On July 13th, child actor Kato Seishiro threw the first opening baseball pitch for the season at the Koshien Stadium between the match of Hanshin Tigers and the Yomiuri Giants. Although Kato is known for being a fan of the Hanshin Tigers, he didn't appear with their uniform but instead with his outfit from his new movie, �Nintama Rantaro� as a ninja. Kato�s ball was thrown at a large angle and Hanshin's catcher, Fujii Akihito, caught it in one bounce and Giant�s Sakamoto Hayato got someone out. From the stadium, approximately 40,000 people cheered and clapped at this play.

After his pitch, Kato commented, �It was a lot of fun. I was really nervous because the mound I stood on was far away from where the catcher was. To me, today�s event was 98 points! Minus two points for having it thrown in one bounce,� and told his astonishment as a ninja baseball player.

Kato trained hard for this day and was even able to throw a ball a distance of 59 feet from the mound to the catcher with no bounce. Even on the day of the pitch, he was training hard until the real game. Before his pitch, Hanshin�s player Hiyama Shinjiro said, �Good luck!� and Kato stood on the mound with "200% of courage" due to Hiyama�s encouragement. During the game, Kato cheered, �Everyone get along with your guts!� to the Hanshin Tigers.

�Nintama Rantaro� will release in theaters on July 27th.

Check out the photos from this event below!

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Source & Images: Oricon News