Imamura Takeshi went to Kiyomine High School and also visited Nagasaki Nihon University, where Osera Daichi, who was in the same grade, went to the same university.
Imamura Takeshi, who played for Hiroshima during his active career and had a total of 115 holds, went on to Nagasaki Prefectural Kiyomine High School in 2007. In April 2003, the school name was changed from “Hokusho Minami” to “Kiyomi.” The baseball team also became increasingly strong from then on, making their first appearance at Koshien in the summer of 2005, and despite losing 0-21 to Yokohama in the final of the 2006 Selection Tournament, they won the runner-up. “It was the closest high school to my house.” At the same time, there is also this determination. “I’m quitting baseball in high school.” This is said to have also been reported to director Yoshida Koji (currently director Yamanashi Gakuin High School).
Imamura was the ace of 3rd year junior high school in the softball club at Kosaza Junior High School in Sasebo City, but when he went to high school, he recalled the invitation from a strong school, saying, “I think it probably didn’t exist. I haven’t heard of it.” It’s not that I didn’t want to go to a team with strong baseball. In fact, I was interested in Nagasaki Nihon University, a powerful player located in Isahaya City, Nagasaki. “I went to see the school. There was an open school, so I told my junior high school homeroom teacher, ‘I’m a little curious’ and he sent it to me.”
However, I didn’t feel like going to college. One of the drawbacks was that I couldn’t go to Isahaya from Osasa-cho, Sasebo City, where I live, and “I’m in a crazy countryside, so I don’t know about the environment, or there are too many people I don’t know about… Oh, I thought this was impossible, so I went home.” If he had chosen Nagasaki Nihon University, he might have been competing for the ace position in high school with pitcher Osera Daichi, who later pitched at the Nagasaki tournament and became a teammate in Hiroshima, but at this time he was destined to pass by.
As a result, Kiyomine was chosen as his destination. In 2001, during his time at Kitamatsu Minami, when they were in Kitamatsu Minami, the team was strengthened, and after the team was formed by manager Yoshida and coach Shimizu Hirohiko (currently manager Osaki High School), the team was strengthened, and after 2003, when the school was changed to Kiyomine, they suddenly became a powerful figure in Nagasaki. Imamura was to go on to college under a recommended slot. Among the strong schools in the northern part of the prefecture, such as Sasebo City, there were also private schools such as Sasebo Minoru, but at the time Kiyomine was lacking in strength, and above all, he was said to be “because it was the closest high school to his home,” which was located in Sasa Town, Kitamatsuura District.
After graduating from high school, he planned to train to take over his family business, Imamura Suisan.
On the other hand, what Imamura was thinking about was “baseball until high school.” My parents’ house is Imamura Suisan, which sells seafood, including Iriko. After graduating from high school, he planned to start training to take over the family business. “I also said this when I entered high school and had an interview with the coach. I said, ‘I’m going to quit baseball in high school because I have a family home.” The coach also said, ‘Is that right?” He hadn’t even imagined becoming a professional yet, but at that point he had both university and working baseball removed from his career path.
“University costs money, so it puts a burden on parents. If you’re going to work, I thought it would be better to work at home and work at your parents’ home.” He said he had thought about it since he was a child after seeing his father Kazuhiko work. “My old man wasn’t at home. It was common for him to stay at a factory. Even when he got home, he only had to eat and bath. I knew it was too much trouble.” In the end, he would go on to become a professional, but that was due to the decision to “become filial piety.”
Until Kiyomine became a pro pitcher, Imamura spent his high school life with the choice of quitting baseball in high school. “I took a bus to school. It’s about 30 to 40 minutes. There’s only one train per hour, so it would be a pain if I missed the train.” He puts more effort into baseball than ever before, and has been on the bench as a reserve pitcher from his first year of high school, with a high-level team.
In 2007, Imamura lost to Nagasaki Nihon University in the semi-finals of the Nagasaki tournament in the summer of his first year. “Until then I started one game (from the second round to the quarterfinals). I forgot which game it was, but I think I threw about five times. I didn’t pitch in the semi-finals, but I was frustrated that I lost after all. I remember that.” The next thing that frustration came to mind. I was able to endure hard practice. As my body strengthened, my pitch speed increased.
In the fall of the year, it exceeded 140 kilos. “Even so, I was hit a lot back then, so I didn’t really understand what it was,” he said, but it was steadily improving. It was because he had declared that baseball would go all the way to high school, and because he thought this was the last three years, he was always going to do it to ensure that he had no regrets. At Kiyomine, Imamura continued to raise his level in the summer of the second year of 2008 and autumn, and in the spring of 2009.
(Shinji Yamaguchi)
