I was a proud Dad to watch Owen play his first baseball game in Japan. He was a bit unsure of himself, being one of the youngest players and not speaking much Japanese, he over came his fears and had a great day of baseball. The two schools form one team and the “A” Team is for the older students and the “B” Team is for the younger students. In the first “B” Team game against the Canadian Academy of Kobe, Owen came into the game in the third inning to relieve his classmate, Jun, as a pitcher. After getting the first batter to strikeout, he then walked, beaned, and walked another batter to load the bases. He then cooly struck out the next guy to get the second out and then fielded a grounder and tagged the runner heading home from third to get out of a jam. He went on to pitch three more hitless innings to earn the win and him and Jun combined for a no-hitter and an 11-0 victory. Owen through 6 strikeouts and also made another good play in the seventh inning to throw out a runner at first.
He got into the second game against the Marist Brothers International School of Kobe, and in his only at bat, doubled with a line shot between the left and center fielder, to drive in two runs and eventually scoring in a 9-2 victory. He also walked with the bases loaded to drive in a third run. In the first game he scored twice.
Owen carried around his glove all weekend and is very enthusiastic to keep playing baseball! It was a rewarding start to his Sabers career.
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