March 21, 2012, 9 a.m.
The early spring weather was unpredictable, and today a fine drizzle was falling over Hyogo, but it did nothing to dampen the lively atmosphere at Hanshin Koshien Stadium.
Approximately 20,000 spectators attended the opening ceremony of the 84th Senbatsu High School Baseball Tournament, which was one of the higher numbers in the history of the Spring Baseball Tournament.
In the past two years, due to the continuous emergence of genius players, high school baseball has once again experienced a nationwide boom. With the active promotion by Takano Ren, players born around 1994, such as Lin Guanglai from Waseda Jitsugyo, Ohtani Shohei from Hanamaki East, and Fujinami Jintaro from Osaka Tsubaki, have all garnered attention throughout Japan.
