 He pitched a fastball as an 18-year-old high school pitcher.He threw the pitch in the Japanese national high school baseball championship tournament, commonly called Summer Koshien.In the 2012 18U Baseball World Championship, Ohtani had an 0–1 win–loss record with 16 strikeouts, eight walks, five hits, five runs, and a 4.35 earned run average in 10⅓ innings pitched.