Masayuki Kitano hit a go-ahead homer and Masayuki Tabayashi pitched a three-hit complete game Tuesday as Chiben Wakayama beat Tokyo's Teikyo 6-1 in the semifinals of the national high school baseball championship.
Kitano's solo shot broke a 1-1 deadlock in a two-run seventh inning and the Wakayama school went on to book a place in Wednesday's final against Meitoku Gijuku of Kochi Prefecture, which beat Ehime's Kawanoe 10-1 at Koshien Stadium.
Chiben Wakayama, winner of the annual tournament in 1997 and 2000, went ahead in the second on a single by Yuji Baba before Teikyo tied it on a Kei Yoshida sacrifice fly in the fourth.
While Tabayashi held Teikyo hitless the rest of the way, Chiben Wakayama rapped out six of its 10 hits in the final three innings to eliminate the school that won its only title seven years ago.
In the second semifinal, Ryosuke Morioka went 3-for-4 with five RBIs to lead a 13-hit attack and Yusuke Tanabe struck out 11 in seven innings of work as Meitoku Gijuku became the first Kochi Prefecture school in 24 years to advance to the final.