On Saturday, it was announced that Tokyo’s Heitaro Hayashi has committed to play for the Wichita State Shockers for the 2026 college baseball season.
The Japanese left-handed pitcher spent the 2025 season playing for the Wagner Seahawks.
In the 2025 season, Hayashi had a 5.14 ERA in 56 innings of work. Over that same stretch, he had 34 strikeouts.
The southpaw’s season-high in strikeouts came on March 23 when the Seahawks played Coppin State. He had five in that appearance in 5 2/3 innings of work. Wagner went on to win that game 6-4.
Hayashi’s season-high in innings came against the Maryland-Eastern Shore Hawks on April 19. He pitched a complete seven-inning shutout in a run-rule win for the Seahawks. During that start, Hayashi had three strikeouts while allowing two hits, one walk, and no earned runs.
The Tokyo pitcher helped Wagner have a solid season in 2025. The Seahawks finished with a 31-22 overall record and were 23-7 in Northeast Conference play. They finished third in the conference standings behind Long Island and Central Connecticut.
What can Hayashi do for Wichita State in 2026? – The Shockers finished below .500 in 2025 in what was a lackluster season. When it came to pitching, they ranked ninth in the American Athletic Conference (AAC) with a 6.60 team ERA.
Only the Rice Owls had a worse team ERA than Wichita State.
Hayashi is a sturdy pitching addition who showed flashes of being able to take over games as he did in games. The wins over Coppin State and Maryland-Eastern Shore are examples of this.
He can be a big part of how Wichita State gets back on track for the 2026 college baseball season.
Photo: Heitaro Hayashi pitches for Wagner. (Photo courtesy of Wagner Athletics)
