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KU-RI-HAR-A! KU-RI-HAR-A!

Sounds good!

September 20, 2014

Kurihara only needs one more homerun to break the single season record!

Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks (76-54-5) - 1
Kyoto Knights (89-39-4) - 4

Hawks. 0|0|1|0|0|0|0|0|0 1|5|0
Knights 0|1|0|0|0|2|0|1|x 4|11|0

Hawks:

Lineup:
1. Munenori Kawasaki – SS (2-4, 2B, 1 RBI [53])
2. Yuichi Honda - 2B (0-4, K)
3. Seiichi Uchikawa – CF (0-4)
4. Alex Cabrera – DH (0-4)
5. Hitoshi Tamura – RF (1-4, K)
6. Hiroki Kokubo - 1B (0-3)
7. Nobuhiro Matsuda - 3B (1-3, K)
8. Li Ng – C (0-3)
9. Nobuhiko Matsunaka – LF (1-3, K)

Pitcher(s):
Toshiya Sugiuchi (5 1/3 IP, 3 R, 3 ER)
Takehito Kanazawa (2 2/3 IP, 1 R, 1 ER)

Knights:

Lineup:
1. Touya Egawa – CF (1-4, 2B)
2. Akitaka Shimozono – RF (2-3, SAC, SB)
3. Takuya Kanazawa – DH (1-4, DP, HR [45], 1 RBI [115])
4. Masato Kurihara - 1B (2-4, SB, HR [56!], 1 RBI [132])
5. Taiga Kura – SS (1-4, 2B, 2 RBI [83, 84])
6. Goro Shigeno – LF (2-4, 2B)
7. Daisuke Fukuchi - 3B (1-4, FC)
8. Hideo Nomoto - 2B (1-3)
9. Rikiya Terauchi – C (0-3)

Pitcher(s):
Kiyoshi Atori (8 IP, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 K)
Sakutarou Makida (1 IP, 0 R)

MVP:
Taiga Kura: His 2 RBI double in the 6th gave the Knights the lead!

WP: Kiyoshi Atori (17-4)
LP: Toshiya Sugiuchi (10-3)
S: Sakutarou Makida (36)

Kyoto Knightly
September 21, 2014
Kurihara – The Homerun King


– Taiga Kura

Blue Stadium, Sakyō-ku – He’s done it. On Spetember 20, 2014, young, 18 year old Masato Kurihara hit his 56th career homerun. He’s a rookie. He’s hit 56 homeruns in one season, BREAKING Sadaharu Oh’s record of 55! In the bottom half of the 2nd inning, Kurihara hit a big one over the center field wall off of Toshiya Sugiuchi. He was mobbed by reporters after the game, but we managed to get one question in. We asked how he felt about this, he responded with “Amazing. Absolutely amazing. I’ve never felt so happy in my life. I’ve done what I set out to do, and now, next season, I’m just going to have to break the record again!”

Though the MVP nod went to Kura, who actually won the game with his 2 RBI double in the 6th. “It was nice, man, but Kurihara’s homerun was much more exciting!” He said after the game. He had a nice play in the field as well, diving to his left, making the stop, and flipping the ball to Nomoto with his glove.

The big story though, is Kurihara. He broke a 50 year old record. He’s just 18 years old, remember. He’s the best player this generation.

- Takaharu Sonada

Yep. Kurihara's a monster!

How does he not get MVP...

October 3, 2014

Our last game of the regular season. I would say we've had a pretty successful inaugural season, winning the Pacific League, and all! The Samurais, too, have clinched the Central League. Hopefully we'll be meeting up with them in the finals!

Kyoto Knights (95-43-4) - 5
Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles (56-83-3) - 2

Knights:

Lineup:
1. Tsuyoshi Matsunaga – CF (4-5, 2 PO, 2B, DP, HR [17], 2 RBI [73, 74])
2. Touya Egawa – RF (1-4, 2B)
3. Takuya Kanazawa – DH (0-4, FC)
4. Masato Kuriahra - 1B (2-4, 2 HR [61, 62], 3 RBI [146, 147, 148])
5. Taiga Kura – SS (2-4, 2B)
6. Goro Shigeno – LF (1-4, FC, DP)
7. Akitaka Shimozono – C (1-4, 2B)
8. Daisuke Fukuchi - 3B (3-4, FC, 2B)
9. Hideo Nomoto - 2B (1-3, DP, SAC)

Pitcher(s):
Kiyoshi Atori (8+ IP, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 K)
Sakutarou Makida (1 IP, 0 R)

Eagles:

Lineups:
1. Ryo Hijirisawa – CF (0-5)
2. Kazuo Matsui – SS (1-4)
3. Teppei Tsuchiya – RF (2-4)
4. Joe Chavez - 1B (1-4, K)
5. Motohiro Shima – C (2-4, 2 2B, K)
6. Akinori Iwamura - 3B (0-4)
7. Takeshi Yamasaki – DH (4-4, 2 2B, HR [9], 2 RBI [44, 45])
8. Daisuke Kusano – LF (1-3, K)
- Akihisa Makida – PH (0-1)
9. Youske Takasu - 2B (0-4)

Pitcher(s):
Kenji Tomura (5 IP, 3 R, 3 ER)
Tsuyoshi Kawagishi (1 1/3 IP, 1 R, 1 ER)
Shinichiro Koyama (2 2/3 IP, 1 R, 1 ER)

MVP(s):
Kiyoshi Atori: He threw 8 innings, letting up only 2 runs
Masato Kurihara: He went 2-4 with 2 homeruns, and 3 RBI

WP: Kiyoshi Atori (18-4)
LP: Kenji Tamura (3-12)
S: Sakutarou Makida (38)

Kyoto Knightly
October 4, 2014
Knights End Season On A High Note
– Yamasaki’s 400th career homerun!

– Atori and Kurihara

Kleenex Stadium Miyagi, Sendai – The Knights finished off the season on a strong note, winning their final game of their first season by a score of 5-2. They proved that their no team to mess with, as they went 95-43-4 in their inaugural season. Pretty darn good, don’t you think?

Manager Kensou Mori spoke after the game, “We did well. We did real well. The Knights will be a serious threat to the Pacific League. Watch out for us!” In the game, Kurihara added on 2 more homeruns to his already record-setting total, to finish off the year with 62 homeruns. He also has been announced as the player of the month for September, batting .433, with 14 homeruns, and 34 RBI.

Also in the game, veteran Takeshi Yamasaki hit his 400th career homerun, congratulations to him!

Now, on to the playoffs!

- Takaharu Sonada

(Sorry... Forgot to check the box score...)

He better get MVP!

Knights’ End of the Year Stats – 2014

Batters:
NAME, AVERAGE, HOMERUNS, RBI
Tsuyoshi Matsunaga, .257, 17 HR, 74 RBI
Touya Egawa, .308, 15 HR, 63 RBI
Takuya Kanazawa, .276, 49 HR, 123 RBI
Masato Kurihara, .355, 62 HR, 148 RBI
Taiga Kura, .306, 14 HR, 90 RBI
Goro Shigeno, .323, 16 HR, 84 RBI
Akitaka Shimozono, .300, 10 HR, 59 RBI
Daisuke Fukuchi, .236, 15 HR, 59 RBI
Hideo Nomoto, .225, 6 HR, 50 RBI
Rikiya Terauchi, .181, 3 HR, 11 RBI
Jun Kaga, .250, 0 HR, 0 RBI
Shun Tohno, .333, 1 HR, 5 RBI
Takumi Nakahigashi, .167, 0 HR, 0 RBI
Yuuta Tanaka, .222, 0 HR, 1 RBI

Pitchers:
NAME, ERA, IP, K, WINS-LOSSES (SAVES)
Tsukiya Yamato, 3.23, 208 2/3 IP, 176 K, 18-4
Ataru Hiyama, 3.06, 220 1/3 IP, 147 K, 14-8
Hiroshi Shima, 4.26, 205 IP, 125 K, 16-7
Kiyoshi Atori, 3.73, 210 IP, 124 K, 18-4
Ryan Techer, 4.64, 120 1/3 IP, 88 K, 8-5
Ikumi Koyama, 5.88, 33 1/3 IP, 22 K, 4-2
Mikiya Sawamura, 3.47, 36 1/3 IP, 29 K, 3-2
Jun Ohtonari, 4.06, 57 2/3 IP, 33 K, 3-1
Yoshio Fujii, 0.74, 36 2/3 IP, 22 K, 5-0 (3 S)
Shota Imanami, 2.05, 30 2/3 IP, 19 K, 3-2 (1 S)
Kenta Takaguchi, 6.04, 79 IP, 52 K, 3-4
Sakutarou Makida, 1.71, 42 IP, 39 K, 0-4 (38 S)

We did pretty well this season, I would say. The offense was fantastic, the pitching was alright. But hey, we ended up with the best record in the NPB!

