By Jim Allen, KYODO NEWS - Oct 26, 2017 - 20:33 | Sports, All

Kotaro Kiyomiya, who this year set Japan's unofficial record for home runs by a high schooler, was taken by the Pacific League's Nippon Ham Fighters in the first round of Nippon Professional Baseball's amateur draft on Thursday.

Kiyomiya, 18, hit a record 111 home runs in his high school career -- although that includes practices and non-league games. In 70 career official games, the left-handed hitting first baseman hit 29 homers. Although powerful and squarely built, the 1.84-meter, 101-kilogram Kiyomiya has surprisingly good speed for his size.

He was the most popular player on draft day, with seven teams trying to snare him and will be a welcome addition to the Fighters.

After winning the Japan Series a year ago, Nippon Ham hit a snag this season, finishing fifth. To make things worse, the Fighters will likely lose two of their best hitters this winter, with slugging ace Shohei Otani expected to move to the majors and first baseman Sho Nakata able to leave as a free agent.

"I am now at the start line," Kiyomiya told a press conference at Waseda Jitsugyo High School in Tokyo. "I have not done anything yet, so I want to train to become a player like the one the teams picking me expected."

Expected by many to go to university, as his father, popular rugby coach Katsuhiko Kiyomiya did, the slugger said his parents supported his dream of following a different path.

"Both my mother and father attended university, so I'm well aware of the value it has," the younger Kiyomiya said. "But they are supporting the path I have chosen. In that manner, my desire to turn pro became that much stronger."

The youngster also said he likes the look of the Fighters and skipper Hideki Kuriyama.

"They have a lot of great players and project an image of being a strong team, so I feel pretty happy about this," Kiyomiya said. "He (Kuriyama) thinks outside the box, and that appeals to me."

And since Kiyomiya has said he aspires to play in the big leagues, the Fighters represent an ideal team to turn pro with. After all, Nippon Ham has a tradition of letting even their biggest stars, such as Yu Darvish and Otani, leave for the majors via the posting system, and Kuriyama touched on that.

"It's not just about Japan," Kuriyama said. "He should become a home run hitter for the world. We hope he joins us. The whole team is waiting."

During first round of NPB's annual draft, each of the 12 teams nominates a player in secret, and when more than one team selects the same player, those teams draw lots for his negotiating rights.

The record for teams selecting a single player is eight when two-thirds of NPB's teams lined up to pull the rights for pitcher Hideo Nomo out of a box in 1989 and pitcher Hideo Koike in 1990. Kiyomiya, however, matched the record for teams picking a position player (Kosuke Fukudome in 1995).

Teams failing to get their first pick in the lottery secretly select another player and once more multiple selections are decided by lottery until every team holds the rights to one pick.

The top rounds in NPB's draft are usually dominated by pitchers. Three other high school position players, catchers Shosei Nakamura and Munetaka Murakami, and third baseman Hisanori Yasuda also went in the first round.

Nakamura's rights went to his hometown Hiroshima Carp, the Central League champs, Yasuda's to the PL's Lotte Marines and Murakami's to the CL's Yakult Swallows.

"It's pretty rare to have so many hitters like these," Swallows skipper Junji Ogawa said. "Kiyomiya, Yasuda and their like represent an exceptional high school crop. I look forward to seeing them hit a lot of home runs at Jingu Stadium."

Corporate league lefty Daiki Tajima was also named as two teams' top pick, and his rights were won by the PL's Orix Buffaloes.

The DeNA BayStars were the only team without first-round opposition as they went with Katsuki Azuma. He becomes the third straight university southpaw to be taken by the club in the first round.

"Kiyomiya is a very good player, with very good potential," BayStars skipper Alex Ramirez said. "We had meetings and we felt a lot of teams would go for the other (high school position) players, but we could get a strong pick. It was a very good strategy."

Two days before they were scheduled to host Game 1 of the Japan Series against the BayStars, the Hawks suffered three straight first-round lottery defeats before settling for high school pitcher Haruto Yoshizumi.