Our Town 2024 Naonojou Hirabayashi, Koya Sato

14th All Japan Junior Softball Baseball Club Team Selection Tournament Participation

The Asou Baseball Club, to which Hirabayashi and Sato from Inagi Dai 2 Junior High School's 2nd year belong, placed in the top 2 teams in the Kanto Junior High School Softball Club Team Kanto Tournament and Autumn Tournament held in December of the 5th year of Reiwa in Kanagawa Prefecture, and successfully qualified for the national tournament to be held in Shiga Prefecture in August.

Mr. Hirabayashi and Mr. Sato started playing baseball due to their family's influence from a young age and were part of Inagi City's youth team during elementary school. In addition to the Aso Baseball Club, they were also members of their school's baseball team, participating in club team practices twice a week and school activities three times a week, dedicating their days to training.

In the Aso Baseball Club, Hirabayashi is the pitcher and Sato is the catcher, forming a battery. When asked what they like about baseball, they both smiled and said, "It's really fun when I strike out a batter (Hirabayashi)," and "It's very enjoyable when I can contribute to the team, especially in games where I can bring out the pitcher's strengths (Sato)." When asked about each other's roles in the team, they said, "Sato practices more stoically than anyone else (Hirabayashi)," and "Hirabayashi is a reliable presence who can hold it down in crucial moments (Sato)," indicating the strength of their trust in each other.

When asked about their enthusiasm for the national tournament to be held in August, I heard strong feelings about participating in the national tournament for the first time: "I want to do my best with the goal of throwing until the end at the national tournament (Mr. Hirabayashi)," and "The team's victory is the top priority, and personally, I want to do my best to become the No. 1 catcher in the tournament (Mr. Sato)."

The future goals of the two who plan to switch to hardball baseball in high school are, "I want to become the No. 1 pitcher in Kanagawa Prefecture, where my club team is based (Hirabayashi)" and "My core and muscle strength are still weak, so I want to strengthen them and aim to become a professional baseball player in the future (Sato)" as they shared their aspirations.

In August, let's all support the two of them so they can fully demonstrate the results of their daily practice at the national tournament.