The Osaka Baseball Club participated in the thirty-eighth Goodwill Rubber Baseball Tournament , which is organized by the All Japan Stainless Steel Distributors Association. Taking place at Nishinomiya City’s Hamakoshien Athletic Park, the tournament drew 27 teams, with 12 teams in Division 1 and 15 teams in Division 2.
　Fourteen employees from JFE Shoji Corporation and JFE Shoji Steel Construction Materials Corporation made up the squad. In their first game, held on May 20, they defeated a team from ISS Realize Co., Ltd. 8-1. In the third inning, Ryo Tahara from the Osaka Stainless & Special Steel Section lashed a run-scoring single that hit the fence. This hit turned tide of the game and drove the crowd wild.
　Unfortunately, the team was eliminated from the tournament in the second game. The team’s captain, Yuki Omata (also from the Osaka Stainless & Special Steel Section), enthusiastically said: “We’ll win the tournament next year for sure, and we’ll start practicing for it right away!”