Overview

• Yamanashi Gakuin advanced with an 11–4 quarterfinal win over defending champion Kyoto Kokusai at Hanshin Koshien.
• Yokoyama Yuu’s second-inning solo home run triggered a five-run frame and registered as the tournament’s eighth, surpassing last summer’s total under the lower-resilience bat standard.
• The remaining quarterfinals on Aug. 19 feature Kanto Dai (East Tokyo) vs Nihon University San (West Tokyo) in a Tokyo-vs-Tokyo quarterfinal for the first time in 15 years, plus Gifu Commercial vs Yokohama and Okinawa Shogaku vs Toyo Daigaku Himeji.
• Teams scaled back work during the Aug. 18 rest day as extreme heat and heavy early-round pitch counts sharpened focus on pitcher safety and recovery.
• After an 11-inning third-round game in which ace Sumiyoshi threw 169 pitches, Okinawa Shogaku opted for light batting while he tuned up with a high-intensity game of catch.