007. After leaving in 2010, he returned in 2014 as mostly a ni-gun coach and manager. Today he is a front office assistant to General Manager Hisanobu "Nabe-Q" Watanabe.

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Tsuruga Kehi (Fukui): P Tetsuya Utsumi (9th appearance overall, second consecutive)

Utsumi was originally a special priority draft pick of the Yomiuri Giants in 2003, where players could be secured before the draft with money (Kibowaku). He was a shakaijin when selected.  

Tsuruga Kehi had several notable NPB talents from Masataka Yoshida (Orix Buffaloes) and Ryoma Nishikawa (Carp) as well as younger players Soichiro Yamazaki (Buffaloes) and Shota Hiranuma (Fighters).  

For the Lions, Utsumi has been a large disappointment after he was selected from the Giants as the free agent compensation for the loss of Ginjiro Sumitani. As a veteran, he still has yet to play an ichi-gun game after several setback injuries. His career has been remembered by being a long household name of the Giants by being a regular starter in their rotation.  

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Ritsumeikan Uji (Kyoto): OF Yuji Kaneko (3rd appearance overall, first in 37 years)

Ritsumeikan is a school system with several elevator schools of the same name from Middle school all the way to University. Yuji Kaneko went through this process during his time in Kyoto playing University ball there as well. This school has produced several soccer players.  

Kaneko was drafted in the third round of 2012 by the Lions and originally played on the infield at shortstop mostly as a spell player. He always had speed to keep himself at the ichi-gun, but found a new strength in 2016 when the Lions inserted him as the starting right fielder. He has been a decent slap hitter, but his speed on the base paths is what makes him stand out. Kaneko has stolen at least 25 bags in the last four years.

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Akashi Shogyo (Hyogo): P Wataru Matsumoto (2nd appearance overall, 2nd consecutive)

Wataru Matsumoto is the only NPB representative from this high school, but it's possible that Akashi Shogyo is a new powerhouse? They have made two Spring Koshien appearances and made the most of them, reaching the "Elite 8" stage in 2016 and the "Final Four" in 2019.

Last fall, Matsumoto was taken by the Lions in the first round of the NPB Draft with no opposition out of University. He was the only original first round nomination to not go to a drawing. With Matsumoto being a first round pick, they're hoping he can be a future and has shown promise in his short time at the ichi-gun level. 

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Kaisei (Nagasaki): IF Kyohei Nagae (18th appearance overall, first in 5 years)

Nagae had Summer Koshien experience in 2011 as a senior and was the team's captain and pitcher. His school was bounced by Juri Hara's (Swallows) school in the first round. The Lions drafted him in the fourth round of the 2011 NPB Draft straight out of high school. Taiga Egoshi (Hanshin Tigers) and Toshiya Nakamura (Marines) are also products from this high school. Among past players,. Katsuo Hirata had a long career with the Hanshin Tigers, now serving as a coach for them. 

At the NPB level, Nagae has mostly seen time as a defensive replacement and has shown he can't hit. With his inability to hit his weight, his role is limited at the ichi-gun level, but can play good defense at SS and 3B in a pinch. 

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Okinawa Shogaku (Okinawa): P Kaito Yoza (8th appearance overall, first in 5 years)

Kaito Yoza, an Okinawan out of Okinawa Shogaku (Okisho) was drafted by the Lions out of a University in Gifu prefecture back in 2017. A submarine pitcher, he has spent his whole professional career recovering from an injury and has not played a game at any level from ni-gun to ichi-gun. He was given an ikusei contract before the 2019 NPB season.  

Okisho has produced multiple NPB players from Nao Higashihama (Hawks), Shota Ishimine (Marines) and Hiroki Minei (Baystars) as well as ikusei Hawks player Richard Sunagawa. Their most famous player of the past is Yasunaga Mikishi, who currently serves as a first base coach for the Rakuten Eagles.  

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