{"id":175996,"date":"2026-02-12T10:54:20","date_gmt":"2026-02-12T01:54:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/?post_type=news&#038;p=175996&#038;lang=en"},"modified":"2026-02-12T10:54:20","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T01:54:20","slug":"softbank-quartet-vow-strong-wbc-campaign","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/en\/news\/softbank-quartet-vow-strong-wbc-campaign\/","title":{"rendered":"SoftBank Quartet Vow Strong WBC Campaign"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Four Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks players selected for Japan\u2019s national team in next month\u2019s World Baseball Classic shared their determination during the club\u2019s spring training camp in Miyazaki City on February 11. Kensuke Kondo, Ukyo Shuto, Taisei Makihara, and pitcher Hiroki Matsumoto were named to the squad as Japan aims for back-to-back tournament titles. Speaking before fans gathered at the holiday training session, Kondo, chosen for his second consecutive WBC, said he hoped to return to Japan with another championship and celebrate with supporters. Shuto also expressed his commitment to contributing to a world title. The national team will hold a pre-tournament camp in Miyazaki from February 14 and play exhibition games against SoftBank on February 22 and 23. <strong>Source<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/news.web.nhk\/newsweb\/na\/nb-5010031984\" target=\"_blank\">NHK News<\/a> \/ <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nikkansports.com\/baseball\/news\/202602110000585.html\" target=\"_blank\">Nikkan Sports<\/a><\/p>\n<p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/fukuoka-dome.jpg?resize=1400%2C1050&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"1400\" height=\"1050\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-127238\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/fukuoka-dome.jpg?w=1400&amp;ssl=1 1400w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/fukuoka-dome.jpg?resize=300%2C225&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/fukuoka-dome.jpg?resize=768%2C576&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/fukuoka-dome.jpg?resize=1024%2C768&amp;ssl=1 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/>Photo: Fukuoka Now<\/p>\n<p>Stay informed with the latest Fukuoka &#038; Kyushu news and events in English. Sign up for our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/en\/mailmagazine\/\">free weekly newsletter<\/a> today and never miss a beat. Opt out anytime, your privacy is our priority. Get the inside scoop with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/en\/mailmagazine\/\">The Now<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Summaries based on public content, errors may occur during translation. Images credited independently. Send feedback using <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/en\/contact\/\">this <strong>form<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Four Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks players selected for Japan\u2019s national team in next month\u2019s World Baseball Classic shared their&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30292,"featured_media":127238,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","tags":[],"class_list":["post-175996","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","location-miyazaki-city","news-category-sports","en-US"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/175996","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30292"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=175996"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/127238"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=175996"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=175996"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}