Photo/Illutration Members of the Sendai Ikuei Gakuen High School baseball team celebrate their victory at the National High School Baseball Championship on Aug. 22 at Hanshin Koshien Stadium. (Kazushige Kobayashi)

Sendai Ikuei Gakuen High School won the Koshien national baseball title on Aug. 22, ending a century-long drought filled with heartbreak and humiliation for the Tohoku region.

Sendai Ikuei, located in the Miyagi Prefecture capital, overwhelmed Shimonoseki International High School of Yamaguchi Prefecture 8-1 in the final of the National High School Baseball Championship tournament held at Hanshin Koshien Stadium in Nishinomiya, Hyogo Prefecture.

It was the 10th time for a Tohoku team to advance to the final of the summer tournament, which was first established in 1915.

In the first nine games, the Tohoku teams all lost, often by the slimmest of margins.

But now, the crimson-colored championship flag will finally move to the other side of Shirakawa-no-seki, a monument known as a “border entry” point to the northeastern Tohoku region.

The region’s long winters and heavy snow reduce the practice time for players in the area. Tohoku teams had long been treated as underdogs in the tournament, particularly against the talent-laden western teams with aggressive recruitment programs and strict training regiments.

Players on some of these powerhouse teams reportedly gave each other high-fives when they learned they were matched up against a Tohoku team at the summer tournament, one of the most popular sporting events in Japan.

A team from Akita Prefecture played in the final of the very first tournament in 1915. The game went into extra innings, and the Tohoku team lost 1-2 in a walk-off hit in the 13th inning.

It took more than half a century for another Tohoku team to reach the final.

Misawa High School from Aomori Prefecture and Matsuyama Commercial High School representing southern Ehime Prefecture engaged in an epic battle that remained tied 0-0 after 18 innings. The game ended in a draw, and Misawa lost 2-4 in the rematch.

In 1989, Sendai Ikuei reached the final but lost to Tokyo’s Teikyo Senior High School 0-2 in 10 innings.

In the early 21st century, it was no longer ultra-rare for a team representing Tohoku to be considered a serious contender and go deep in the tournament.

Yu Darvish, who currently pitches for the San Diego Padres, led Tohoku High School of Miyagi Prefecture to the final in the 2003 tournament. But even his formidable skills could not bring a championship to northeastern Japan.

Likewise, Kosei Gakuin High School representing Aomori Prefecture in 2011 and 2012, and Kanaashi Agricultural High School representing Akita Prefecture in 2018, all advanced to the finals. They all came home empty-handed.

The emergence of exceptional talent, including Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Angels, Yusei Kikuchi of the Toronto Blue Jays, and Roki Sasaki of the Chiba Lotte Marines, raised the level of baseball in the region as well.

Wataru Sue, the current 39-year-old manager of Sendai Ikuei, his alma mater, knows all about the countless broken hearts and dreams of Tohoku teams.

Visibly emotional after the Aug. 22 victory, the first thing Sue said in a televised post-game interview was: “Congratulations, people in Miyagi Prefecture and people in Tohoku region!”

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