I meant MVP of that game. You said the go-ahead double guy got it instead.

October 9, 2014

Our first ever playoff game!

Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks - 4
Kyoto Knights - 5

WP: Ikumi Koyama
LP: Takehito Kanazawa
S: --
Notes: Kanazawa hits a walkoff homerun!

Knights lead series 2-0

October 10, 2014

Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks - 1
Kyoto Knights - 10

WP: Ataru Hiyama
LP: Sho Iwasaki
S: --
Notes: Complete game for Hiyama!

Knights lead series 3-0

October 11, 2014

Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks - 8
Kyoto Knights - 4

WP: Kenji Ohtonari
LP: Hiroshi Shima
S: --

Knights lead series 3-1

October 12, 2014

Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks - 6
Kyoto Knights - 2

WP: Hiroki Yamada
LP: Kiyoshi Atori
S: --
Notes: Complete game for Yamada

October 14, 2014

Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks - 3
Kyoto Knights - 4

WP: Ryan Techer
LP: Toshiya Sugiuchi
S: Sakutarou Makida
Notes: Techer goes 8 2/3 letting up only 3 runs!

Knights move onto the Championship!

Kyoto Knightly
October 15, 2014
Knights Going to the Championship!



Blue Stadium, Sakyō-ku - The Knights have beaten the Hawks 4 games to 2! Congratulations to all of them! We'll be playing, none other than, the Samurais in the Finals. It should be tough!

- Takaharu Sonada

Yeah... I'm not sure... The game's programmed to give the MVP of the game to whoever gave the winning team the lead, or if a pitcher did outstandingly well, the pitcher.

It's too bad, really.

October 17, 2014

It's our first game in the Championship! We're playing my brother's team, how climactic!

Sakai Samurais - 0
Kyoto Knights - 4

WP: Tsukiya Yamato
LP: Riku Hirabayashi
S: --
Notes: Yamato threw a complete game shutout!

Knights lead series 1-0

October 18, 2014

Sakai Samurais - 1
Kyoto Knights - 3

WP: Ataru Hiyama
LP: Jiro Kanazawa
S: Sakutarou Makida
Notes: Knights win thanks to an 8th inning 3-run homerun by Shigeno

Knights lead series 2-0

October 20, 2014

Kyoto Knights - 10
Sakai Samurais - 0

WP: Hiroshi Shima
LP: Ichiro Hashimoto
S: --
Notes: Complete game shutout for Shima

Knights lead series 3-0

October 21, 2014

Kyoto Knights - 8
Sakai Samurais - 9

WP: MacDaniel
LP:Kiyoshi Atori
S: Jonny Hoashi

Knights lead series 3-1

October 22, 2014

Kyoto Knights - 7
Sakai Samurais - 8

WP: Jiro Kanazawa
LP: Yoshio Fujii
S: Shigeru Takahama

Knights lead series 3-2

October 24, 2014

Sakai Samurais - 3
Kyoto Knights - 6

WP: Tsukiya Yamato
LP: An To
S: --
Notes: Tsukiya Yamato went 8 1/3 IP with 9 K, and 120 pitches!

Knights win series 4-2!!!

Kyoto Knightly
October 25, 2014
Knights Win The Pennant!



The Knights. They've done it! They've won the Pennant! In an epic series with the other expansion team, the Samurais. They ended up winning the series 4-2, pretty much all of the games were tight too. So, congratulations to the Knights and their victory! They've won the pennant in their first year of existence!

