Sophomore Outfielder Misato Iijima collected five RBIs to help Kobe Koryo Gakuen High School to the 27th Japan Girls' Baseball Championship title after beating Gifu Daiichi High School 8-1 in the final on Tuesday, 1 August. Kobe Koryo became the first school to win the "Triple Crown" following the Japan High School Girls Youth Baseball Tournament last fall and the Japan High School Girls Baseball Invitational Tournament this spring.
The tournament was organized by the Japan High School Girls Baseball Federation and the final took place at Hanshin Koshien Stadium for the third consecutive year during the summer school vacation period, culminating in the two-week final tournament stage which was held in Tamba and Awaji in Hyogo prefecture from 22 to 29 July this year with a record number of 58 teams.
Princess Kako, the second daughter of Crown Prince Fumihito and Crown Princess Kiko, watched the final of the girls’ baseball championship at Koshien Stadium in Nishinomiya. The princess was seated in the front row of the VIP room, alongside WBSC Women's Baseball Commission chair Hiroko Yamada, and intently watched the game between Kobe Koryo and Gifu Daiichi.
Last April, the princess also attended the finals of the National High School Women’s Selection Tournament held in the Tokyo Dome.
The WBSC Women's Baseball World Cup Group B presented by CARNEXT is scheduled to take place in Miyoshi City, Japan, from 13 to 18 September. The IX WBSC Women’s Baseball World Cup opens on Tuesday with Group A starting in Thunder Bay, Canada.
