By Saruwatari Tsuyoshi, Kyoto Shimbun News

September 26, 2012: Kyoto, Japan – Edo’s AAA affiliate, the Sayga Shinobi (85-35), captured their first Sun & Moon Unification Championship, winning the series against the Niigata Gigans (Neo-Tokyo’s AAA affiliate) 3-1.  Sayga fielded a strong team this year, finishing atop the Eastern Sky division with a healthy 11-game advantage in the standings over the second-place Namuko Puckmen.

Upcoming star 3B Ryosei Tanabe led Sayga’s offense with a .341 AVG, 417 OBP and OPS of .915, all career highs for the Tokyo native.  His defense has been as good as his bat.  In 2011, he won a AAA Glove Wizard Award at 3B.  In 2012 he covered both 3B and SS, committing only four errors.

On the mound, the Shinobi were led by the able Manabu Tsuchiya.  Manabu went 12-5 with a 2.73 ERA and a whopping 219 strikeouts.  In September, he struck out 16 batters against the Gojira Godziras.  At a tender 23 years of age, he can be expected to be pitching at the big league level shortly, assuming Edo can find room for him in what is already a young, talented rotation.

Additional offense was provided by young protégé Kenko Nakamura.  Seiichi Okamoto is learning and applying his lessons well.  He hit 6 HR for Sayga while knocking in 65 runners. At 28, he’s not the youngest catcher in AAA by any stretch, but let’s face it; next to Kenko-san we’re all young.

Interestingly, all three have split time this season between Edo and Sayga.  Looks like we can expect to see more of them at the highest level in the very near future.