On the 4th, pitcher Shunta Nagaya (23) of ENEOS, who was selected as the third-round pick by Lotte in the October professional baseball draft, visited his alma mater, Hamamatsu Kaiseikan High School in Hamamatsu City, Shizuoka Prefecture.

Nagaya, who was presented with a bouquet of flowers by Chairman Kazufumi Takabayashi and teacher Shin Sano, who had coached him, expressed his gratitude for the school's culture of emphasizing independence, saying, 'I developed the habit of thinking and practicing on my own.' He looked back on his time there, stating, 'If it weren't for those three years in high school, I would never have moved on to the professional level.'

He was an infielder until junior high school, but in the fall of his first year of high school, a coach recommended he switch to being a pitcher, and he excelled as a right-hander with a top speed of 146 km/h. During the summer of his third year, when the prefecture's independent tournament was held amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, he led his team to a runner-up finish. After graduation, he went to Ritsumeikan University and then joined ENEOS, where his current maximum speed is 154 km/h. 'If I hadn't become a pitcher, I wouldn't have made it to the pros. It was the biggest turning point in my life.'

He will become the first professional baseball player from Hamamatsu Kaiseikan. Teacher Sano, who played for Chunichi as an outfielder and knows the harshness of the professional world, cheered him on, saying, "Steel yourself and do your best." Nagaya looked toward the future, stating, "I want to utilize the strong winds of Marine Stadium for my fork, which I have confidence in. The player I want to face is Kondo of the Softbank Hawks."