On the 5th, Orix Buffaloes announced that Hiroto Fukumori, an Osaka Toin baseball club alumnus and currently battling rare cancer, will pitch the ceremonial first pitch in the Hanshin Tigers game on June 12 (Kyocera Dome Osaka). Mr. Fukumori, who underwent his fourth surgery this March and is still working on treatment, went to mound with the desire to be a hope for others suffering from the same illness. Last season, he impressed everyone by making a no-bounce pitch on the mitt of his high school teammate and best friend Tomoya Mori catcher.

In January, he accompanied Moritomo, Tongu, Noguchi, and Katsuki on their voluntary training in Miyakojima. He also threw the ceremonial first pitch before the Lotte-Seibu Lions game on March 28th (at ZOZO Marine Stadium).

◆Hiroto Fukumori: Born July 29, 1995, in Osaka City. Age 30. He started playing baseball in the third grade of elementary school and played for Osaka Miyakojima Boys during junior high school. In 2013, during his third year at Osaka Toin High School, he played as outfielder and participated in Koshien in both the spring and summer, reaching the round of 16 both times. In the summer tournament, he hit a walk-off single in the second round against Nichikawa (Yamanashi). His Koshien record is 9 At Bat 19 hit 3 RBI. After graduating from Ritsumeikan University, he joined a house builder, but in 2021 he was diagnosed with two rare cancers. In 2024, metastasis to multiple locations was found, and he is currently fighting the disease with the aim of achieving complete remission. Right-handed pitcher and right-handed batter.

◇Rare cancers are a general term for malignant tumors that occur less frequently than other cancers, with an incidence of less than six cases per 100,000 people. This term includes approximately 200 types of malignant tumors, such as "gastrointestinal stromal tumors" and "paragangliomas" that arise from paraganglia in the chest and other areas. Due to the low incidence of each type, the lack of established treatments is an issue.