Watch Ohtani hit 102 on the radar — his fastest pitch

TOKYO — Shohei Ohtani took the mound on Thursday in opposition to Italy for an opportunity to ship Team Japan to the World Baseball Classic semifinals in Miami.

The sellout Tokyo Dome crowd was fired up. Ramen eating places have been on alert. And Ohtani, a person who appears made for these moments, was additionally a undoubtedly a bit extra pumped up than regular.

Ohtani threw the quickest pitch of his profession, tracked by Statcast, within the prime of the second inning, when he fanned Vinnie Pasquantino on a 102-mph fastball. It topped his 101.4-mph fastball final September in opposition to the Astros.

“This is Shohei when he plays a must-win game like tonight, this is how we see who Shohei is,” Japan supervisor Hideki Kuriyama stated. “Not only Shohei, but Yu Darvish as well. … When we see Shohei playing, all the nation is feeling something extra [about how hard he works.]”

The two-way star’s closing pitching line: 5 strikeouts over 4 2/3 innings. At the plate, he scored twice on Kazuma Okamoto’s run-scoring hits, as Japan moved on to the semifinals with a 9-3 victory. They’ll face the winner of Friday’s Puerto Rico-Mexico quarterfinal on Monday in Miami.