Power Pros Forum

2 for Muranaka
1 for Komatsu
1 for Inaba
1 for Nakata
1 for Oda

Let's see what happens come draft time!

May 15, 2014

Game 2 versus the Samurais! Should be good! Steven's using someone he picked up from China, An To, he’s making his first start.

An To
AGE, B/T, TOP SPD, CON, STAM, PITCHES
31, R/R, 150 km/h (93 mph), F, B, cutter – 3, SFF - 1

Kyoto Knights (29-9-0) - 2
Sakai Samurais (22-16-0) - 3

Knights.. 0|1|1|0|0|0|0|0|0 2|4|0
Samurais 1|0|0|0|0|0|0|1|1x 3|7|1

Knights:

Lineup:
1. Tsuyoshi Matsunaga – CF (0-4, FC, SB)
2. Touya Egawa – LF (0-4)
3. Taiga Kura – SS (1-4, 1 RBI [23])
4. Masato Kurihara – C (1-4, HR [27], 1 RBI [49])
5. Shun Tohno – 1B (1-4)
6. Akitaka Shimozono – RF (1-3, FC, SB)
7. Hideo Nomoto - 2B (0-3)
8. Daisuke Fukuchi - 3B (0-3)
9. PITCHER (0-3, ROE)

Pitcher(s):
Hiroshi Shima (8 IP, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 K)
Ikumi Koyama (0 IP, 1 R, 1 ER)

Samurais:

Lineup:
1. Shuuji Arime – C (1-4)
2. Daisuke Yagi - 1B (0-4)
3. Ken Kamei - 3B (2-4, 2B, K, HR [6], 1 RBI [28])
4. Mikihiko Shimazaki – SS (1-3, 2B, 1 RBI [29])
5. Tadahiko Fujita – LF (0-3, K)
6. Ikuya Suzuki – RF (2-3, 2B)
7. Yoshitsugu Sugiya – CF (0-3, DP)
8. Takara Okazaki - 2B (0-3)
9. PITCHER (0-2)
- Osamu Hamanaka – PH (1-1, 1 RBI [3])

Pitcher(s):
An To (8 IP, 2 R, 1 ER)
Jonny Hoashi (1 IP, 0 R)

MVP:
Ken Kamei: He hit a walk-off homer in the 9th

WP: Jonny Hoashi (1-1)
LP: Ikumi Koyama (1-1)
S: --

Kyoto Knightly
May 16, 2014
Knights Lose In Walk-off Fashion
– Ken Kamei

Yamanote Stadium, Sakai, Osaka – Yet another close game. But this time, the Knights would be on the losing side. It was a pitching duel, yet again, the whole way through. Until the 8th, that is. Veteran, Hamanaka came in to pinch-hit for the pitcher, and he got a single right up the middle to drive in Suzuki who was at 3rd to tie the game at 2.

But Shima would get out of it, by getting Yagi to ground out to Kura to end the inning.

The next inning, the 9th inning was incredibly quick. A 1-2-3 top half, and then Koyama came in to hold down the Samurais, which he didn’t do. 3rd pitch, Kamei hit a bomb to left, a walk-off homer, to tie the series at 1 a piece. We will be playing the Samurais again, down the line. Only next time, we’ll be home!

- Takaharu Sonada

(I thought this was a 3 game series, turns out it was just 2… We’ll be playing the Samurais again in a 3 game series later… )

What's a ROE?

Reach On Error.

May 16, 2014

We're playing the BayStars today.

Yokohama BayStars (9-28-2) – 2
Kyoto Knights (30-9-0) – 10

Knights. 3|0|2|0|3|0|2|0|0 10|18|0
BayStars 0|0|0|1|0|1|0|0|0 2|15|0

BayStars:

Lineup:
1. Takehiro Ishikawa – SS (0-5, 2 K, 2 DP)
2. Hichori Morimoto – CF (0-5, K)
3. Brett Harper - 1B (2-4, HR [3], 1 RBI [11])
4. Shuichi Murata - 3B (1-1)
- Kazuya Fujita – INJ REP [PR] [3B] (3-3, 2B)
5. Termel Sledge – LF (0-3, K)
- Shinji Niinuma – DEF REP. [C] (1-1)
6. Yuki Yoshimura – RF (1-4, K)
7. Naoto Watanabe - 2B (3-4, 1 RBI [14], SB)
8. Tasuku Hashimoto – C (1-3, K)
- Tatsuhiko Kinjo – DEF REP. [LF] (0-1)
9. PITCHER (0-0)
- Tatsuya Shimozono – PH (1-1)
- Ikki Shimamura – PH (1-1)
- Yoshimoto Tsutsugo – PH (0-1, DP)
- Keijiro Matsumoto – PH (1-1)

