Kyoto International High School has won the 2024 national high school baseball championship, known as the Koshien tournament. The team from Kyoto was victorious 2-1, defeating Kanto Daiichi High School by a score of 2-1 in extra innings. This is their first national title in baseball in school history.
The Koshien final took place at Hanshin Koshien Stadium in Nishinomiya. The game was an exciting, low-scoring affair that was tight throughout the entire game. Neither team could score in the first nine innings, so Japanese high school rules place a runner on both first and second in the extra innings. In the top of the tenth, Kyoto International scored via a bases-loaded walk and a sacrifice fly to take the lead at 2-0. In the bottom of the tenth, Kanto Daiichi scored to get within one run, but Kyoto pitcher Ikki Nishimura stayed composed and closed out the game for his team.
Kyoto International was founded as a school for Koreans living in Japan and did not start baseball until 1999. Now, it is the first school from Kyoto to win Koshien since 68 years ago. This extra-inning win caps off a fantastic Koshien tournament, which crowns the best high school team in Japan.
Photo Credit: Members of high school baseball team Kyoto Kokusai (International) from Kyoto prefecture celebrate their extra-innings 2-1 victory over Kanto Daiichi (Photo by JIJI Press / AFP) / Japan OUT (Photo by STR/JIJI Press/AFP via Getty Images)
