◆Pre-season game: Seibu Lions 4-3 Nippon-Ham (5th, Escon)

Nippon-Ham The 4th ranked rookie Minato Handa (Minato) infielder (Nichidai Fujisawa) and the 1st ranked player in the draft Hiroki Tsuneya infielder (Hokkai Gakuen University) joined the 1st team. Both made their first appearances in open games.

Before the game against Lotte on the 7th (ESCON), there was an event to introduce the new players, so Handa joined the first team early. Coach Shinjo told Handa to "make sure you remember the atmosphere of ESCON," and he played defense from the 7th inning. At the same time, Tsuneya also played third base, and the rookie played shortstop.

Tsuneya came up to bat in the eighth inning and grounded out to the pitcher. "I wasn't able to have the at-bat I wanted. I think I could have organized my thoughts a little better while at bat, so if I have another at-bat, I'd like to learn from this experience and have a good at-bat next time," he said, showing his regret.

Handa also came up to bat for the first time in the eighth inning with two outs and a runner on first full count struck out However, he reflected with a smile, "I ended up striking struck out, but being able to hang in there and keep up with the professional ball shows that I've grown. I was also able to play defense, which was a good experience. I was happy to have fun playing today."