SAMURAI JAPAN Interview
Samurai Japan Interviews Vol. 8: Interview with Women's Coach Koichi Okura
8/11/2014
The "Samurai Japan Women's National Team" is entering the "ENEOS Presents 6th IBAF Women's Baseball World Cup Miyazaki Competition", held in Miyazaki, Miyazaki Prefecture from September 1st (Mon) to 7th (Sun), seeking their fourth straight win. We asked Coach Koichi Okura, who is leading the team for the fourth time after a two-competition break, about the purpose of the National Team selection final training camp, which was held in Matsuyama Central Park and Botchan Stadium in Matsuyama, Ehime, from August 6th (Wed) to 8th (Fri), as well as his feelings about the women's national team, and his enthusiasm for a fourth straight win in the competition.
----This competition is your second time leading the team into a competition held in Japan, six years since the Third Competition, when they became the best in the world. How was the team's condition as they went into the final training camp?
I think we're making the best possible team that we can. In the Women's World Cup particularly, we can't know the other teams' conditions until just before the competition, or until after we've entered the primary league. That's why the work of adjusting Japan to our opponents, and the score sheet, begins after the primary league.
That's why the best we can do before the competition is to raise the level of the Japanese team, and get them ready them without thinking about all the past circumstances. This final training camp has been shaping them to be the Japanese team I want to see.
----What does getting the Samurai Japan Women's National Team ready look like to you?
"Ready" means "no mistakes". I've been involved in the IBAF Women's Baseball World Cup for a long time now, and Japan only loses if they make a string of mistakes. I engage in risk management, meaning adapting the mindset of making no mistakes to both offense and fielding. In the final training camp particularly, I've stress the double-checking of pickoff plays and motions.
I leave all the technical parts to their efforts within each of their teams, and don't address them in the short period of the training camps. They fully understand what kinds of efforts to make through their past training camps, so in the final training camp, I have to judge and fine tune their accuracy while they match up their timing and mindsets.
I've narrowed down the players from 23 to 20 in this training camp, and I think it is natural and indispensable to follow-up in a way that leads to the spread of women's baseball from here on out.
----I'm guessing that the central players have been solidifying amidst that. First, how about your pitching staff?
As I touched on before, we have to wait until the primary league to decide how we'll play. Whether we have Ayami Sato (Japan Women's Pro Baseball: Reia) start and go the distance, or keep her as a closer in all games, our pitchers' playing patterns will change, and I think we have to be ready to adapt to a variety of situations.
However, I think that Sato, and Yukari Isozaki (Samurai), who was most valuable player in the Edmonton, Canada competition, will have a lot of appearances during this tournament.
----You've also invited Minami Yano (Japan Women's Pro Baseball: Flora) as a pitcher to the past Miyazaki Training Camp.
I invited her to take into account a pattern where Yano and Isozaki are on the starting rotation, while Sato stays on standby for relief in all games. I've been putting together who should be the right spot pitcher and left spot pitcher, and I'm going to have all the pitching staff be on top of their game.
----Who do you think will be in the center of your batting order?
Basically, it will center around Tomomi Nishi (AFB TTR) and Yuki Kawabata (Japan Women's Pro Baseball: Astraia), but I'm focusing on how many bases the first, second, sixth, seventh, and eighth batters can get, so I'm considering Ayako Rokkaku (Samurai) and Miki Atsugase (Japan Women's Pro Baseball: Astraia) for first and second. And the talents of Akiko Shimura (Asahi Trust) and Ayumi Terabe (Shobi University 4th Year), who I have planned for eighth and ninth, will be incredibly important.
They've had good inside and outside control in past IBAF Women's Baseball World Cups, and there are many cases where Japan's failed to get hits. What if the opposing team has a pitcher with a top speed of 135 km/h? As they think things like, "What if we can't get a hit?", or "It's only natural if we can't get a hit", they can still score if they can all bunt and run. I want them to be able to go on the offense, even if they can't make hits.
----Who will be the key players on the field?
We have Atsugase as shortstop, who played with me in the third championships, and displayed her steady ability as a professional. In addition, Ayaka Deguchi (Shobi University 4th Year) has picked up steam not just in her plays, but also in the mental aspect, so I think of these two as the center.
----You've appointed Akiko Shimura (Asahi Trust) as captain, continuing on from last championships.
She's not the type to pull with her voice, but she's a reliable player based on her record and experience in the past World Cups. There are other veteran players who played with me, like Yukiko Kon (Hornet Ladies). I hope that they can be the mental pillars of the team, and that Atsugase and Deguchi and the rest can play proactively, with all their strength.
I also want Rokkaku, Yui Shingu (Samurai), and Isozaki to be the leaders of the next generation. That's the reason I've chosen Rokkaku as one of the two sub-captains, along with Risa Nakashima. If they become able to lead the high school and first- to second-year university students, I think that can lead to what comes next.
---- I think that the "ENEOS Presents 6th IBAF Women's Baseball World Cup 2014 Miyazaki Competition" will be a major turning point in women's baseball. What do you think?
My answer to that connects to the topic of "Why did I want to spread women's baseball?". Back in December 2001, when I was still the coach of the Komazawa University Hardball Team, the selection for the Women's Baseball World Championships was being held on the Komazawa University grounds. At the time, I was seeking to coach high-level players, but when I took a step inside the grounds to help out, I was extremely shocked.
There were 150 players, gathered from across the nation from Hokkaido to Okinawa. The girl who was playing catcher had bought her own gear. I was a catcher back in my playing days, but I've always been provided by the club from middle school until now, and I've never bought catcher's gear before. Wherever we went, "there was baseball", but they wanted to create an environment where they "play baseball themselves".
"Playing at Koshien, winning the university championships, winning the inter-city games. Those things don't matter all that much. The career I had up to this point was just a spectacle of baseball. Baseball is meant to be learned more, just like this". I learned much from them.
----Now, finally, could you tell us about your enthusiasm for the competition?
"I have all these girls who love baseball, so I want to create an environment where they can play baseball with all their might". And since this is being held in Miyazaki, which has been involved with us in a number of ways, I want to put on a pure and honest game that will inspire the people watching, and achieve results that they can delight in.
Women's Team
ENEOS Presents 6th IBAF Women's Baseball World Cup 2014 Miyazaki Competition
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