Pitcher(s):
Kentaro Takasaki (3 IP, 5 R, 5 ER)
Ota Atori (2 IP, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB)
Takehiro Fukuda (2 IP, 2 R, 2 ER)
Hiroki Sanada (2 IP, 0 R)

Knights:

Lineup:
1. Tsuyoshi Matsunaga – CF (1-5, SB)
2. Touya Egawa – RF (3-5)
3. Taiga Kura – SS (3-5, 2 HR [5, 6], 4 RBI [24, 25, 26, 27])
4. Masato Kurihara - 1B (1-5, HR [28], 1 RBI [50])
5. Goro Shigeno – LF (3-5, SB)
6. Akataka Shimozono – C (2-5, SB, 2B, DP)
7. Hideo Nomoto - 2B (2-5, 2B, 1 RBI [16])
8. Daisuke Fukuchi - 3B (1-4, IBB, 2B, 1 RBI [8], K)
9. PITCHER (2-3, 2B, SAC, 3 RBI [1, 2, 3])

Pitcher(s):
Ataru Hiyama (9 IP, 2 R, 2 ER, 6 K)

MVP(s):
Tiaga Kura: He went 3-5, with 2 homeruns, and 4 RBIs
Ataru Hiyama: He threw a complete game, letting up only 2 runs, and 6 strikeouts, PLUs he went 2-3 at the plate with a double and 3 RBIs

WP: Ataru Hiyama (6-2)
LP: Kentaro Takasaki (2-2)
S: --

Kyoto Knightly
May 17, 2014
Knights Win It – Old Style, First Team To Win 30
– Kura and Hiyama

Yokohama Stadium, Yokohama – The Knights started this game off with a bang. Matsunaga hit a single right up the middle on the first pitch, Egawa then followed suit with a single of his own. Then, Kura stepped up to the plate, and pulled on over the right field fence, for his 5th homerun of the year. Then, in the 3rd inning, the Knights added on 2 more runs. THEN in the 5th, Kurihara came up to the plate, and hit one over the left-field wall. His NPB leading 28th homerun and his 50th RBI! 50! In May! Wow. He honestly has a chance to break Sadaharu Oh’s record for homeruns, and the RBI record as well! Also in the 5th inning, we got 2 men on, with 2 outs, Fukuchi coming up to bat, and they decide to walk him so they could get to Hiyama, the pitcher. Hiyama then hit a double to the gap in left-center, 2 runs came in. Hiyama would also pull off a successful suicide squeeze in the 7th to make the score 10-2.

Kura and Hiyama were announced co-MVPs for the game, Kura for going 3-5, with 2 homeruns and 4 RBIs. And Hiyama throwing a complete game, along with going 2-3 at the plate, with a double and 3 RBIs. Congratulations to the both of them!

Also, BayStars third baseman, Murata was removed from the game, after injuring himself sliding back into first, he is alright though, he was only taken out to prevent anything worse.

- Takaharu Sonada

May 17, 2014

The Buffaloes have made it official, they have signed Roy Leon, a power hitting 3rd baseman, he should be trouble.

Roy Leon
AGE, POSITION, 2ND POSTION, B/T, TRJ, CON, POW, RUN, ARM, FLD, E RES
25, 3B, 1B, L/R, 4, D, A (96!), D, A, E, D

May 18, 2014

Today, we're playing the Carp.

