nijikoshien 2022

>Leos
Pitching: Ace pitcher Salome would be really good, if she didn’t have two horrific weaknesses, if she faces lefties, runners in scoring position, or god forbid both, she’s gonna have a rough time. The rest of the pitchers aren’t much to write home about. (Sorry Pomudachis)
Fielders: Poor defense all around, and few good hitters, Kaede and Oliver are standouts in a generally mediocre offense
Overall: If Salome has a really strong game, the good batters he has might be able to pull off a few wins. Don’t expect this team to go too far.

>Sasaki
Pitching: YASHIRO is a very well made pitcher, with breaking balls that compliment his abilities. If the defense holds up well, this team will be hard to score off. He’s also got the lucky ability, which gives the entire team a small boost to batting. Gwelu is a solid reliever for Yashiro that will come in handy in the later stages of a game, should Yashiro’s stamina give out.
Fielders: Himawari is the standout fielder, with Chance B, Catcher A, and solid hitting stats. Petra and Yakabane will also be important batters on this team. The rest of the team is average (Not a bad thing, consistency is a quality of its own) Against faster teams like Kuzuha’s, they may allow a few infield hits due to their low fielding stats. (Fielding stats directly impact how fast a player can react and move towards a ball)
Overall: Great team, this team’s ability to win rests on the infield’s ability to get outs.

>Lize
Pitching: Tsukino is a fantastic pitcher, who’s only flaw may be the red walk ability she has. That being said, that is her only flaw. Her abilities are all solid and so are her breaking balls. In reserve, there’s Uzuki who has the intimidator ability, which is extraordinarily good on any reliever. To counteract batters with intimidator, Tsukino can use Fushimi, who has the ability that stops intimidator (Batting) entirely. Mysta is also an option with her strong splitter
Fielders: Shizuka is a fantastic catcher in every facet (Except for her fielding stat). Inui, Belmond, Naraka, Suo, Suzuki, and Takamiya are a very dangerous group of batters to deal with. Naraka especially will be a menace on the basepaths and defense. Mashiro and Takamiya will make a great keystone combo on defense.
Overall: A very strong team, one of contenders to win easily.

>Kagami
Pitching: Other than his sub 145km/h fastball, Jiyu is a very strong pitcher. Debidebi is a very strong backup. Other than those two however, Kagami’s bullpen is lacking.
Fielders: Ike is a strong catcher with great hitting stats (and Intimidator!), but again, a low fielding stat. Hanabatake, Claire, Moira (intimidator), Alstroemeria, Hatake (who has power hitter and pull hitter), and Elira are all extremely solid batters and fielders.
Overall: A very strong group of batters, and above average pitchers. If the hitters can keep up the pace, this team will go far.
Also, Kagami did a cover of 2017's OP.

>Ibrahim
Pitching: Ibrahim was extremely lucky and pulled one of the few OBs to have an original pitch. Despite this, Yugo has 5 points put into the shuuto and only 4 into the original pitch, the Yoneball. Yugo is also one of the only players to have a gold ability. Unfortunately, Gasoline Tank is fucking useless in Eikan 9 and Exhibition (Which is what is used to play the NijiKoshien). Also, all of Ibrahim’s pitchers can’t pitch past 140 km/h. Realistic to an IRL highschool team? Yes. Useful in this tournament? No. These pitchers frustrate me. Uki might be able to throw an inning or two.
Fielders: This team looks like what Kuzuha’s team did last year. Fast, but not much else. They’ll probably meet the same fate.
Overall: Eikan 9 is way easier in 2022, and the power creep may leave Ibrahim dead last. But Yugo might carry this undeserving team to a win because original pitches that change the direction of the pitch absolutely fuck with the AI.

>Kuzuha
Pitching: Mayuzumi has a lot of strong abilities like strong starter and guts, which will keep him in the game. His breaking balls are a little weak. He’s got a maxed out h-slider, but the other breaking balls are low level. Gilzaren and Fulgur will make decent bullpen options.
Fielders: Luca is a monster, probably the best player in the game. Hoshikawa, Mononobe, Petit, Alban, and Yamagami are fantastic all round players. Chi, Kuroi, Amamiya, and Bonnivier are great batters with poor defense. All these players are quite fast too. But low fielding may damper their speed on defense. Petit and Mononobe both have the error ability, which could prove disastrous in an important situation. Since first base is more likely to be where outs happen, Mononobe is more susceptible to this.
Overall: Kuzuha, by popular opinion is the favorite to win Nijikoshien and send all the other teams home crying with their commemorative Nijikoshien dirt. It’s not hard to see why. Most of them are fast players who can hit well. There is one important thing that needs to be noted. Most catchers in this tournament have a low fielding stat and average arm strength. Low fielding means that when Kuzuha’s players inevitably attempt to steal bases, the catchers will not be able to react as fast as they should in order to throw out the runners. Should a Godspeed player get on base, it might turn into a double, (or will turn into a double automatically if Luca’s on base, if he hasn’t already reached second base) If it gets bad, Kuzuha could slaughter every team in this tournament, ascending to Osaka Toin status. They’re not immortal however. If the defense falters at the wrong time, they might get sent home early.

>Nui:
Pitching: Hana is a decent pitcher. Painfully so. Ange is about as good as her team last year. Those are the good pitchers.
Fielders: On the bright side, Hayama is a very good player, and easily one of the best in the tournament. Rindou, Maimoto, and Dola are good offensive options, but the defense is lacking and Hayama can’t do it all alone.
Overall: It’s looking bleak for Nui, but Hayama will be an absolute blast to watch, and maybe he can carry them to a respectable finish.

>Luckshitting Daifuku
Pitching: You should be thanking the stars above that Shiina didn’t pull someone like Darvish, Ohtani, or god forbid Isao. Despite this, Shiina’s has a deep core of pitchers. Joker, and Nina are good pitchers. The real dangers are Touya and Sonny. Touya will make a great ace. Sonny has an intimidator which will make extra innings a nightmare for any team. Shiina’s probably the only person who could successfully pull off a relay strategy. All her options are good.
Fielders: Vox is amazing. He actually has good defense stats along with offensive ones. Ha Yun, Na Sera, and Suzuka (Suzuka especially) are fantastic players. Nari, Fumino, Hajime, and Sayo are great offensively, but a little weak on defense
Overall: I am scared. Not only is Shiina’s team very strong. It seems like this team was made to be a perfectly-crafted counter to Kuzuha’s speed bs. The catcher Vox is great defensively and Touya has quick A, meaning he can windup a pitch VERY fast. Furthermore, she pulled Nagashima’s OB. For those not in the know, Nagashima is one of the greatest and most revered Japanese baseball players ever. Shiina might have been preordained by the baseball gods to fuck Kuzuha’s team in front of 150k people. TLDR: You’re f-ed.