At the Haruka Yume Stadium (Toyota Hirosaki City), on June 21, Hirosaki's local idol, Apple Musume, held the opening ball ceremony for the "East Asian Cup Women's Softball Tournament".

The competition where teams from 5 Asian countries including Japan participate. This is the first time that an international sports competition will be held in Hirosaki. The stadium has just been renewed this month after undergoing renovation work. On June 28th, the first professional baseball game will be held for the first time in 29 years.

Apple Musume is a local idol in Aomori who is active mainly in Hirosaki. The current members are Orin, Toki, Jonagold, and Saika, all of whom are active in idols while attending local universities and high schools. In the national anime song cover contest "Love Dance Festival-Aiduru Festival-2016" held last year, we won the national championship.

Ayaka-san was the one who pitched in the opening ball ceremony of the Japan-Chinese Taipei (Taiwan) match, which will be the final of the tournament. Ayaka introduced herself in Chinese before the pitch and boiled the Taiwanese players.

Mr. Ayaka said that she had not even touched the softball sphere and got it for the first time the day before. “I was the first apple girl to stand alone. I was very nervous,” he recalls. It was said that he had thrown a strike well in practice, but the ball did not enter the strike zone in the start ball type, and it was not a start ball type with no bound.

Ayaka, who is disappointed with the unsatisfactory pitch, shows his willingness to try again if he has a chance.

The tournament ended with the Japanese national team winning all the championships.