Life is good in the kingdom of the handkerchief these days. A few weeks after leading Waseda University to the Tokyo Big Six title, freshman pitcher Yuki Saito helped his school wipe clean a 33-year drought Sunday at Jingu Stadium as Waseda topped Tokai 4-1 in the final of the 56th All-Japan University Baseball Championships.

Saito shot to national prominence last summer as the "Handkerchief Prince" at the Koshien tournament, dabbing the sweat off his forehead with a blue hankie in between mowing down opposing batters as he led Waseda Jitsugyo to high school baseball's promised land.

On Sunday, Saito didn't bring his hankie to the park, but he did bring his game. The 19-year-old right-hander was named the All-Japan tournament MVP after allowing one run and seven hits in 5 2/3 innings as the Waseda nine won their first collegiate national title since 1974. Saito struck out five and walked a pair in his 102-pitch outing, just a day after throwing 82 pitches over five innings in Waseda's 10-1 semifinal victory over Soka University on Saturday.

In Sunday's final, Saito combined with Kenta Matsushita, who put on an impressive display of his own by holding Tokai hitless over the final 3 1/3 frames while striking out six. Matsushita was named top pitcher in the tournament for his efforts, while Waseda leadoff hitter Hiroki Uemoto took home top hitter honors.

"I feel like we just played our usual game," Saito said. "I was able to pitch into the sixth inning, but then Matsushita came on and did a great job of shutting them down."