Shohei Ohtani chose Hanamaki Higashi High School because he felt that the environment there would allow him to grow as a player. The training, the atmosphere, and the way the team was run all appealed to him. But there was another important factor behind his decision.

When Ohtani was in his third year of middle school, Hanamaki Higashi achieved remarkable results: runner-up at the Senbatsu tournament and a semifinal appearance at the summer Koshien. At the time, schools from Iwate Prefecture had long been seen as underdogs at Koshien—sometimes to the point where opposing teams were pleased to be drawn against them. Hanamaki Higashi’s success, built around players like Yusei Kikuchi, changed that perception and strongly inspired young players across the prefecture.

Ohtani was certainly influenced by those results. At the same time, he later reflected that if Kikuchi’s generation had actually won the Senbatsu or Koshien, he might not have chosen Hanamaki Higashi at all.

What Ohtani truly wanted was to challenge himself by doing something no one had ever done. Just as he later pursued a 160 km/h fastball and a two-way career, he was drawn to paths that carried risk precisely because they had no precedent. If Hanamaki Higashi had already reached the very top, he may have chosen another school within Iwate and tried to lead that team to a championship instead—though not a powerhouse where winning without him was already expected.

For most people, choosing an unproven path is dangerous and uncertain. For Ohtani, that uncertainty was exactly what made it worthwhile.

Source

This quote comes from a Japanese book published in Japan and is not currently available in English.

Challenge: Shohei Ohtani, p.42