Kyoto International Junior and Senior High School defeated Kanto Daiichi High School 2-1 in the final of Koshien, the prestigious baseball tournament held every summer in Hyogo, western Japan.
Now in its 106th year, Koshien features only 49 baseball teams out of about 4,000 Japanese high schools that qualify to compete.
The final two teams remained scoreless until the ninth inning, leading to a dramatic 2-1 victory for the Kyoto-based school in extra innings.
Founded in 1947, initially for ethnic Korean residents in Japan, the school is still attended by students of Korean descent but also accepts students from various backgrounds including Japanese nationals and other foreign residents. According to the Overseas Koreans Education Portal, the small school has a total enrollment of 137 students this year, of which 116 are Japanese.
The school's baseball team, founded in 1999, was widely considered an underdog, but with Friday's victory, Kyoto International Junior and Senior High School became the first school from the historic town of Kyoto to clinch the championship trophy in 68 years.
Copyright ⓒ Aju Press All rights reserved.