April 22nd Atchison v Nakata - A debacle

Okada had decided to try a left-right-left batter arrangement to unsettle Nakata. It failed miserably - bringing back Imaoka as a starting batter was a waste of time and Sekimoto did not look comfortable back at second in the lineup. Nakata was totally unaffected by this change and pitched very well to shut out the Tigers. All Okada accomplished was to disrupt a settled team and lose a match. Line scores

        1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R  H E
Tigers  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  5 1
Dragons 0 4 1 0 0 1 2 0 X 8 12 0

Starting lineups
1. Akahoshi (Centre)
2. Sekimoto (Second)
3. Arai (First)
4. Kanemoto (Left)
5. Imaoka (Third)
6. Toritani (Short)
7. Ford (Right)
8. Yano (Catcher)
9. Atchison (Pitcher)

Dragons
1. Araki (Second)
2. Ibata (Short)
3. Lee (Right)
4. Woods (First)
5. Wada (Left)
6. Morino (Centre)
7. Nakamura (Third)
8. Tanishige (Catcher)
9. Nakata (Pitcher)

Tigers started well and for a moment you thought that they would be able to repeat their victory against Nakata. Akahoshi walked and then was bunted to second by Sekimoto. He advanced to third on a Kanemoto hit and the situation was runners on first and third with two outs. Next up Imaoka - who grounded out to third. Maybe another batter wouldn't have exploited the chance but it would have been more likely than a fading right hander. The chance to put Nakata under pressure early on was lost. The Dragons first and the Tigers second were both quiet. But the Dragons second was different. Woods hit and this was followed by a Wada hit. Runners on first and second with no outs. Atchison had trouble with the Dragons lower order in his previous match and this continued. He fluffed a Nakamura ground out to load the bases and then Tanishige punched a two base two run timely hit to left 2-0 Dragons. Runners on second and third with one out. The next batter Nakata also hit 3-0 Dragons, runners on first and third one out. Next was Araki who hit a deep sacrifice fly 4-0 Dragons and incidently the only run the top of the Dragons order would drive in.

With this cushion Nakata could relax and retired the Tigers in order in the third. No such luxury for Atchison. He gave up another hit to Woods and then walked up Morino. After him came Nakamura who hit and Woods was home 5-0 Dragons and the Tigers in disarray. The fourth was quiet Nakata had no problems and mercifully neither did Atchison. The Tigers showed a bit of life in the fifth. Toritani hit only to be caught up in a Ford double play. Then Yano hit but the next batter was Atchison who couldn't do anything and the innings finished. In the bottom Lee hit but was caught up in a Woods double play. The Tigers sixth was quiet but the Dragons decided it was about time to have some more fun with Atchison.

Morino hammered a two base hit and advanced to third on a Nakamura ground out. Next was Tanishige who hit again, another two base 6-0 Dragons. The next two batters were unable to take advantage of this and the innings ended. Tigers seventh was - you guessed it quiet. On to the Dragons seventh and Okada decided to go with Abe. He started by getting Ibata to ground out but Lee hit and then Woods walked. Runners on first and second with one out. Wada flew out but Morino walked to load the bases. Next up Nakamura hit to drive in two runs 8-0 Dragons. Both Nakamura and Tanishige had three run games. The final batter, Tanishige grounded out with runners on first and third to end the innings.

The Tigers eighth started quietly, Ford and Saka (Pinch hitter) were out and then Noguchi (Pinch hitter and replacement catcher) hit. He was followed by a Akahoshi hit setting up runners on first and second but Nakata got Sekimoto to fly out to end the innings. The Dragons eighth included an Araki two base and a Lee dead ball but no runs and the pitcher Tsutsui was lucky. So to the Tigers ninth and Nakata retired the side in order to win.

A poor Tigers performance had seen the Dragons win comfortably and in style. Nakata had overwhelmed the Tigers and Okada's plans had gone wrong in a very big way. There is no point to put in a under-performing player who is not going to add anything to the side on the off chance he will disrupt the pitcher. Next is Shimoyanagi against Yamai.