Hiroshima Toyo Carp (14-27-0) - 1
Kyoto Knights (31-10-0) – 3

Knights 0|1|0|0|0|2|0|0|0 3|9|1
Carp... 0|0|0|0|0|1|0|0|0 1|8|0

Carp:

Lineup:
1. Masato Akamatsu – CF (0-3, DP)
- Shigenobu Shima – INJ. REP. [CF] (0-1, K)
2. Akihiro Higashide - 2B (0-4)
3. Jun Hirose – RF (2-4, 2B)
4. Kenta Kurihara - 1B (1-4)
5. Eishin Soyogi – SS (1-4, ROE, K)
6. Takuro Ishii - 3B (0-3, SAC)
7. Takahiro Iwamoto – LF (2-4, 2B, 1 RBI [8])
8. Yoshiyuki Ishihara – C (0-4)
9. PITCHER (2-2)
- Chad Tracy – PH (0-1)

Pitcher(s):
Kan Ohtake (6 IP, 3 R, 3 ER)
Tomohiro Umetsu (1 IP, 0 R)
Takeru Imamura (2 IP, 0 R)

Knights:

Lineup:
1. Tsuyoshi Matsunaga – CF (0-4)
2. Touya Egawa – RF (0-4)
3. Taiga Kura – SS (1-4, 3B)
4. Masato Kurihara - 1B (2-4, 2B, SB, 1 RBI [51])
5. Goro Shigeno – LF (0-4)
6. Akitaka Shimozono – C (4-4, 2 2B, SB, HR [4], 2 RBI [16, 17])
7. Hideo Nomoto - 2B (1-4)
8. Daisuke Fukuchi - 3B (1-3)
9. PITCHER (1-3, 2B)

Pitcher(s):
Tsuchiya Yamato (8 IP, 1 R, 1ER, 2 K)
Sakutarou Makida (1 IP, 0 R)

MVP(s):
Akitaka Shimozono: Gave the team the lead in the 2nd inning, with an RBI double
Tsuchiya Yamato: Threw 8 innings, letting up only 1 run, and striking out 2

WP: Tsuchiya Yamato (9-0)
LP: Kan Ohtake (2-5)
S: Sakutarou Makida (10)

Kyoto Knightly
May 18, 2014
Shimozono and Yamato Lead the Knights to Victory
– Shimozono and Yamato

MAZDA Zoom-Zoom Stadium Hiroshima, Minami-ku, Hiroshima – It what was a great game, the Knights end up on top. They won, by a meager score of 3-1. And a big, big, big, BIG part of the victory is on part of Akitaka Shimozono, who went 4-4 with 2 doubles, a stolen base, a homerun, and 2 RBIs. And also, the ace, Tsuchiya Yamato, he went 8 innings, and only let up 1 run. In the 6th inning, he got into a bases loaded jam with only 1 out, Iwamoto ended up getting an RBI single. But besides that, they got nothing. Makida then came in, and shut the Carp down. A 1-2-3 9th inning. He gains his 10th save, and he STILL hasn’t let up a run. He spoke to me after the game, “It feels great, you know?! I have 10 saves! And a 0.00 ERA! In fact, this whole team is doing well!”

We would agree completely, Makida-kun.

Also, Carp center fielder, Masato Akamatsu jumped for a ball in the 6th inning, but he missed-timed it, and ended up ramming into the wall. Kura ended up on 3rd, and Akamatsu was taken out of the game, though he said that he is fine.

- Takaharu Sonada

May 20, 2014

I was in Kensou's office, along with Ryan, doing some work with the starting rotation, which is very good, except for our 5th starter, Kenta Takaguchi.
And just then, he walked in.
He was looking down, and didn't notice that Ryan and I were there.
"Coach. I want to be taken out of the starting rotation."
He looked up.
"Al-Allen-senpai?! Techer-senpai?! What are you two doing here?"
"Well, we were just discussing the same thing, the starting rotation." Kensou said
"Yeah, that was blunt, but it is what we're talking about." I said
"Senpai... I'm not performing up to your standards, please take me out of the rotation!"
He bowed, and left the room.
"What should we do?" I asked
"It's good to see that he thinks so too. But if we take him out of the rotation, who could replace him? Ohtonari, and Imanami are the only other 2, but I don't think that they'll be able to handle the rotation." Kensou said
"I can pitch, mate." Ryan said.
"H-huh?" Kensou and I were flabbergasted
"Yeah, I can pitch. I think I've still got it!" Ryan said
"When's the last time you've pitched?" Kensou asked
"I've been goin' back to Australia every year durin' the off-season and I've been playin' in an indy league, mate." Ryan said
"But, Ryan, you're 30." Kensou said
"I still got some spin on my breaking balls."
"It's our best option." I said
"It's our ONLY option, Jack." Kensou said
"So... Should it happen?" I asked
"What the hell, might as well." Kensou said
"Excellent! Thanks, Jacky!"
"Uh... No problem." I said
"We're going to have you go through some tests though, I'm not just letting you jump onto the team out of nowhere."
"Alright. Fine."

