Photo/Illutration Roki Sasaki of Japan pitches against the Czech Republic on March 11, 2023. (Takuya Isayama)

Roki Sasaki’s dazzling debut in the World Baseball Classic came on a day that he doesn’t talk much about.

Twelve years ago on March 11, Sasaki’s father and grandparents were killed in the tsunami spawned by the Great East Japan Earthquake.

At the time, he was an elementary school pupil residing in Rikuzentakata, Iwate Prefecture, one of the hardest hit municipalities in the tsunami.

As the nation observed the 12th anniversary of the disaster, Sasaki took the mound against the Czech Republic at Tokyo Dome.

He let his pitching, not his words, provide inspiration for survivors of the disaster.

Sasaki struck out eight and picked up the win in Japan’s 10-2 victory over the Czech Republic. One of his 66 pitches clocked 164 kph.

His friend from elementary high school, Yuki Tsurushima, was following the game on his smartphone.

The two had many things in common. They grew up in the same neighborhood in Rikuzentakata, attended the same preschool, and had brothers three years older.

And the two friends both played baseball.

Tsurushima and Sasaki joined a local baseball team when they were third-year pupils at elementary school in 2010. They dreamed about winning a championship one day.

On March 11 the following year, the tsunami swamped the coast of the Tohoku region.

Tsurushima lost his mother in the waves, and he couldn’t return to Rikuzentakata until about half a year after the disaster.

By then, Sasaki had moved to Ofunato in the same prefecture. Tsurushima learned from acquaintances that his friend’s father was killed.

The two old friends later ran into each other at a baseball game and a local event.

Tsurushima recalled that they never talked about the tragedy that changed their lives forever.

“It is not that we forgot what happened to us, but I think we chose not to talk about it since we had no other option but to live each day by turning the page,” he said.

Twelve years on, Tsurushima, 21, still feels the same way.

Sasaki became a national baseball sensation when he was at Ofunato High School and his fastball hit 163 kph.

After graduating from the high school, Sasaki joined the Chiba Lotte Marines of Nippon Professional Baseball.

Last season in April, he became the youngest NPB pitcher, at 20 years and five months, to throw a perfect game. He was also the first to do so in 28 years.

Given his celebrity, even at his young age, many reporters on the anniversary of the disaster try to interview Sasaki about his losses on that day.

Sasaki has never been that good at speaking in public.

When Tsurushima sees Sasaki struggling to find the words to cheer up people affected in the disaster, he feels his old friend does not need to push himself to talk about the disaster.

He said Sasaki’s performance in the World Baseball Classic on the day of the tragedy sent a loud and clear message.

“March 11 is just one of the days of a year, but it is also the day he and I lost our relatives,” said Tsunashima, an outfielder of Josai International University’s “nanshiki” rubber-ball baseball team.

“After watching Roki play on March 11, I was inspired. If many people felt the same way as I did, it would be great.”

Tomoyuki Murakami, who coached Sasaki when he was growing up in Rikuzentakata, said playing baseball has helped him move on over the past 12 years.

“Today, watching him pitch inspires us in the ravaged region,” Murakami said. “His pitching on March 11 is a fateful event. He is our hope.”

(Emi Hirata contributed to this article.)

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