Ryuji Nakatani singled in the game's only run and Kenta Maeda pitched a five-hit shutout as PL Gakuen beat Seiho 1-0 to reach the quarterfinals of the national high school baseball invitational tournament Thursday.
Ryuji Nakatani of Osaka's PL Gakuen reacts after hitting an RBI single in the
ninth inning of Thursday's national high school baseball invitational
tournament game against Seiho of Nagasaki Prefecture in Nishinomiya, Hyogo
Pref.
Catcher Nakatani singled to center with a runner on third and two outs in the top of the ninth before right-hander Maeda kept the Nagasaki school scoreless in the bottom half at Koshien Stadium.
It marked the first time for the Osaka powerhouse to reach the tournament's last eight in seven years.
In other second-round action, Ryo Arisako allowed just two runs in 14 innings and helped his own cause with the go-ahead single in the top of the 14th as Seiho of Nagasaki edged Kanagawa's Tokaidai Sagami 3-2.
First baseman Hirofumi Sasaki hit a one-out RBI double in the bottom of the 12th to give Akita Shogyo a 4-3 "sayonara" victory over Ehime's Imabari Kita.
In a rematch of the previous day's 15-inning, 7-7 tie, Tokyo's Waseda Jitsugyo rallied to beat Kanzei of Okayama 4-3.
Waseda left fielder Yu Funabashi singled to right with one out and a runner on first in the top of the ninth. Kanzei right fielder Tsuyoshi Kumashiro failed to handle the ball properly and even allowed Funabashi to score.