Seibu Lions 's fifth-round draft pick, infielder Sowa Yokota (18) from Yamamura Gakuen High School, moved into the "Wakashishi Dormitory" in Tokorozawa City, Saitama Prefecture on the 7th.

A true Saitama native from Higashimatsuyama City, Saitama, he brought with him when he moved into the dormitory: home base shaped votive plaque and a baseball bat-shaped votive plaque from Yakyu Shrine, also in the city, where he attended high school. He asked his high school teammates to write messages on the larger one, and on the smaller one he wrote his own determination: "To be promoted to the first team, to get 200 hit in a year, and to get 2,000 hit in total."

He is the only high school graduate rookie among the players on the roster. "I'm really starting to feel that it's about to begin. There are parts that I'm looking forward to, but there are also anxieties because the level will be high. First of all, my goal is to get my first hit in my first year, so I want to get up to the first team this year and become a regular player by my fifth year," he said enthusiastically.