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After both Koshien tournaments were cancelled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the summer edition of 2021 kicked off on August 10.
With tradition we will mention each school in this year's tournament with a 2021 Lions connection. . This is officially the 103rd edition.
While the games already started and several school eliminated, they will still get recognition.
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Appearance stats are for Summer Koshien only
Hokkai (South Hokkaido, 39th appearance, first since 2017): OF Seiji Kawagoe, OF Daisuke Togawa, IF Ryusei Sato, P Jiyu Okubo
Hokkai is remembered for making the finals in 2016, only to lose to the champions. Kawagoe and Sato were both taken out of university with both players receiving limited ichi-gun playing time and the former is a converted pitcher. Sato was suspended for speeding in 2020 and is a reserve.
Togawa and Okubo were high school draft picks in the ikusei rounds of 2014 and 2018, respectively with the former earning a promotion.
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Tohoku Gakuin (Miyagi, first appearance): P Keisuke Honda
Honda has been a back-end starting pitcher for the Lions, but his inconsistently has not led to frequent ichi-gun action. He currently remains in ni-gun.
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Sakushin Gakuin (Tochigi, 10th consecutive appearance, 16th overall): P Tatsuya Imai
Imai was the ace for Sakushin Gakuin's 2016 championship. He is currently a front end starter in the Lions rotation and had an all-star game appearance in 2021.
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Maebashi Ikuei (Gunma, 4th consecutive appearance, 5th overall): P Kona Takahashi
Takahashi carried Maebashi Ikuei to a Koshien title in the school's first appearance back in 2013. He is currently the ace of the Lions.
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Urawa Gakuin (Saitama, 14th appearance, first since 2018): P Yutaro Watanabe
Watanabe was a second round draft pick in 2018 while he participated in the school's last appearance. He made his ichi-gun debut in 2021 and has seen mixed results as a reliever.
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Shizuoka (Shizuoka, 13th appearance, first since 2018): OF Shohei Suzuki
Suzuki has been a part time outfielder for the Lions since 2020, but struggles to stay around as a starter.
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Aikōdai Meiden (Aichi, 13th appearance, first since 2018): P Ken Togame
"Meiden" is famously known as the high school of Ichiro Suzuki. Togame has been a starter for most of his Lions career, but switched to relief after struggling in 2020.
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Yokohama (Kanagawa, 19th appearance, first since 2018): P Daisuke Matsuzaka, Coach Masahiro Abe
Daisuke Matsuzaka became a legend from high school as he won Koshien in 1998, throwing a no-hitter in the midst of that run. Players around his age are known as the "Matsuzaka Generation." While a great pitcher prior to 2007, he has yet to appear in an ichi-gun game in this current stint with the Lions. Abe serves as an ichi-gun batting coach.
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Tsuruga Kehi (Fukui, 3rd consecutive appearance, 10th overall): IF Shinya Hasegawa
Hasegawa was an ikusei draft pick of the Lions last October straight out of high school. Tsuruga Kehi is mostly known for Masataka Yoshida among active NPB players.
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Osaka Toin (Osaka, 11th appearance, first since 2018): IF Takeya Nakamura, C Masatoshi Okada, C Tomoya Mori, OF Yuta Nakamigawa
The Lions pipeline with Osaka Toin continued when they took Nakamigawa in the 7th round of the 2020 draft. Mori has the most successful high school career, winning both Spring and Summer Koshien in 2012 with Shintaro Fujinami as his pitcher. Okada was the catcher for Sho Nakata in high school and serves as the Lions backup today. Nakamura needs no intro as he's the franchise leader in home runs.
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Meitoku Gijiiku (Kochi, 2nd consecutive appearance, 21st overall): OF Junichiro Kishi
Kishi was a pitcher in high school and actually lost to Mori's Osaka Toin team in a tournament. An 8th round pick in 2019 out of Indy ball, he has seen more ichi-gun games in 2021 and even spent time as the Lions leadoff hitter in centerfield.
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Nishi-Nippon (Fukuoka, 6th appearance, 11th overall): P Ren Omagari
Ren Omagari was the Lions 5th round draft pick last October out of University. Notably, he was a rubber ball pitcher and is currently in ni-gun.
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Shōnan (Kagoshima, 20th appearance, first since 2016): P Shota Hamaya
Hamaya was a second round draft pick of the Lions in 2019 as a shakaijin. He saw a handful of ichi-gun starts, but couldn't keep his rotation spot. He remains in ni-gun.
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Okinawa Shogaku (Okinawa, 2nd consecutive appearance, 9th overall): P Kaito Yoza
"Okisho" was home to Softbank Hawks pitcher Nao Higashihama. Yoza went to university and the Lions drafted him in 2017. A submarine pitcher, Yoza battled an injury, spent time under an ikusei contract and eventually made his debut in 2020. He was a starter last season, but is mostly a reliever in 2021.
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