Australia ran into a dominant Japanese lineup in their final pool game of the WBSC U23 World Cup, going down 11-2, but still qualified for the Super Round for the second consecutive tournament.
After finishing fifth at the 2014 U21 World Cup, Australia will finish sixth or higher, and gain valuable WBSC World Ranking points leading into an important international tournament cycle, including the Premier12 and 2020 Olympics.
Joshua Hendrickson started on the mound for Australia against a Japanese lineup that has put up plenty of runs in each of their pool games. Hendrickson did a great job of restricting the Japanese onslaught, only giving up four runs through five innings, a fantastic effort against the strongest U23 lineup in the world.
Aaron Whitefield and Sam Kennelly were Australia’s best offensively, both picking up two hits each. Kennelly drove both of Australia’s runs in during the seventh with a single up the middle. Guy Edmonds and Robbie Perkins were the other Australian players to claim hits.
Lachlan Madden had a strong relief outing, throwing 1.1 innings of scoreless baseball against Japan.
With that result, Australia has qualified second in Group B, and will more than likely face Mexico in their first game of the Super Round, beginning Friday morning.
To stay in touch with everything to do with the U23 World Cup, head to the Baseball Australia website.
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