Shohei Otani will throw the first pitch in the new Premier 12 tournament on Sunday against South Korea, Samurai Japan manager Hiroki Kokubo said Tuesday.
The Group B game at Sapporo Dome will be the curtain raiser for the competition between the 12th highest ranked national federations. Kokubo's team is training in Fukuoka and will play exhibition games against Puerto Rico on Thursday and Friday at Yafuoku Dome.
"The first game is extremely important," Otani said. "I want to do my best to compete with all I've got."