🇯🇵 A high school student with an intellectual disability has been accepted into a Japanese independent league team. His name is Ryuto Kudo(工藤琉人). He joins the KAMIKAWA Shibetsu Samurai Blades.
(Sorry, I'm using Google Translate so it might be hard to read)
Kudo has a mild intellectual disability and attended the same school as able-bodied students until junior high school, then went on to a special needs school for high school.
In his junior high school days, he was a pitcher and outfielder and was selected for the local team. However, in his high school days, there was no baseball club and he had to practice alone.
In August 2024, his final year as a high school student, he took part in a tournament in which third-year high school students from all over the country participated individually, with the main venue being Kuriyama Town, Hokkaido, and he played in seven games, recording a batting average of .278, a slugging percentage of .500, and five RBIs.
His achievements reached the ears of those involved and he was accepted into the team.