High school baseball championship sets record for longest game: 50 innings and four days
TOKYO —Nanshiki baseball is a variation of the sport unique to Japan where the game is played with a rubber ball rather than the typical hardball or softball. Although it’s not nearly as popular as the other sports, the competition can be fierce especially among the younger players. One example of this can be found in the 59th National High School Nanshiki Baseball Championships semifinals wherein one game turned into a 50-inning and four-day long test of endurance. And as if that wasn’t enough, the winner of that game had to proceed to the final round only a few hours after finishing.
■ The first 30 innings
The game was between Chukyo of Gifu Prefecture with Matsui pitching and Sotoku from Hiroshima Prefecture who had Ishioka on the mound. Both pitchers threw for the entire 50 innings. By the end of the 45th inning, the pair had thrown a combined 1,252 pitches to 225 batters.....to read more
