“多彩”と“剛腕”のダブルエース擁する高知中央「自分たちしかいない」危機を越え、18日に初戦へ (26/07/13 19:25)

The 2026 Summer High School Baseball Tournament in Kochi Prefecture is said to be so evenly matched that it's impossible to predict who will win. Amidst this, attention is focused on Kochi Chuo High School, which boasts a powerful pitcher who can throw fastballs exceeding 150 km/h and is aiming for its second consecutive appearance at the Summer Koshien Tournament. Kochi Chuo, the 2025 Summer champions, runner-up in the Spring Kochi Tournament, and the 4th seed heading into the Summer Tournament, has some welcome news this spring: the addition of first-year students to their team. In 2025, the previous coach went to a high school in Kagawa Prefecture, and all the third-year junior high school students who were scheduled to attend Kochi Chuo enrolled there instead. As a result, Kochi Chuo had no first-year students left. Kochi Chuo Baseball Club, 3rd year, Captain Tsukihiro Matsuyama: "Since no underclassmen are joining, when the new team is formed, it will just be us, so we thought we'd do our best with our own strength." With only the current 22 third-year students, they achieved a top 4 finish in the prefecture in the fall of 2025 and a runner-up finish in the spring. In 2026, the Kochi Chuo Baseball Club welcomed a much-awaited 17 first-year students. Kochi Chuo Baseball Club, 1st year, Eito Asai (from Kochi): "I'm not very good at defense, so I chose Chuo because I thought it was a team where I could really hone my defensive skills." Kochi Chuo Baseball Club, 1st year, Minato Maruoka: "(Chuo) is a team built on defense, with solid pitchers and few errors in the field." Kochi Chuo's strength lies in its impenetrable defense, with only one error in four games during the spring tournament. Supporting Chuo's defense is a practice called "ground ball fielding," which takes more time than regular fielding drills, to instill fundamental defensive movements into the body. This is the policy of Coach Yamano Tsukasa, who took office in April 2025 and emphasizes "fundamentals." Kochi Chuo Baseball Club Coach Yamano Tsukasa: "As for Chuo's style of baseball, I advocate for a defensive team centered around the battery (pitcher and catcher) that can bring games to a close contest." The team's greatest weapon is undoubtedly its two ace pitchers, both of whom have experience in the 2025 Summer Koshien Tournament. Pitcher Nobuhiro Matsuura, number 1, is known for his consistent performance, baffling batters with a fastball reaching 146 km/h and a variety of breaking balls including a changeup! The other pitcher boasts a fastball reaching 154 km/h and a sharp slider! Pitcher Raika Katada, number 10, led the team to Koshien by shutting down the Meitoku batting lineup in the 2025 Summer Koshien final. Kochi Chuo Baseball Club Manager, Tsukasa Yamano: "I think there's a sense of rivalry, but they're both leading the team together in a friendly manner, so the team is grateful." Regarding the two rivals and each other... Kochi Chuo Baseball Club 3rd Year Pitcher, Raika Katada: "Matsuura has a tremendous sense of responsibility as the ace, and he has the control to throw any pitch to the corners of the plate, and a fastball with good velocity." Kochi Chuo Baseball Club 3rd Year Pitcher, Nobuhiro Matsuura: "(Katada) throws faster than me, and he's a very reliable presence. I want to see him pitch aggressively with his fastball, and when necessary, he can also throw breaking balls effectively." The aspirations of the two players attracting attention from all over the country... Kochi Chuo Baseball Club 3rd Year Pitcher, Raika Katada: "After Matsuura sets up the game, I want to pitch well and shut them down so that the team can win." Kochi Chuo Baseball Club 3rd Year, Nobuhiro Matsuura Pitcher: "We have two ace pitchers, so we want to pitch through the Kochi Prefecture tournament together and do our best to go to Koshien again." Pitchers Katada & Matsuura: "We're definitely going to Koshien!" Kochi Chuo's first game is on July 18th against Kochi National College of Technology.