Osaka Toin High School, a powerhouse known for producing numerous pro baseball stars, on Thursday captured Japan's spring invitational championship for the fourth time.
Osaka Toin beat Shiga Prefecture's Omi High School 18-1 in the final of the 94th edition of the spring invitational at Koshien Stadium, winning the nationally televised tournament for the first time in four years.
The school has won five summer national championships, also played at the historic ballpark outside Osaka in neighboring Hyogo Prefecture. Its nine combined titles are the second-most in Japan.
Omi, attempting to become the first school from Shiga to win either a spring or summer title, was a late addition to the tournament, taking the place of another school that was excluded due to coronavirus infections.
Up to 20,000 fans per game were allowed into the ballpark this year, while schools' brass bands were allowed to perform for the first time in three years. In 2020, both the invitational and the summer national champions were canceled over coronavirus concerns.
Six-time Pacific League home run champion Takeya Nakamura, his Seibu Lions teammate and 2019 PL MVP Tomoya Mori, and six-time Best Nine Award winner Hideto Asamura of the Rakuten Eagles are among Osaka Toin's graduates.
