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Team Australia advance to the Final Round of 2009 Baseball World Cup

 

Team Australia caused one of the biggest upsets of the 2009 Baseball World Cup on Saturday night (AEST) when they eliminated Japan from the competition with an astonishing 5-0 victory; securing their rightful place in the Final Round.

 

Japan entered the tournament as reigning World Baseball Classic champions and the 3^rd best ranked team in the world; however in what is sure to tigger  'de-ja-vu' from the 2004 Athens Olympic Games - Japan were bundled out of the competition by the world ranked 11^th Australians, as pitchers Adam Blackley and Brendan Wise combined for Australia’s first shut-out of the tournament.

 

With the Aussies out-hitting the Japanese 12-6 to support the pitching staff, Chris Snelling went 2-3 with an RBI, Luke Hughes went 3-3 with one RBI, and catcher Joel Naughton drove in 2 runs off 2 hits in his 3 at-bats.

 

The win came off the back of a one-run victory over Italy on Thursday night, and was followed by yet another one-run win over Mexico last night to assure themselves of a top-two spot in the pool.

 

Team Australia are set to play a critical catch-up game against the US tonight. The game, originally scheduled for Friday night, has now become absolutely critical to both team’s prospects heading into the final round. 

 

In the World Cup Tournament format, the winner of tonight’s game will not only top the Pool, but will head into the cross-over games carrying forward their superior standing, placing the winner only 2 victories from a place in the Gold Medal match on Sunday evening.

 

The Australian defence will need to find a way to quiet Team USA’s bats - who currently lead the tournament in batting average, slugging percentage, runs scored and home runs, while also continuing their own very strong offensive performance.

 

Team USA, currently the only-undefeated team in Round 2 action, have proven to be beatable after going down 9-13 against Venezuela in their first match of the tournament. 

 

A win in this game is certainly within the capabilities of the Aussies who have shown throughout the tournament they can match it with anyone in the tournament on any given day. 

 

Regardless of the outcome of the US game, Team Australia are well-placed to deliver their best-ever World Cup result, topping their 6^th place finish in Chinese Taipei two years ago.

 

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For more information regarding this media release, please call Stuart Allen or Cassandra Sedgman on 07 5509 4144.