2026 Professional baseball Draft Conference supported by Lipovitan D (22nd)

Shotaro Okamoto (3rd year), the star pitcher of public school Korioka in Osaka, was selected in the 5th round by Nippon-Ham.

At the school in Hirakata City, he watched the outcome of his fate alongside his teammates. The right-hander, who boasts a maximum speed of 148 km/h, looked upward the moment he was selected, wiped away tears with his left hand, and embraced manager Takuya Kawamoto. As the 48 gathered baseball club members erupted in cheers of 'Amazing!' and loud applause, he once again savored the joy.

After entering Korigaoka, Okamoto wore the ace number starting from the summer of his first year. In the third round of this summer's Osaka Championship Tournament, he recorded 11 strike outs, striking out at least one batter in every inning against the Kansai University Hokuyo lineup, which had defeated Osaka Toin in the spring prefectural tournament semifinals. Utilizing a sharp fastball and various breaking balls, he pitched through 8 innings, allowing 7 hits and 3 runs. Although they lost 1-3, his dignified pitching performance delivered from a flexible pitch form caught the eye of the Nippon-Ham scouts.

He became the 15th player from an Osaka public high school to be drafted since Itsuki Murabayashi (Otsuka, infielder), who was selected 7th by the Rakuten Eagles in 2015. For a pitcher, he is the 12th player in 22 years since Nobuaki Mizuochi (Shinoda), who was selected in the 10th round by the Hanshin Tigers in 2004.