Kensou and Ryan went out to the field. They started with some running. 15 50 meter sprints, and then they ran around the bases a couple of times.
Next, they went onto throwing. Getting some long toss done. Ryan couldn't throw as far as Kensou could, but that was expected.
Then, they tested control. They called out Shimozono and Terauchi to do the catching for them.
Kensou threw 10 bullets right down the middle, in the exact same spot to Shimozono.
Techer started off with 5 fastballs, then threw in some 2-seamers, 1 knuckleball, and his very nice slow curve. 8 out of 10 of them hit where Terauchi set up.

"Alright, Techer. This is your final test. You're going to have to strike out Kurihara. You have 5 tries." Kensou said to him, as Kurihara (who is probably the best hitter in Japan).

Kurihara walked up to the plate, all the players were watching.

"Kurihara! You better not get out, man!" Kura yelled.
"It would be bad to strike out! I could do it though, you know?!" Makida said

Techer's first pitch was a fastball up and in, and Kurihara turned on it, blasting it foul.
Next pitch, a 2-seamer that would break out of the strike zone, Kurihara noticed, and stopped his swing. The count going to 1-1.
Next pitch, his "out" pitch, the knuckleball low and outside, Kurihara swung, and hit a rocket right over the left field fence. Kurihara won the first at-bat

Next at-bat, Kurihara hit a homerun to right on the first pitch.

In the 3rd at-bat, Techer got Kurihara to to swing at a 2-seamer up in the zone and ground out to short.

The 4th at-bat ended with a looooooooong fly ball to left, which was caught right at the wall.

The 5th, and final at-bat was as climactic as it was cliché. first pitch, a huge hit that just went foul, next pitch same thing, then a ball, then a foul, then a ball, then a foul, then a foul, then a foul, then a ball. Full count, final at-bat, Kurihara's face turned into a mix of rage and determination. He wasn't going to get out, and Techer knew it. Techer threw his best pitch, and Kurihara turned on it. *Crash!* The window in my office facing the stadium exploded as the ball hit it.
Techer was devastated, since Kurihara hit what he thought to be his best pitch.

"Good job, Ryan," Kensou walked up to him and said "welcome to the team. Well, welcome to the playing half of the team."
"H-huh? I failed to get him out. I shouldn't be on this team, mate." Ryan replied
"You just had a battle with Kurihara. Kurihara! He's a monster. Some of the best pitchers in the NPB can't do that. You've still got it, Ryan." Kensou replied.
Kurihara walked up to the mound
"Geez coach, I got lucky I fouled off that curveball you threw me. Though there's one thing I have to say." Kurihara started, "When you're throwing the knuckleball, it's clear as day. You're entire windup is different. BUT even though I knew it was coming, I still had some trouble hitting it."
"Trouble?! You destroyed Jack's window off of a knuckler!" Techer replied
"I was in a different state. When I have 2 strikes on me, I get much more focused, and I can see the seams, and I could tell that it was knuckleball. Annnnnnnd it hung up in the zone."
Ryan laughed, "Thanks, kid. You're really something else, ya know."
"Thanks coach!"

The player's dispersed back to their individual practice.

Kensou said one thing to me, "Ryan's got it."
With that I knew, since Kensou never said that about anyone. Ever.

Ryan Techer
AGE, B/T, TOP SPD, CON, STAM, PITCHES
30, R/R, 145 km/h (90 mph), B, B, 2-seam fastball, knuckleball - 1, Slow curve - 3
Bio: It may not look like it on paper, but he's one hell of a pitcher, good control, good stamina, and that knuckleball really catches guys off guard
Personality: Incredibly nice, very down-to-Earth

Ryan will be starting on May 23rd against the Giants. It should be a good game!

