Those poor kids have to go through it all again! The final of the summer national high school baseball tournament, better known as Koshien for the stadium where it is played, will be replayed for just the second time in its 89-year history. NHK and TV Asahi have had to re-arrange their programming schedules to fit in this afternoon’s live broadcast. The first replay in 37 years will see West Tokyo representative Waseda Jitsugyo, trying to win its first title, battle once more against two-time reigning champs Komadai Tomakomai from Hokkaido. Both teams put out their star pitchers yesterday and played to a nerve-wracking 1-1, 15-inning tie. Amazingly, Waseda’s Saito Yuki pitched his third complete game in three days, yet another example of the punishment young baseballers have to endure before they even turn pro. Does he have to go through it all again today?
• Former baseball star Ishii Hiro (42) revealed at the weekend that he is soon to remarry. The popular infielder, who now runs a restaurant in Yokohama, is engaged to model and “race queen” Funaki Kae (30). They appeared on yesterday’s NTV show “The Sunday” to say they’d be tying the knot next week. He met the former Miss Yokohama at the end of 2003, several months after his divorce from singer Okamura Kyoko (44), with whom he has a daughter. Ishii’s pro career started in 1989 to 2002, and he played for four teams, including the Yomiuri Giants, before ending with the Yokohama Bay Stars in 2002.
• 80s idol singer Yasuhara Keiko (36) announced on her blog yesterday that she is expecting her first child. A member of the idol trio Shojotai from 1984-89, she went on to become a narrator. She married in 2003.
• One step ahead is former Olympic medallist Kotani Mikako (39), whose management agency announced yesterday that she had her second baby on August 12. Kotani won a bronze medal in synchronized swimming at the Seoul Olympics in 1988 and is now a sports commentator. She married former sprinter Sugiura Yusaku in 1999.