Australia takes Game 1 at AAA World Championships
The Aussies who have endured all-night bus rides, pest fumigations, hotel changes and effectively non-existent lines of communication have taken care of the one thing they can control in Cuba - the baseball.
Australia entered the contest as red-hot favourites, however as with any tournament, what the line-ups look like on paper counts for nothing between the lines. Things were tight for the first 8 innings as the Aussies, hampered by some lacklustre defence held on to a slender 5-2 lead. But fortunately a four-run ninth inning allowed some breathing room for Australia and accounted for the somewhat more convincing score line.
Standouts for Australia were Jason Smit (WA) and Mitchell Dening (NSW) who paced the offence with three hits each while Dening also doubled and drove in three runs. Also coming up big for the Aussies was second baseman Alan Schoenberger. Not normally know for his power, Schoenberger certainly "muscles up" when he dons the Green and Gold as his two-run shot was his second in six official starts for Australia in 2006.
On the mound for Australia Tom Johanessen-Ellis (VIC) and Shaun Tabrett (NSW) were dominant, holding the South African bats to just four hits and two unearned runs in the victory. Johanessen-Ellis’ seven innings of work were just what head coach Tony Harris would have been looking for from the big right hander - setting the tone for the rest of the starting rotation with his workman like effort.
Probably most pleasing for the Aussies was Shaun Tabrett’s performance throwing two innings of perfect relief. Tabrett, who has endured an injury cloud in recent weeks, retired all six batters he faced to close out the win for Australia as well as going a long way toward cementing his spot in the Aussie bull pen.
Australia now join Korea and host favourites Cuba at the top of Pool A. However after committing three errors and leaving 11 runners on base, the Aussies will be looking for a better performance tomorrow as they take on the Netherlands at 2pm (4am AEST).
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