Top-ranked Japan opens 51st Men’s Softball League season
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<p>The 51st edition of the Japan Men’s Softball League opened on Friday, 8 April, at Mitsugi Softball Stadium in Onomichi City, Hiroshima Prefecture. A total of 35 games were played across the weekend. Games were live-streamed through the <strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="Japan Men's Softball League's YouTube Channel (opens in a new tab)" href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgGaGnn5maUU8nKZ7j7bIoQ/featured" target="_blank">Japan Men's Softball League's YouTube Channel</a></span></strong>.</p>
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<p>Hirabayashi Metal, Denso, and Toyota Industries are on top of the standings with a 4-0 record, while Toyota Motor is also undefeated after three wins in the opening weekend. </p>
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<p>The regular season will have four stages before the top five teams in the standings battle it out for the champions title in the final tournament, to be played from 5-6 November at Toyonaka Park Baseball Stadium in Toyonaka City, Osaka Prefecture.</p>
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<p>Hirabayashi Metal starts the season as favourite to retain the title, with two of the top pitchers in the world - Reo Koyama and two-way player Hikaru Matsuda, who was named WBSC Player of the Year in 2019. Koyama and Matsuda carried the Japanese team to a second-place finish in the WBSC Men’s Softball World Championship 2019 in Prague, Czech Republic. </p>
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<p>In 2021, Hirabayashi Metal defeated Denso, 4-0, in the final to claim the title, behind a shutout performance by Koyama. </p>
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<p>Japan, the reigning U-18 men’s softball world champion and Men’s Softball World Championship runner up in 2019, is the top ranked nation in the <strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="WBSC Men’s Softball World Rankings (opens in a new tab)" href="https://rankings.wbsc.org/en/list/softball/men" target="_blank">WBSC Men’s Softball World Rankings</a></span></strong>.</p>
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