May 21, 2012

We're playing the Swallows today

Kyoto Knights (32-11-0) - 4
Tokyo Yakult Swallows (16-26-1) – 3
F/11

Knights:

Lineup:
1. Tsuyoshi Matsunaga – CF (0-5)
2. Touya Egawa – RF (2-5, 2B, 1 RBI [17])
3. Taiga Kura – SS (0-5, DP)
4. Masato Kurihara - 1B (3-5, 3 HR [29, 30, 31], 3 RBI [52, 53, 54])
5. Goro Shigeno – LF (1-4)
6. Akitaka Shimozono – C (2-4, 2B, SB, DP)
7. Hideo Nomoto - 2B (0-4)
8. Daisuke Fukuchi - 3B (1-4)
9. PITCHER (0-2)
- Takuya Kanazawa – PH (0-1)
- Shun Tohno – PH (1-1, 2B)

Pitcher(s):
Hiroshi Shima (7 IP, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 K)
Yoshio Fujii (3 IP, 0 R)
Sakutarou Makida (1 IP, 0 R)

Swallows:

Lineup:
1. Norichika Aoki – CF (3-5, 2B)
2. Hiroyasu Tanaka - 2B (1-5, DP, 1 RBI [8])
3. Tomohiro Nioka - 3B (0-5, K)
4. Shou Toyoda - 1B (3-5, 2 2B, HR [6], 1 RBI [21])
5. Ryoji Aikawa – C (0-5, K)
6. Wladimir Balentien – LF (0-5)
7. Yasushi Iihara – LF (1-4, 2B)
8. Shingo Kawabata – SS (1-4)
9. PITCHER (1-1, SAC, 1 RBI [1])
- Aaron Guiel – PH (0-1)
- Shinichi Takeuchi – PH (0-1)

Pitcher(s):
Masanori Ishikawa (7 IP, 2 R, 2 ER)
Takehiko Oshimoto (1 IP, 0 R)
Chang-Yong Lim (2 IP, 1 R, 1 ER)
Minoru Yamagishi (1/3 IP, 1 R, 1 ER)
Yoshitaka Hashimoto (2/3 IP, 0 R)

MVP: Touya Egawa: His double in the 11th gave the Knights the lead, and the win

WP: Yoshio Fujii (1-0)
LP: Minoru Yamagishi (1-2)
S: Sakutarou Makida (11)

Kyoto Knightly
May 22, 2012
Knights Win A Thriller!
– Touya Egawa

Meiji Jingu Stadium, Shinjuku, Tokyo – What a fantastic game. The game went back and forth throughout, but the Knights would take the victory in 11. Kurihara was a big part of the victory yesterday, as he went 3-5 with 3 homeruns, and 3 RBI. And with his 3 homeruns, he has become the first to hit 30 this season! We spoke to him afterwards, “Well, 30 homeruns in May sure is nice. Kanazawa’s got 21, or something, so watch out for him!” Kurihara has really been carrying this team, along with Kanazawa. Beyond Kurihara and Kanazawa, the one with the next most homeruns is Shigeno, with 6. The team has been working, so there is nothing really needed for change.

But, for in game action, we had a thriller. Kurihara gave the Knights the lead, and then the Swallows tied it up. Kurihara then hit another homerun in the 5th, and then Tanaka tied it up again at 2 with an RBI single that landed just in front of the diving Matsunaga. In the bottom of the 6th, Toyoda (who was with the Samurais very briefly) hit a homerun to give them the lead. One that they would hold until the bottom of the 9th. When Kurihara hit his 3rd homerun against the great Lim, who had a 0.45 ERA coming into the game. And finally in the 11th, Egawa got his second hit of the game, an RBI double that would drive in Tohno who got a double for himself. Makida came in, and had another 1-2-3 inning. He’s now 11 for 11 in save opportunities, with a 0.00 ERA. We have a very solid team!

- Takaharu Sonada

Sorry... Forgot about the box score...

May 23, 2012

Today's Ryan's debut! And it'll be against a tough team, the Giants, with Sanada pitching…

Kyoto Knights (33-12-0) - 4
Yomiuri Giants (26-18-1) - 8

Knights:

Lineup:
1. Tsuyoshi Matsunaga – CF (0-2, BB)
- Rikiya Terauchi – INJ. REP. [C] (0-2, K)
2. Touya Egawa – RF [CF] (2-5, 2B)
3. Taiga Kura – SS (2-5, ROE, HR [7], 1 RBI [30])
4. Masato Kurihara - 1B (1-5)
5. Goro Shigeno – LF (3-4, 2B, 1 RBI [23])
6. Akitaka Shimozono – C [RF] (1-4, 2B, DP, FC)
7. Hideo Nomoto - 2B (1-4, FC)
8. Daisuke Fukuchi - 3B (2-4, 2 2B, 2 RBI [9, 10])
9. PITCHER (1-3, DP)
- Takuya Kanazawa – PH (0-1)

