Genius hitter Kazuhiro Kiyohara's first failure in life: "I'm scared to step up to the plate" - the challenge and revenge that changed him and prevented him from becoming a hero

The days of hardship at the powerful PL Gakuen school

Kiyohara began living in the dormitory at the prestigious PL Gakuen in 1983. He enrolled there because he was attracted by the school's elite training style, but after enrolling he was faced with challenges he never imagined.

"It was my first experience in everything," he recalled, referring to the chores he was assigned besides baseball, such as cooking, doing laundry, and polishing the spikes of his seniors. Leaving his parents' home and bound by strict discipline, Kiyohara made a brilliant debut in a practice match shortly after entering the school.

"I swung with all my might and hit it," said Kiyohara, who hit a double off the best pitcher of his generation. Since then, he has played in the Koshien tournament five times since his first year of high school. In his third year, he won the national championship at Koshien in the summer.

Image provided by: NTT Docomo Sports Graphic Number

The biggest turning point was the loss at Koshien in the spring

In the program, a photo of Kiyohara standing on the grounds of Koshien as a high school baseball player was placed in front of him. Kiyohara reflected on the moment he was attacked by fear and regret that he had never experienced in his baseball career.

The point where Kiyohara mentioned his "failure" was the spring Koshien semi-finals when he was a third-year student. Kiyohara was struck out three times by an unknown public high school ace. Looking back at the pitch that was thrown to him in his final at-bat, which went from a ball to a strike, he said with regret, "I couldn't touch it anymore." His dream of winning back-to-back spring and summer championships was dashed by an unheralded pitcher, and he was heartbroken.

"For the first time, I felt scared at the plate. Normally, the speed of a pitcher's ball gradually slows down, but this one just came at me with a bang, and I even felt like, 'How am I going to hit this with my bat?'" he said, revealing the magnitude of the shock he felt at the time.

The trigger to move forward after setbacks is "a promise with friends"

On the day his dream was shattered, Kiyohara rushed into the indoor training field with his captain, Matsuyama. He adjusted the ball speed of the machine to 150km/h, faster than the opposing pitcher, and kept hitting the ball. With the bitterness of the defeat in their hearts, the two made a promise.

Image provided by: NTT Docomo Sports Graphic Number

"I told him, 'Let's swing the bat every day from now on, until the summer Koshien tournament is over.' Matsuyama and I would always swing the bat after practice, with steam coming off our bodies. I don't think we could have swung it all the way by ourselves, but the captain and number 4 player took the initiative, and the other members followed suit, which is why we won the Koshien tournament. I'm proud to say that Matsuyama and I were the high schoolers who swung the bat the most at that time."

Kiyohara also talked about his childhood memories of his father, who was involved with a bat. His father, who ran an electronics store, gave his son, a young baseball player, the most expensive bat he could buy, despite the economic difficulties. Based on the philosophy that "a bat is like one's sword," Kiyohara sharpened the blade of the bat with his friends.

What sustained Kiyohara's spirit at his last Koshien tournament

Kiyohara improved his batting skills through the spring defeat and grew into a true No. 4 hitter. "We spent 365 days a year together in the dormitory, and I was entrusted with the No. 4 position, so everyone trusted me," he said, feeling the bond with his teammates. With the high expectations of those around him, what supported Kiyohara as he competed at Koshien?

"It really comes down to practice. You need to practice as much as anyone else and have the determination to be better than anyone else. By practicing more and more, your determination gets stronger and stronger, and you gain confidence. I don't think there's anything else you can do."

Kiyohara turned his setbacks into a driving force for growth. Having overcome the greatest disappointment of his life, he is set to achieve great things not only at Koshien but also in the professional baseball world.

"Setbacks make you dig deeper into yourself and help you grow. If I hadn't experienced the setbacks I did on the big stage of Koshien, I wouldn't have become a professional. I think it was because of those setbacks that I was able to win the summer Koshien tournament, set the home run record, and hit 525 home runs as a professional."

"NumberTV" The point of failure - The reason I looked forward at that time

title:#2 Kazuhiro Kiyohara
Release date:September 26, 2024 (Thursday) 0:00 ~ 24 episodes in total (scheduled to be distributed twice a month)
content:This documentary program focuses on the "failures" and "comebacks" of top athletes. In a special space (the Number Room) decorated with old photos, the athletes themselves look back on their lives and talk about moments of failure and the reasons they were able to move forward.

*The information in this article is current as of the time of publication.