◆Pre-season game Orix Buffaloes 0-1 Softbank Hawks (8th, Kyocera Dome)

On the 8th, Softbank Hawks manager Hiroki Kokubo finished a Kansai tour in which the team's batting line-up performed poorly, allowing only one runs in three games, and pointed out that the young fielder lacked the ability to make a decisive impact and survive in the first team.

The team is missing four fielder- Kondo, Shuto, Makihara and Downs - for the WBC, so now is a great chance for the young players to make an impression. The second team's opening game is scheduled for the 14th, and the three-game series against The Giants (10th-12th, Ube, Mizuho PayPay) will be a key point. "It won't just be three games though. There will be a lot of changes when the WBC members return. To be honest, the current situation is that the players on the borderline have no decisiveness at all. They have no decisiveness. They're all pretty much the same," he said.

On this day, starting pitcher Tomoya Inoue, who was the sixth batter and right fielder, had one hit in four At Bat, while Yoshiyasu Sasakawa, the seventh batter and center fielder, had no hit in three At Bat, and Yuto Akihiro, the eighth batter and first baseman, also had no hit in three At Bat. The standout player was Tomoya Masaki, who came in as a pinch hitter with a doble on first base and no outs in the sixth inning and hit a double over center field. Manager Kokubo also commented, "I think the inside pitch was a little soft, but being able to hit that ball back is one of his strengths."