Japanese High School Baseball Invitational Tournament

The National High School Baseball Invitational Tournament
SportBaseball
Founded1924
No. of teams32 (36 in special editions)
Country Japan
Venue(s)Hanshin Koshien Stadium
Most recent
champion(s)
Yamanashi Gakuin - 95th (2023)
Most titlesToho High School (5 Titles)
TV partner(s)NHK, MBS, Gaora Sports
Streaming partner(s)Yahoo Japan, SportsBull, TVer
Related
competitions
The National High School Baseball Championship
Official websitehttps://mainichi.jp/koshien/senbatsu

https://baseball.yahoo.co.jp/hsb_spring/

https://sportsbull.jp/senbatsu/
Yuki Karakawa of Narita High School pitches against Koryo High School in the 79th National High School Baseball Invitational Tournament at Koshien Stadium on March 26, 2007.

The National High School Baseball Invitational Tournament (選抜高等学校野球大会 senbatsu kōtō gakkō yakyū taikai) of Japan, commonly known as "Spring Kōshien" (春の甲子園 haru no kōshien) or "Senbatsu" (センバツ), is an annual high school baseball tournament.

Background

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The tournament, organized by the Japan High School Baseball Federation and Mainichi Shimbun, takes place each year in March at Hanshin Koshien Stadium in the Koshien district of Nishinomiya, Hyōgo, Japan.

Teams qualify for the tournament by participating in the regional fall tournaments held throughout the country. While finishing in the top teams generally guarantees an invitation, it is up to the Japan High School Baseball Federation to determine invitees. For instance, in the 2008 Fall Tournament in the Tōhoku region, Ichinoseki Gakuin was the runner-up. However, they were passed over for 3rd place Hanamaki Higashi for the 2009 invitation tournament.

Of the 32 bids, 26 are automatically awarded as follows to the following regions:

In addition, one additional bid is awarded to a team in the Kanto/Tokyo region, and another to a team in the Chugoku/Shikoku region.

The region of the winning team in the Meiji Jingu Fall Tournament (which consists of all fall regional champions) also receives a bid.

The final 3 bids are what are considered "21st Century Teams".

21st century teams are a way to give teams who either may not get close to qualifying or who have served as a model school in some way a chance to compete. A team from each prefecture is nominated around November–December. The teams must have advanced to the round of 16 play, but not gotten past the quarterfinals of their prefecture's tournament. Then each region nominates one of those nominees to the selection committee by December 15. Finally, the committee selects the three 21st century teams.

Finals

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(R) Replay
* Game went to extra innings

List of champions

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List of champions
Number Year Champion Runner-up Final Score
1 1924 Takamatsu High School Waseda Jitsugyo High School 2-1
2 1925 Matsuyama High School Takamatsu High School 3-2
3 1926 Kouryo Central High School Matsumoto High School 7-1
4 1927 Wakayama Central High School Kouryo Central High School 8-3
5 1928 Kansai Gakuin Central High School Wakayama Central High School 2-1
89 2017 Osaka Toin High School Riseisha Gakuen Toyonaka High School 8-3
90 2018 Osaka Toin High School Chiben Gakuen Wakayama High School 5-2
91 2019 Aichi Toho University Narashino 6-0
92 2020 All 32 teams played one game each in replacement Invitational Games. No tournament (pandemic)
93 2021 Tokai University Sagami High School Meiho High School 3-2
94 2022 Osaka Toin High School Ohmi High School 18-1
95 2023 Yamanashi Gakuin High School Hōtoku Gakuen High School 7-3

See also

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34°43′16.34″N 135°21′41.84″E / 34.7212056°N 135.3616222°E / 34.7212056; 135.3616222