OSAKA, Japan -- As manager Steve Fish said, the Aussie side's strength is doing the little things right. That was the case in the team's 10-0 shutout win over No. 12 Mexico in the opening game of the 2015 World Baseball Softball Confederation U18 Baseball World Cup.
Lachlan Wells picked up the win, tossing five innings of two-hit baseball and striking out seven batters. Wells, a member of the Minnesota Twins organisation, joined the team directly from the USA, where he was pitching for the Twins' Rookie-level Gulf Coast League affiliate. In relief of Wells, Rhys Steedman and Jess Williams closed out the shutout with one scoreless inning apiece.
In addition to the strong pitching, each batter in the starting lineup had a hit, and the team's first runs of the game came with two outs. George Callil got Australia on the board early, smacking a clutch two-out two-run triple in the top of the second inning that drove home James McCallum and Dean Frew. Two frames later, Ryan Kift singled in Callil and Ben Tsui to give Australia a 4-0 advantage midway through the game.
The game broke open the next inning, when Australia cemented the win with a six-spot that gave them a ten-run lead. McCallum led off the inning with a walk and advanced to third base on Frew's double. Tristan King drove in McCallum with an RBI single, and Frew also came home on the play because of an error by the third baseman. Mitch Neunborn and Callil then walked to load the bases. One out later, Nate Vankan singled to right field, scoring Neunborn and King. Callil also came home on the play due to an error. Kift scored the team's six run of the inning and tenth of the game on an attempted pickoff.
Australia return to the field tomorrow afternoon for a 4:30pm AEST first pitch against No. 15 Brazil. Though the game will not be streamed, it can be followed via live scoring.