The Fukuoka Softbank Hawks had been waiting for this for years.
Eight seasons of disappointment and heartbreak, all forgotten in the second it took Tadashi Settsu to get strike three past Kazuhiro Wada and officially put the Hawks back on top.
Toshiya Sugiuchi threw seven shutout innings, and the Hawks put enough runs on the board behind him to defeat the Chunichi Dragons 3-0 in Game 7 to capture their first Japan Series title since 2003 on Sunday at Yahoo Dome.