Early Life and High School Career
Wada was born in Kōnan, Aichi Prefecture, a member of the age group often referred to as the "Matsuzaka Generation". He began playing baseball as a first grader at Kōnan Municipal Fujisato Elementary School for the Kōnan Danchi Baseball team.
In 1991, Wada and his family moved to Izumo, Shimane Prefecture, Wada's father's hometown. Wada enrolled in Shimane Prefectural Hamada High School in Hamada upon graduating from junior high, leading them to the 79th National High School Baseball Championship in the summer of his second year of high school (the equivalent of eleventh grade in the United States) in 1997. His team faced Akita Commercial High School, led by current Tokyo Yakult Swallows ace Masanori Ishikawa, in the first round, but Wada walked that very Ishikawa with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth inning and suffered a walk-off loss.
Wada's team secured a berth in the national tournament again the following summer (1998). They defeated Niigata Prefectural Shibata Agricultural High School, whose battery consisted of right-hander Togashi Kazuhiro (who later played for the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters) and catcher Ken Katoh (currently with the Yomiuri Giants), in their first game. They faced Teikyo High School, the East Tokyo champions, in their next game. Though Wada, who was not only the team's ace but also their cleanup hitter, gave up a home run to current Fighters outfielder Hichori Morimoto, Hamada High won 3-2, making it to the quarter-finals. They narrowly lost in the quarter-finals to Toyota Otani High School (led by current Orix Buffaloes outfielder Katsuaki Furuki) in extra innings.
Though Wada had ruptured his left triceps muscle the previous fall and struggled to even reach 130 km/h (81 mph) with his fastball during the tournament, Teikyo High players remarked after facing Wada that " looked like it was 150 km/h (93 mph)."
Read more about this topic: Tsuyoshi Wada
Famous quotes containing the words early, life, high, school and/or career:
“Love is the hardest thing in the world to write about. So simple. You’ve got to catch it through details, like the early morning sunlight hitting the gray tin of the rain spout in front of her house. The ringing of a telephone that sounds like Beethoven’s “Pastoral.” A letter scribbled on her office stationery that you carry around in your pocket because it smells of all the lilacs in Ohio.”
—Billy Wilder (b. 1906)
“I think it beats the heck out of life after death, that’s for sure.”
—Martina Navratilova (b. 1956)
“They talk about their Pilgrim blood,
Their birthright high and holy!
A mountain-stream that ends in mud
Methinks is melancholy.”
—James Russell Lowell (1819–1891)
“Children in home-school conflict situations often receive a double message from their parents: “The school is the hope for your future, listen, be good and learn” and “the school is your enemy. . . .” Children who receive the “school is the enemy” message often go after the enemy—act up, undermine the teacher, undermine the school program, or otherwise exercise their veto power.”
—James P. Comer (20th century)
“I restore myself when I’m alone. A career is born in public—talent in privacy.”
—Marilyn Monroe (1926–1962)