Australia will play off for a medal at the 2016 U23 World Cup after a fantastic victory against Panama, 8-4 in Monterrey.
Pending other results, Australia will play off for the Gold Medal tomorrow against Japan, with confirmation still needed from the World Baseball Softball Confederation.
Connor MacDonald had an outstanding day at the plate, claiming two home runs from his first two at bats. His first of the day coming in the second inning, while his second coming with two men on base in the fifth.
As well as MacDonald’s solo shot in the second, Liam Bedford drove in a run with a single to left field, scoring Guy Edmonds. However a costly error from the left fielder enabled Robbie Perkins to scamper around from first base and extend Australia’s lead to three after two innings.
Dan Nilsson gave Australia a solid platform on the mound, with the Queenslander tossing four scoreless innings to begin the ballgame. It took until the fifth inning for the Panamanians to get ahold of Nilsson, who gave up a pair of earned runs.
Tensions were high in both dugouts in this all important game, which resulted in ejections for both sides in the later innings.
Defence kept Australia in the ballgame during the later innings, with three rally killing double plays in the sixth, seventh and eighth inning.
Despite those double play balls, Panama continued to threaten, pegging back a pair of runs in the bottom of the eighth. A long fly-ball would’ve scored another two runs if it wasn’t for the stellar defence of centrefielder Aaron Whitefield. Whitefield’s moved quickly to his right, claiming the deep fly ball on the warning track, and maintained Australia’s late three run advantage.
The ninth inning was highlighted by an added insurance run in the form of Jacob Younis. After nailing a double, Younis scampered to third and to home care of the wild pitch. Josh Guyer came into the ballgame to finish it off in the ninth, and sealed Australia’s place in a medal playoff.
Stay tuned for confirmation of tomorrow's schedule, which will see Australia play off for a medal at the U23 World Cup.
Click here for the the full box score.
