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In what can only be described as a momentous feat; the AAA National Baseball Team have defeated long-time rivals Cuba 2-1 in the Semi-final of the 2010 AAA World Championships; and will advance to the Gold Medal Game against Chinese Taipei tomorrow.

This is the AAA's best achievement on an international stage over the past decade. Tomorrow's gold medal game will be broadcast live on MLB TV - visit www.mlbtv.com for more information.

Good luck tomorrow gentlemen!! One more to go......the nation is behind you!

 

See below a diary extract from Neil Barrowcliffe - Team Executive Officer:

 The opening three innings was very tight, scoreless baseball highlighted by good pitching and great defence from both teams.

 

Murphy was on the mound for Australia and like Lodge yesterday, he retired the first ten Cuban hitters in order. They got their first hit in the bottom of the 4^th, and then Battaglia threw a bullet over to second base to throw out the attempted steal and it was still a nil all ball game after four innings.

 

In the bottom of the 5^th, Cuba led off with a hit and he was bunted through to second. The runner went to third on a fielders choice and then came home on a wild pitch for Cuba to score the first run of the game and take a 1 - 0 lead.

 

Then in the top of the 7^th, Battaglia and Parish walked and with two out Matavesi, in his first game back after injury, hit a towering ball to right field that hit the fence, scoring both runners and we had taken the lead 2 - 1.

 

Cuba replied in the bottom of the 7^th hitting a double and the next batter went deep to left field. Off the bat it looked like the ball was going out but Campbell leapt high and took an unbelievable catch with the ball literally over the fence and we had retained our 2 – 1 lead.

 

Bakker came in to replace Murphy on the mound for the start of the 8^th. Like Lodge yesterday, Murphy in the biggest game of his career, had thrown the greatest game of his life. He had given up just one run in seven innings against what is arguably just about the most dangerous offensive team in the world.

 

Cuba again threatened in the bottom of the 8^th with runners on first and second with one out, but again our pitching and defence got us out of trouble and we had retained our 2 - 1 lead going into the 9^th.

 

In the top of the ninth, we also threatened to score when McDonald singled and Parish walked but just like the Cubans in the previous innings, we were unable to convert this into any runs.

 

So into the bottom of the 9^th still with a 2 - 1 lead. Bakker retired the first two hitters and we were one out away from winning the game. Then the next hitter had two strikes on him and got a base hit. And again, the next hitter also had two strikes on him and he also singled. This meant Cuba now had runners on first and second, and we had been one strike away from winning the ball game twice. The next hitter then hit a towering pop up to second base and the ball seemed to hang in the air forever but Younis safely took the catch and we had clinched a famous 2 - 1 victory.

 

If you thought the celebrations and emotions of yesterday were huge, this was a notch up again. It was an unbelievable feeling to think that we had just played ourselves into the gold medal game.

 

The boys have been awesome the last couple of days beating two of the strongest teams in the world in Korea and Cuba, both being one run ball games. Under extraordinary pressure, our pitching and defence has been magnificent. Earlier in the tournament I wrote that we were all about executing properly, and if we did that and gave the opposition no additional chances with the bat, then we were in this with a real shot. We have played errorless baseball for the past three games, our pitching has been fantastic, and we have scored runs to come from behind and then been able to protect that lead.

 

We now play the winner of the Canada and Chinese Taipei game that is being played tonight.

 

This team has now made history as no Australian junior team has ever got to the gold medal game at a World Championships. One more game to go and as I’ve been saying for the past couple of days  BRING  IT  ON!!

 

Date:	31st July, 2010	Tournament:	AAA World Championships
Venue:	Central Stadium Thunder Bay, Canada	AUSTRALIA vs	CUBA

	Inn / Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	R	H	E
V	Australia	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0			2	6	0
H	Cuba	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0			1	7	0

Bat	Australia	Pos	AB	Hits	RBIs	Walks	Sacs	Stolen Bases	Runs Scored
1	A. Campbell	LF	4	0	0	0	0	0	0
2	J. Younis	2B	4	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	J. McDonald	3B	4	2	0	0	0	0	0
4	R. Battaglia	C	4	0	0	1	0	0	1
5	L. Parish	1B	4	1	0	2	0	0	1
6	J. White	RF	4	0	0	0	0	0	0
7	J. Matavesi	DH	4	2	2	0	0	0	0
8	S. Morris	CF	3	1	0	0	0	0	0
9	J. Sheldon-Collins	SS	3	0	0	0	0	0	0

Australia	Innings Pitched	Ks	Hits	Walks	Runs	Earned Runs
J. Murphy	7	4	4	2	1	1
L. Bakker	2	0	3	1	0	0

 

Other Links
	Official AAA World Championships website