Hokkai, aiming for a fourth straight championship, blew past Sapporo North 14-4 in six innings via mercy rule in the Spring Hokkaido Tournament Sapporo District qualifier on May 12.
Freshman left-hander Yoshitake Murakami made his high school debut. He took the mound in the fifth inning with a 10-run lead, the third pitcher of the game. “I was really nervous. Since it was my first time, my heart was pounding,” he said.
After two quick outs, he allowed a single, then consecutive hits for one run, giving up three hits total. Still, he struck out three batters and limited the damage to one run. In the sixth inning, he retired the side in order to seal the mercy-rule victory. “I made sure not to throw anything too easy to hit,” he noted.
Hokkai head coach Atsushi Hirakawa praised him: “He pitched calmly in his debut. It was a very reliable and promising performance.”
Murakami is from Yamagata Prefecture. His father, Takashi, was the ace of Sendai Ikuei High School and played at Koshien in the summer of 2000, later pitching for Aoyama Gakuin University and corporate team Shin-Nippon Petroleum ENEOS (now ENEOS). During his time with the Yamagata Boys, about 10 high schools from the Tohoku region recruited him, but he chose Hokkai. “Hokkai has a strong tradition and a winning image. It also emphasizes balancing academics and sports, and I wanted to grow there,” he explained. A close friend from his hometown, infielder Kaishin Takahashi (a sophomore), had already enrolled at Hokkai, which helped him decide to leave home.
Winning the competition for a roster spot, the 133 km/h left-hander earned jersey number 13 from the start of his freshman year. “I feel a sense of responsibility. I want to keep producing results,” he said. Last summer, sophomore right-hander Takeru Mori (then a freshman) started a game at Koshien with a fastball of up to 147 km/h, and Murakami has set his sights on the same stage. “I want to pitch at Koshien this summer,” he said, wiping sweat from his nearly shaved head.
