NISHINOMIYA —

Shoma Okumura hit a grand slam in the first inning as Osaka Toin battered Tokoha Gakuen Kikugawa of Shizuoka Prefecture for a 17-0 victory to claim the national high school baseball championship on Monday. Yuto Fukushima struck out nine over the distance, limiting Tokoha to five hits at a packed Koshien Stadium in Nishinomiya, Hyogo Prefecture, to give the Osaka school its second triumph in the summer classic after winning in 1991 as a newcomer. The Toin offense, which had double-digit hits in all five games the team played before reaching the final, erupted again with a total of 21 hits, including a bases-clearing double by Fukushima and a two-run homer by cleanup hitter Keigo Hagihara. Catcher Yuta Ariyama and outfielder Kohei Fukushima also drove in two runs apiece. Hagihara amassed a record 15 RBIs for a single player in a championship, including three Monday.
   
Tokoha, winner of the 2007 national invitational meet in the spring, failed in a bid for its first championship victory as starter Toshiki Togari and three other pitchers were left helpless before Toin’s sluggers. ‘‘I didn’t think they (the players) had this much power left at the very end,’’ said Osaka Toin manager Koichi Nishitani. ‘‘We had been described as a team that can’t hit, but today we were able to play baseball the way we really wanted to by keeping the offense rolling.’’ Nishitani said his players had their feet on the ground all the way with a well-balanced spirit, technique and physical condition, adding he wants to ‘‘commend them to the highest degree today’’ even though he normally always scolds them. It is the first time in 17 years that a school from Osaka has won the competition, giving the prefecture the championship flag for a record 10th time. Toin also tied the record for most runs scored in a final game, originally set back in 1920.

Kyodo

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