A special series of high school baseball games kicked off Monday at Koshien Stadium, featuring the 32 schools originally scheduled to compete in the canceled spring invitational.
With the traditional summer tournament held at Koshien also canceled because of the spread of infections with the novel coronavirus, this marked the first time high school baseball was played in the famed stadium in Nishinomiya, Hyogo Prefecture.
An opening ceremony was held without a procession of the competiting teams, only the two teams scheduled to play the first game: Oita Commercial High School from Oita Prefecture and Hanasaki Tokuharu High School from Saitama Prefecture. Members of other teams were introduced through group photos on the stadium's large video screen.
The captains of the two opening teams jointly made a fair play pledge and vowed to play bravely. They then mentioned sympathy to people in the midst of the coronavirus ordeal and victims of recent torrential rain disasters.
The games are scheduled to be played through Aug. 17, with each team playing one game.
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