Urawa Gakuin broke open a close game by scoring four runs in the ninth inning Friday as the Saitama school claimed a 7-3 victory over Hyogo's Hotoku Gakuen, the champion of the spring national invitational tournament, in the national high school baseball championship.
Urawa Gakuin turned the tables with a suicide squeeze and a sacrifice fly in the sixth inning and then added four runs on four hits in the ninth to take a commanding 7-2 lead in a first-round game between pre-tournament favorites at Koshien Stadium.
In Friday's other games, Chiben Wakayama edged Sapporo Daiichi of Hokkaido 5-4 in 10 innings, Kawanoe from Ehime Prefecture beat first-timer Sendai Nishi of Miyagi 5-1 and Aichi's Toho withstood a late rally for a 5-3 victory over Osaka Toin.