The Fukuoka Kodai Joto school apparently stole hand signals from the opposing team in its 6-5 victory over Utsunomiya Kogyo of Tochigi Prefecture at the 74th national high school invitational tournament on Friday.
Fukuoka Kodai Joto principal Hiroyuki Shojizono requested that his school be disqualified from the competition after learning of the illegal action but was given the green light to play Meitoku Gijuku in the second round after the Japan High School Baseball Federation found the fault lie with team officials and not the players.
The baseball federation said it was the first case in the history of the tournament that an illegal action by a school had been discovered.
The Fukuoka prefectural school will face Meitoku Gijuku of Kochi Prefecture on the eighth day of competition next week at Koshien Stadium in Hyogo Prefecture.