Pitcher(s):
Ryan Techer (7 IP, 7 R, 7 ER, 6 K)
Yoshio Fujii (1 IP, 1 R, 0 ER)

Giants:

Lineup:
1. Ryota Wakiya - 2B (2-4)
2. Hayato Sakamoto – SS (2-4, K, HR [11], 1 RBI [25])
3. Shinnosuke Abe – C (1-4, HR [18], 2 RBI [27, 28], K)
4. Alex Ramirez – LF (1-4, DP, HR [21], 1 RBI [51], ROE)
- PITCHER (0-0)
5. Michihiro Ogasawara - 1B (2-4, 2B, HR [9], 1 RBI [35])
- Shigyuki Furuki – DEF. REP. [1B] (0-0)
6. Hisayoshi Chono – CF (1-4)
7. Yoshinobu Takahashi – RF [LF] (0-4, K)
8. Rusty Ryal - 3B (1-4, K, 1 RBI [16])
9. PITCHER (1-2, 2B, 2 RBI [4, 5], K)
- Tetsuya Matsumoto – PH (0-1, K)
- Ken Kamei – PH [RF] (0-1)

Pitcher(s):
Hirokazu Sanada (5 1/3 IP, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB)
Micheal Nakamura (1 2/3 IP, 0 R)
Daisuke Ochi (1 IP, 0 R)
Hideki Sunaga (1 IP, 0 R)

MVP:
Hirokazu Sanada: He went 5 1/3 innings, and he also went 1-2 at the plate with a pivotal 2-RBI double

WP: Hirokazu Sanada (7-1)
LP: Ryan Techer (0-1)
S: --

Kyoto Knightly
May 24, 2012
Techer Has A Rough Debut
– Hirokazu Sanada

Tokyo Dome, Bunkyo, Tokyo – In a shock to everyone, pitching coach Ryan Techer took the mound in yesterday’s game. He didn’t do too well either… He let up 7 runs in 7 innings, gaining a loss in his debut. He had a press conference after the game, “Well, going back into pitching professionally wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be… I apologize for my poor performance today.”

The Knights were the first to score though, Kura hit a solo homerun in the top of the 1st, but the Giants would tie it up in the 2nd, with the first run Ryan gave up, a solo homerun to Ogasawara. In the same inning, he got his first strikeout, he threw a knuckleball to Ryal, and he swung way over it. And then, the very next batter, Sanada (the pitcher) had a 2-RBI double to give them the lead, which they would never look back on. The Knights did have a chance to tie it up in the next inning though, since Ryan got himself a single, Matsunaga and Egawa then got out, Kura reached on an error by Sakamoto, and then Kurihara popped out to the catcher to end the inning. The bottom half of the inning would be a 1-2-3 inning for Techer.

And then in the bottom of the 5th, Matsunaga jumped into the wall, and slammed into it on his right shoulder. Though, luckily, he is alright. He’ll be playing tomorrow. But in other news, the ace, Yamato, is going to be out for at least 2 weeks, since he hurt his throwing shoulder. Hopefully when he comes back, he’ll be able to continue his amazing season.

- Takaharu Sonada

Sorry... Forgot the box score again...

1,500th post!

Ouch...that's not good. Can't wait for his next start! He'll get better!

I've still got faith in him!

His knucklehall was incredible, he got 5 out of his 6 strikeouts with it.

May 28, 2014

We're playing the Central League leading Dragons today! This should be interesting... Also, Wada has come out of retirement (Which I forgot to mention), he's batting .400 right now...

