>[Behind the Scenes – Field Notes] Mayu Iwatani (32), the Super Flyweight Champion of women’s pro wrestling Marigold, threw out the first pitch for the first time in her life at last year’s May 6 Yokohama DeNA BayStars vs. Yakult Swallows game (Yokohama) during her Stardom days.

>She appeared wearing a DeNA uniform with the number 219, chosen to match her birthday. She wound up big and delivered her pitch from her right arm, but the ball mercilessly sailed past the batter… and ended up in the catcher’s mitt on a bounce.

>According to Iwatani, she practiced pitching every day for a month leading up to the first pitch. “I really practiced every day, and I’m actually really good at pitching! In practice, it was almost always a strike, and everyone on the staff was telling me, ‘You’re amazing, you can just go as you are.’ They told me, ‘Just relax your shoulder,’ so I thought I’d relax it in the real thing, but I relaxed it too much… I was so frustrated. I’m actually good at it, I have great natural talent,” she explained.

>Still, the game itself saw Yoshitomo Tsutsugo (33), who had returned to DeNA from MLB, hit a go-ahead three-run homer in the 8th , giving the BayStars a 6-5 win over Yakult. Thanks to this first pitch, every DeNA game she attended privately last year ended in victory.

>This year she also attended a Giants game at Tokyo Dome. “The other day I went to see the BayStars vs. Giants game and they lost. Last year, the year I threw the first pitch, they even became Japan champions, and I really thought I was the goddess of victory, but I’m thinking, ‘Huh, has the tide turned?’ Maybe my cheering power isn’t enough,” she said with a smile.

>As for the first pitch, she added, “I was really, really frustrated, so please let me do a revenge pitch,” expressing her strong desire for another chance. Fans now look forward to this “revenge match” outside the ring from the icon of women’s pro wrestling.

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