Koushing Academy, aiming for the first-ever championship in their school's history, stands as the Aomori Prefecture representative holding the same aspirations for the Tohoku Region's first championship in 93 years.
As the broadcast camera swept over the entire Koshien Stadium, the announcer's voice joined the broadcast signal—NHK has given its highest importance to this summer 2011 showdown: besides star commentators Maeda Masaji and Tanaka Shuji, special invitation was extended to Wakayama Yu, who led Konan High School to their sixth consecutive Senbatsu High School Baseball Tournament victory last summer.
As the camera panned across the players of Mitsuhoshi, Tanaka Shuji began introducing the statistics of both teams to the audience watching from home:
