Miyazaki high school withdraws from baseball tournament as 13 team members test positive

Members of Miyazaki Commercial High School's baseball team march in the opening ceremony of the 103rd National High School Baseball Championship on Aug. 10. (Credit: The Yomiuri Shimbun)

Miyazaki Commercial High School's baseball team has bowed out of the 103rd National High School Baseball Championship after 13 of its members tested positive for the novel coronavirus, the organizers of the tournament announced Tuesday.

One of the student players developed a fever Saturday, and came up positive in a PCR test on the following day.

All the team's members were later given PCR tests and as of Tuesday, the number of people confirmed to be infected had risen to 13.

Eight other members were judged to have been in close contact with infected persons on the team.

The organizers of the tournament deemed that an infection cluster had occurred, and later announced that the team was voluntarily withdrawing from the tournament.

Miyazaki Commercial High School has participated in the summer Koshien tournament five times, and this year was its first appearance in 13 years. It was scheduled to play against Chiben Gakuen Wakayama Senior High School from Wakayama Prefecture on Thursday, in its first match in the second round of the tournament.

Chiben Gakuen Wakyama team was awarded the victory by default.

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