- Takaharu Soanda

We did it. We won! We won the pennant!
I called up my brother to congratulate him on making it this far, but he beat me to it, and as I was dialing, my phone rang, and it was him.
"Hello?" I said, already knowing who it was
"Hey, bro, congratulations on the win! You guys really outplayed us." He responded
"Heh. Thanks Stephen! It was an honor to play you in the finals, it was how it should've been, don't you think?"
"I agree, completely. It was an excellent series. So... Congrats!"
"Thanks!"
"Well, I've gotta get going, I'll see you in a couple weeks at the awards ceremony, right?"
"Of course!"
"Alright, cool. See you then."
"See ya."
He hung up, and I went on partying all night.

2014 - Knights Awards

Best Nine Awards:
C: Akitaka Shimozono
1B: Masato Kurihara
DH: Takuya Kanazawa

Mitsui Golden Glove Awards:
2B: Hideo Nomoto
OF: Touya Egawa

MVP: Masato Kurihara
Rookie of the Year: Masato Kurihara
Batting Average Leader: Masato Kurihara
Homerun leader: Masato Kurihara
RBI leader: Masato Kurihara
(TRIPLE CROWN!)
Most Valuable Pitcher: Kiyoshi Atori and Tsukiya Yamato
Wins: Kiyoshi Atori and Tsukiya Yamato

Well, Kurihara sure cleaned up, didn't he?

DRAFT
December 2, 2014

1st Round: Koyato Oda - SS
AGE, NUMBER, 2ND POSITION, B/T, TRJ, CON, POW, RUN, ARM, FLD, E RES
19, 3, 2B, L/R, 3, A, C, B, C, D, D
2nd Round: Yoshifumi Muranaka - P
AGE, NUMBER, B/T, TOP SPD, CON, STAM, PITCHES
23, 12, L/L, 146 km/h (91 mph), C, E, Knuckle curve - 4, changeup - 2
3rd Round: Ryouya Miyaki - OF
AGE, NUMBER, 2ND POSITION, B/T, TRJ, CON, POW, RUN, ARM, FLD, E RES
28, 44, N/A, R/R, 2, D, E, E, B, D, C

I believe we did well in this year's draft, picking up some solid batters, and a good left handed reliever.

Notable Picks
Akinobu Komatsu - Marines
AGE, POSITION, 2ND POSTION, B/T, TRJ, CON, POW, RUN, ARM, FLD, E RES
19, OF, N/A, L/R, 2, A, E, A, C, D, D

Iruma Nakata - Carp
AGE, POSITION, 2ND POSTION, B/T, TRJ, CON, POW, RUN, ARM, FLD, E RES
19, 3B, 1B, R/R, 3, B, B, A, D, D, D

Sora Kurihara - Fighters
AGE, POSITION, 2ND POSTION, B/T, TRJ, CON, POW, RUN, ARM, FLD, E RES
18, 1B, N/A, R/R, 4, C, A, B, D, C, C

Satoya Takasaki - Lions
AGE, POSITION, 2ND POSTION, B/T, TRJ, CON, POW, RUN, ARM, FLD, E RES
19, OF, SS, L/R, 3, C, D, A, C, B, B

Masaki Terahara - Dragons
AGE, POSITION, 2ND POSTION, B/T, TRJ, CON, POW, RUN, ARM, FLD, E RES
19, OF, N/A, L/L, 2, B, D, B, B, B, C

Toshiya Kura - Samurais
AGE, B/T, TOP SPD, CON, STAM, PITCHES
23, L/L, 151 km/h (94 mph), E, D, Drop curve - 4, cutter - 2

December 3, 2014
We've made a trade with the Buffaloes, sending over some money, for pitching prospect, Kazuya Fujita

Kazuya Fujita
AGE, NUMBER, B/T, TOP SPD, CON, STAM, PITCHES
19, 14, L/L, 148 km/h (92 mph), D, A, slider - 4, chaneup - 1
Bio: He's a solid left-handed starter, he's done well on the 2nd string team
Personality: Quiet, calm

F/A
December 12, 2014

We signed relief pitcher, Kentaro Nishimura, who should help pad the bullpen

Kentaro Nishimura
AGE, YEARS PRO, NUMBER, B/T, TOP SPD, CON, STAM, PITCHES
26, 9, 35, R/R, 152 km/h (94 mph), E, D, slider - 1, shuuto - 3

Ahh! I'm late!

Kurihara Watch
56

RECORD
55

Kurihara is the bomb!!!