The Yomiuri Shimbun
Okinawa Shogaku players run toward their fans to thank them for their support after the team beat Tokyo’s Nihon University Third High School in the National High School Baseball Championship final at Koshien Stadium in Nishinomiya, Hyogo Prefecture, on Saturday.
16:36 JST, August 23, 2025
A two-time winner in the spring, Okinawa Shogaku High School now has a title to its credit in the more prestigious summer national championship at Koshien Stadium. And it did it in its first-ever appearance in the final.
Eimu Ginoza drove in two runs and second-year hurlers Yuito Arakaki and Ryosuke Sueyoshi combined on a six-hitter as Okinawa Shogaku edged Tokyo’s Nihon University Third High School (Nichidai-san) 3-1 in the final of the National High School Baseball Championship on Saturday.
The Yomiuri Shimbun
Okinawa Shogaku’s Eimu Ginoza singles in the go-ahead run in the sixth inning off Nichidai-san’s Yuki Kondo in the final on Saturday at Koshien Stadium.
Before a packed crowd of 45,600 at Koshien in Nishinomiya, Hyogo Prefecture, Ginoza broke a 1-1 tie in the sixth inning with an RBI single, then doubled in an insurance run in the eighth as Okinawa Shogaku became the first team from the southern archipelago prefecture since 2010 to win the championship.
“Being able to come through in those situations makes me the most happy,” Ginoza said in a post-game interview on the field.
Ginoza scored Okinawa Shogaku’s first run when he led off the second inning with an infield hit, was sacrificed to second and, one out later, scored on Yu Ahagon’s double to left.
By winning the 107th edition of the midsummer classic, Okinawa Shogaku adds to its previous titles in the spring National Invitational Championship in 1999 and 2008, while denying Nichidai-san a third title and first since 2011.
Pitching became the key to Okinawa Shogaku’s path to victory throughout the tournament. In six games, the school had three one-run victories, and won no games by more than three runs.
The Yomiuri Shimbun
Fans celebrate Okinawa Shogaku players’s win following the final at Koshien Stadium.
On Saturday, right-hander Arakaki gave up a run in the first inning, but otherwise shut down the Nichidai-san bats, allowing six hits over 7⅔ innings while striking out four and walking one.
“Up to now, he’s the pitcher who has been throwing the best,” manager Koya Higa said. “I had planned to use him for five innings, but he did a great job of getting through to two outs in the eighth inning.”
Sueyoshi, a southpaw, came in to get the final out of the eighth inning with a runner on first, then pitched out of a jam of his own making in the ninth to finish up the win.
In the ninth, Sueyoshi issued a one-out walk, then threw wildly to first on a slow grounder back to the box, putting runners on first and third. But the southpaw got pinch-hitter Shosei Nagano to ground sharply to short, resulting in a victory-clinching double play.
This year’s tournament was historic in that it featured a number of precautions against the oppressive summer heat. The opening ceremony was moved to the late afternoon for the first time, and games were scheduled to avoid the hottest times of the day. Some late games finished after 10 p.m.
AloJapan.com