This trip from Japan a lot less painful for Yamanashi coach

CEDAR RAPIDS - His previous memories of Iowa weren't all that good, unfortunately.Kiyoshi Ozawa was the head coach of a team of prep baseball players from Yamanashi, Japan, that played against a squad of graduated Metro seniors last night at Cedar Rapids Kennedy. This was the finale of a six-game, week-long, cultural exchange to its sister state.“This journey has been satisfying,” Ozawa said, through interpreter Ryuji Sakamota.And a lot less painful. Ozawa was on the coaching staff of a Yamanashi team that also came to Iowa in 1999.“I remember getting hit by a line drive during a game,” he said with a smile. “I was coaching first base, and one of our batters hit the ball at me. I went to the hospital and was home stayed for two days.”The Japanese players and coaches stayed with housing families throughout the week here, so that's what Ozawa meant by “home stayed.” There was none of that this trip, thank goodness.“We're doing our best,” Ozawa said. “We are getting used to everything here. It has been a good experience.”“It has been a lot of fun, but it is easier for us playing in Japan,” said Yamanashi team captain Katsushi Ono. “The game is very slow here. Our baseball back home is more speedy.”The Japanese style of play is a lot more fundamental in nature, with bunting and base stealing staples. It's more “small ball,” if you will.To prove Ono's point, the Metro team got home runs in the first three innings from Kennedy's Cody Bell and Logan Ambrosy, and a triple off the center-field fence from Cedar Rapids Prairie's Brayton Carlson. Carlson also had another triple in the game, which the Metro team won, 10-6.“I'm excited to see how our style of play compares to theirs,” Carlson said before the game. “I know they are more fundamental about things.”The baseball exchange originally began in 1990 and lasted until 2001. After a sabbatical, Yamanashi visited Iowa in 2010, with a planned trip to Japan cancelled last year by the catastrophic tsunami. A team of Iowans is scheduled to visit Yamanashi next year.