Masafumi Baba and Takahiro Kubo combined for an eight-hit shutout and Hiroshi Soejima homered as Saga Kita blanked Fukui Shogyo 2-0 on the opening day of the national high school baseball championship on Wednesday. In other first-round action, Mitsukuni Higa had a tiebreaking single in the eighth inning as Konan of Okinawa Prefecture held off Okayama Ridai Fuzoku 3-2. Konan is appearing in the tournament for the first time in 24 years. Left-hander Shoma Sato pitched a shutout, striking out nine, leading Bunsei Gendai Fuzoku of Tochigi Prefecture to a 5-0 victory over Chiba's Funabashi.
