|
At season's end
* The Shizuoka Arrows finished 86-57, second place in the PL after a 12-8 September.
* 1B Hirotaka Hayashi finished 6th in *** and 2nd in the PL in batting average at .314
* Hayashi also led *** in doubles with 35 and stolen bases with 62
* Also in the SB leaderboards were 2B Taisei Murakami (48) and OF Shizue Uchino (43)
* CF Eric Santana led *** in triples with 7
* RHP Ethan Smith finished 6th in the PL pitchers with 3.2 WAR
* DH Kikuo Kawamoto led the PL and was 2nd in *** in OPS at .976
* LHP CC Mercedes elected to retire after being sent to AAA Shinano and concluding the season there.
* The Shinano Grandserows win the 2031 BCL Championship, their first in four seasons.
2031 Pacific League Climax Series First Stage
The Shizuoka Arrows host the Okinawa Kirin Spirit in this best-of-three series. It's the first playoff appearance for the Spirit in their franchise history.
Game 1: Shizuoka 7, Okinawa Kirin 6
This was a nervous one, but the usual suspects stepped up in a big way. Arrows LF Kenjyu Kuwahara led the way with a 3-for-4 day (HR, double, 2-RBI single), and CF Eric Santana hit a triple in the 8th and came around to score for the winning run. Spirit starter Haruki Yamamoto is one of the league's best, but he allowed 6 runs on 9 hits and failed to get out of the 5th in a rude welcome to the postseason. Shizuoka closer Yoshimitsu Ota allowed a run in the 9th on Okinawa CF Masaru Nakamura's RBI single, but slammed the door with a fly-out and strikeout with the tying run at 3rd.
Game 2: Shizuoka 8, Okinawa Kirin 2
Count on the wily veterans to see you through, as Shizuoka starter Daichi Ishii scattered three hits and three walks, only giving up two runs on two homers and striking out seven to send the Spirit packing. The Arrows tied the game off Okinawa starter Ryunosuke Kato in the 6th, with SS Shinji scoring 3B Ryota Miyake on a triple, and coming home himself on 2B Taisei Murakami's single. The bottom of the seventh was when this game blew wide open, with a bases-loaded wild pitch, bases-loaded walk, 2-run double, and 2-run single put it away.
On to Fukuoka!
|