Kyoto Knights (35-14-0) - 6
Chunichi Dragons (30-17-2) – 5

Knights. 2|1|0|1|0|0|2|0|0 6|12|0
Dragons 0|1|0|1|0|1|0|1|0 5|10|2

Knights:

Lineup:
1. Tsuyoshi Matsunaga – CF (1-5, FC, SB)
2. Touya Egawa – RF (2-5)
3. Taiga Kura – SS (3-5, 2B, K, HR [8], 2 RBI [32, 33])
4. Masato Kurihara - 1B (1-4, 2B, 2 RBI [59, 60], PO, ROE)
5. Goro Shigeno – LF (0-4)
6. Akitaka Shimozono – C (2-4, SB, 2B)
7. Hideo Nomoto - 2B (0-4, ROE)
8. Daisuke Fukuchi - 3B (1-4, 1 RBI [13], DP)
9. PITCHER (1-2, 1 RBI [1], SAC)
- Yuuta Tanaka – PH (1-1)

Pitcher(s):
Jun Ohtonari (7 IP, 3 R, 3 ER, 5 K)
Ikumi Koyama (1 IP, 2 R, 2 ER)
Sakutarou Makida (1 IP, 0 R, 1 K)

Dragons:

Lineup:
1. Masahiro Araki – SS (2-4)
2. Hirokazu Inaba - 2B (1-3, SAC)
3. Masahiko Morino - 3B (1-4, K)
4. Kazuhiro Wada – LF (1-4, HR [11], 1 RBI [40], FC)
5. Tony Blanco - 1B (0-4, 3 K, DP)
6. Joel Guzman – RF (3-4, 2 HR [9, 10], 2 RBI [28, 29])
7. Motonobu Tanishige – C (0-4, K, DP)
8. Kei Nomoto – CF (0-3)
- Takahiro Saeki – PH (0-1)
9. PITCHER (1-2)
- Takehiro Donoue – PH (1-1, 1 HR [1], 1 RBI [1])
- Naomichi Donoue – PH (0-1, K)

Pitcher(s):
Wei-Yang Chen (6 1/3 IP, 6 R, 6 ER, 1 K)
Masato Kobayashi (1 2/3 IP, 0 R)
Masafumi Hirai (1 IP, 0 R)

MVP(s):
Jun Ohtonari: He did a very good job pitching in the place of Yamato, going 7 innings, letting up only 3 runs, and striking out 5
Masato Kurihara: His RBI double in the first was the only lead the Knights would need

WP: Jun Ohtonari (2-0)
LP: Wei-Yang Chen (3-3)
S: Sakutarou Makida (13)

Kyoto Knightly
May 29, 2014
Knights Squeak By Dragons
– Kurihara and Ohtonari

Nagoya Dome, Nagoya – Oh my goodness. That was an incredible game last night. The Knights barely squeaked by the Central League leading Dragons, with a final score of 6-5. The Knights struck first, with Kurihara hitting an RBI double, and with that double, he got his 60th RBI! He is the first in the NPB to get 60 RBIs! He’s continuing his streak of becoming the first in batting categories. He spoke about this after the game, “Yeah. 60 RBIs… It’s great! But I wouldn’t have gotten there without my teammates getting on bases in front of me.”

On the other side of the ball, Nomoto made a fantastic diving stop to his right, and then threw it from his knees to Kurihara at first, who made a nice scoop on the low-thrown ball to end the 5th inning. Skip ahead to the 8th, and set-up-man Koyama (who’s been struggling) and the first pitch he throws to the pinch-hitter, Naomichi Donoue he hit a homerun to left, in his first at-bat of the season… Luckily we had a 2 run lead, he got out of the inning, eventually…

And then in the 9th, closer Makida came in, after blowing his first career save of his career, and he threw a 1-2-3 inning, ending the game with a strikeout with his slow curve. Gaining his 13th save in 14 attempts.

- Takaharu Sonada

May 30, 2014

We're playing the Samurais for the 3rd time this season. This should be good!

Sakai Samurais (29-22-0) - 5
Kyoto Knights (35-15-1) – 2

Samurais 0|0|0|1|0|0|3|1|0 5|11|0
Knights.. 0|0|0|0|0|1|0|0|1 2|10|0

Samurais:

Lineup:
1. Shuuji Arime – C (3-5, 2B, 1 RBI [20])
2. Daisuke Yagi - 1B (1-5, 2B, 2 RBI [19, 20])
3. Ken Kamei - 3B (1-4)
4. Mikihiko Shimazaki – SS (0-4)
5. Tadahiko Fujita – LF (2-4, 2 K, HR [8], 1 RBI [24])
6. Ken Naitoh – DH (2-4, 2B, HR [3], 1 RBI [4], K)
7. Yoshitsugu Sugiya – CF (1-4, 2B)
8. Takara Okazaki - 2B (1-4)
9. Ikuya Suzuki – RF (0-4, FC)

