Catcher Masateru Osaka delivered a pair of clutch hits as Shinko Gakuen of Hyogo advanced to the quarterfinals of the national high school baseball invitational tournament with a 2-0 win over Chiba's Narita on Tuesday.
Shun Shirahata of Akita Shogyo hits a go-ahead RBI single
against Tokyo's Tokaidai Sugao during a first-round game
at the national high school baseball invitational
tournament in Nishinomiya, Hyogo Pref.
Osaka broke a scoreless tie with an RBI double in the seventh inning and singled home another run in the ninth, while right-handers Masaki Yamaguchi and Kenta Hayashi combined on a seven-hitter to lead the Kobe school to its second straight shutout victory.
Shinko Gakuen became the first school to reach the quarterfinals and has gone this far for the first time since 1995, when it last appeared in the annual tournament at Koshien Stadium.