JAPAN HEATWAVE FORCES RETHINK OF HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL RULES高校野球 7イニング制を検討

An intense heatwave in Japan is forcing the country's high school baseball federation to rethink the rules of the game to protect the players. On Friday, the group decided to start discussions on changing the length of games from nine innings to seven. An annual high school baseball tournament is set to begin Wednesday at Koshien Stadium in western Japan's Hyogo Prefecture. Temperatures in the region rose to nearly 40 degrees Celsius, and weather officials warn it's likely to last at least another month. The federation has also decided that on some days the games will only be played in the mornings and evenings to counter peak temperatures.

◆heatwave　猛暑、熱波   a period of unusually hot weather, especially one that continues for a long time OPP cold spell