Pitcher(s):
Kusahiko Shuai (6 IP, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 K)
Shigeru Takahama (2 IP, 0 R)
MacDaniel (0 IP, 1 R, 1 ER)
Jonny Hoashi (1 IP, 0 R)

Knights:

Lineup:
1. Tsuyoshi Matsunaga – CF (2-4, K, 2B)
2. Touya Egawa – RF (2-4)
3. Takuya Kanazawa – DH (1-4, HR [23], 1 RBI [49])
4. Masato Kurihara - 1B (2-4, PO, HR [34], 1 RBI [61])
5. Taiga Kura – SS (1-4)
6. Goro Shigeno – LF (1-4, 2B, DP)
7. Akitaka Shimozono – C (0-4)
8. Hideo Nomoto - 2B (1-3)
9. Daisuke Fukuchi - 3B (0-3, DP)

Pitcher(s):
Kiyoshi Atori (6 1/3 IP, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 K)
Yoshio Fujii (2 2/3 IP, 1 R, 1 ER)

MVP:
Shuuji Arime: His 7th inning RBI double gave the Knights the lead, and they took off from there

WP: Kusahiko Shuai (7-1)
LP: Kiyoshi Atori (6-2)
S: Jonny Hoashi (12)

Kyoto Knightly
May 31, 2014
Knights Fall to Samurais
– Shuuji Arime

Blue Stadium, Sakyō-ku, Kyoto – It seems that the season series has gone to 2-1, and not in the Knights’ favor. The Knights lost in yesterday’s return to Blue Stadium, by a score of 5-2. The Samurais and Knights were in a tight game, until the Samurais opened it up in the 7th, starting with the game MVP’s, Suuji Arime, RBI double. Right after him, Yagi (who has been struggling) hit a 2 RBI double for himself, to make the score 4-1. The Samurais would add one more in the next inning, on a homerun by Fujita. The Knights attempted to make a comeback in the 9th. Kurihara hit his 34th homerun, off of MacDaniel, who was just acquired by the Samurais from America, on the first (an only) pitch he threw.

After that, Hoashi came in to close, and he got it easily, 1-2-3.

In the game, Fujii let up his first run, but his ERA is still a fantastic 0.90.

- Takaharu Sonada

May 31, 2014

6:24

I awoke, turned on my computer, pulled up the NPB site, and found this:
"The Samurais have made it official, and finalized a trade with the Eagles to send over some money, for the outfield prospect, Daisuke Aoyama.

Daisuke Aoyama
AGE, POSITION, 2ND POSTION, B/T, TRJ, CON, POW, RUN, ARM, FLD, E RES
18, OF, N/A, L/L, 3, C, C, C, A, C, C
Bio: Aoyama has showed promise in every category. He's a good hitter for contact, and for power. Plus he has an excellent arm, along with excellent range in the field. He also can crush low pitches, and I mean LOW pitches. In high school, on more than one occasion, he hit a homerun on a pitch below his knees. This kid is no one to mess around with.
Personality: Confident, but kind"

"Crap. We're probably going to have to face him tonight..." I said to my computer screen as if it could hear me.

I also found this article, from yesterday:

"Today, at 7:23, the Hawks brought over the catching prodigy from China, Li Ng. He's a very by-the-books catcher, who excels in everything.

Li Ng
AGE, POSITION, 2ND POSTION, B/T, TRJ, CON, POW, RUN, ARM, FLD, E RES
18, C, N/A, S/R, 3, B, D, C, A, B, B
Bio: He never strays off the beaten path, and will always do what he is told. He's one hell of a catcher, probably going to be one of the best in the league (competing with the Samurais, Shuuji Arime) He'll hit for contact, hit some homeruns, steal some bases, put fear into baserunners with his arm, and do some fantastic fielding. Plus he'll do everything he can to keep runs from scoring. His game-calling is genius. He was a prodigy in China for a reason.
Personality: Quiet, by-the-books, smart, kind"

"Great."
These two are going to prove to be thorns in my side for time to come.

Off topic question for you PP Fan, but if I took Japanese in high school would I be able to make out what's goingon in future Power Pros games?