Takayuki Morita struck out 15 batters in a complete-game effort as Ogaki Nichidai edged Kanaashi Nogyo 2-1 in the first round of the national high school baseball championship Saturday. Elsewhere Koryo capitalized on defensive miscues by Hokkaido powerhouse Komadai Tomakomai to score three runs in the top of the ninth inning as the Hiroshima school rallied to eliminate the two-time tournament winner with a 5-4 victory. The Hokkaido school left the tournament at Koshien Stadium after just one game this summer following its triumphs in 2005 and 2006 and runnerup finish to Tokyo's Waseda Jitsugyo last year. In other first-round games, Higashi Fukuoka second baseman Daiki Kumagae hit a game-tying two-run single with two outs in the ninth inning and brought home the winning run with a bases-loaded walk in the 11th as the Fukuoka school rallied for a 4-3 extra-inning victory over Toyama's Sakurai. Soka left fielder Kazushiro Baba singled in two runs in a three-run first inning and the Tokyo school held on for a 3-1 victory over Aichi's Aikodai Meiden.
