Noritsugu Komaki, the manager of Kyoto International Senior High School's baseball team, vividly remembers the moment his team clinched the summer National High School Baseball Championship for the first time.

"It was as if time had stopped," said Komaki, 41. "I was simply impressed that we accomplished such a splendid feat."

The final batter of Kanto Daiichi High School from Tokyo struck out swinging in the bottom of the 10th inning on August 23rd, marking the culmination of a remarkable journey for Kyoto International. The team had overcome humiliation, incompetence, and even a language barrier to achieve this historic victory.

Komaki's journey with Kyoto International began when he was asked to give instructions to the team on weekends. Many children of ethnic Korean residents in Japan were enrolled in Kyoto International, and its baseball team featured several international students. At times, Komaki had to use gestures to teach the students how to play the game.

"More than half of our teammates knew almost nothing about the sport, and those players inevitably made errors when the ball was hit to them," Komaki said. "They similarly struggled to make contact at the plate."

Despite the challenges, Komaki was moved by the students' efforts to learn on the school's cramped baseball field. "The students loved baseball and did their best to improve," he said.

In 2008, Komaki quit his job at a bank to devote himself to coaching Kyoto International. His dedication paid off when the team competed in the spring national championship for the first time at Hanshin Koshien Stadium in Hyogo Prefecture in 2021.

Later that year, Kyoto International advanced to the final four of the summer tournament, thanks in part to Ryudai Morishita, now a pitcher with the professional team Yokohama DeNA BayStars.

"These opportunities on the stage of Koshien helped to nurture our players," Komaki said.

Three years later, Kyoto International became the national champion. "What our team is today could only be realized because many students worked so hard while gritting their teeth," he said. "I just want to say thank you so much for presenting such a wonderful summer vacation to this middle-aged man.