Despite not reaching the second round of the tournament,
Australia’s 2017 World Baseball Classic campaign had a multitude of highlights
and set the standard of Australian teams on the international stage for years
to come.
Australia’s trio of starting pitchers (Tim Atherton, Travis
Blackley & Warwick Saupold) only gave up one earned run across their
combined 12.2 innings of work, while with bat in hand, veteran catcher Allan de
San Miguel was one of Australia’s best, finishing the tournament with team
leading five hits, a .556 batting average and a .636 on base percentage.
The defence of the Australian team also was a highlight,
with only one error (lowest in the pool), and eight runs conceded (equal lowest
in their pool) across 27 innings.
The power of Australia’s hitters also shone through, with
four home runs in pool play, second only behind Japan. Luke Hughes, Allan de
San Miguel, James Beresford and Trent Oeltjen all nailed homers, with Beresford
nailing the first ever Grand Slam by an Australian at a World Baseball Classic
during the team’s 11-0 victory against China.
Australia blooded 11 debutants at the 2017 edition of the
World Baseball Classic, one of which was Tim Atherton who struck out four in
his four innings of work against world #1 and baseball powerhouse Japan.
The veterans of the World Baseball Classic team shone
brightly too, with the two Australian men to play at all four editions of the
World Baseball Classic (Brad Harman & Luke Hughes) both making solid
contributions. Harman finished with a .417 on base percentage and his defence
at short-stop was second to none, while Hughes finished with a .286 batting
average, a home run and a team leading four RBIs.
Australia’s victory over China sees them gain automatic qualification
to the 2021 World Baseball Classic, however a potential debut in the Premier12
tournament and the 2020 Olympic Games loom as Australia’s next assault on the international
stage.
Essendon now lift the prestigious Ross Straw Trophy for an incredible sixth year in a row, a monster effort from a powerhouse baseball club.
After going three for four including a double in the seventh and two-run moon shot in the fifth, van Hoon will take a lot of the accolades but it really was a complete performance from the Eagles in Game 3 of the Division 2 Championships Series.
After throwing two innings of relief in Game 1, Griffin Weir was back on the bump for the Eagles and got through five innings before Sunshine would hand the ball over to Taylor Rowe and the bullpen to finish the game. Weir solid throughout, striking out four and conceding just one run on five hits.
With the bats, Jamie Young joined van Hoon as Sunshine’s best. He would have been no more than a foot short of opening the scoring first time around with a double off the left-field wall, eventually going two for four and scoring twice on a day when he was seeing them like beach balls.
For a luckless Upwey FTG, they went back to Game 1 starter Jarrod Turner. While he couldn’t quite recapture his Wednesday night form, his seven innings saw him strike out four and give up six runs on 11 hits and one walk.
Multiple hit games from Ash Winton, Evan Phillips and Wade McConnen unfortunately not enough for the Tigers to have more impact on the scoreboard, the Eagles take the decisive Game 3 in a score of 6-2.
Congratulations to the Sunshine Baseball Club, the Division 2 Minor Premiers now the lift the R.E. Darling Trophy as the Division 2 Premiers.
Shane Kraemer had the start for the Demons and apart from the two-run first, was near perfect, needing just 97 pitches to get through seven innings. The left-handed Canadian gave up just four hits and struck out four to put the Demons in the box seat before the handed the ball over to Matthew Blackmore to get the last six outs for the Demons.
The biggest difference between Game 1 and 2 for Melbourne was that they found their bats. Melbourne’s offence had been amongst the best in Division 1 all season but were only able to manage the one solitary hit in Tuesday night’s series opener. Five hits and 11 walks in Game 2 told a different story for the Demons who were able to keep consistent pressure on the Essendon defence throughout.
Luke Abels was the Essendon starter who would record the loss. He gave up three runs in three innings, striking out five but allowing eight walks. Casey Jones entered the game for the Bombers in the fourth and did a great job of eating some innings for Essendon who you just got the feeling were managing their pitching staff in anticipation for a Game 3. Jones would finish his afternoon with six innings pitched, conceding one run on two hits and three walks.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
| Melbourne Demons | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 0 |
| Essendon Bombers | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 0 |
With the series now locked at one game each, this series, like our Division 2 Finals Series is headed to a third and decisive game on Sunday.
A third game on short rest will test the depth of both bullpens however for Bombers fans, we’re yet to sight Kyle Bedford or Michael Formisano this series.
Game 3 is scheduled for Sunday 12 March following the Division 2 Final (approximately 4.30PM).
With their season on the line, the Eagles came out swinging adding single markers in the first four frames to take an early 4-0 lead.
1.1 innings was all it took for Sunshine to remove Upwey starter Matt Orwin. Three hits and three walks through their first four outs were converted into the Eagle’s first two runs of the game forcing the Tigers to go to their bullpen early, however the Sunshine bats would not relent.
Two more runs in the third and fourth and Sunshine looked like they had the game well and truly under control before Evan Phillips was able to stop the scoring. He’d give up eight hits in 6.2 innings of relief but most importantly, not concede any more runs after the fourth with Sunshine not able to string any of their hits together to impact the scoreboard.
A three-run fourth inning from Upwey gave the Tigers a sniff. A none out two-run single from Ash Winton plated the Tigers’ first runs of the game and when Josh Hendricks scored Nick Rice with a long sac-fly to left we had a ballgame on our hands.
Jared van Hoon was the difference for the Eagles in Game 2. The American throwing a three-hit complete game with Upwey’s three-run fourth the only blemish on his afternoon. His mix of speed and variety of pitches enough to keep the Upwey hitters off balance, needing just 121 pitches to get through nine innings of work.
After managing just two hits in Game 1, Sunshine managed to turn their form around with the bats with eight of their first nine recording hits. Lewis Weldon, Shannon Hornstra and Brent Davis the pick of the Eagle’s hitters all recording multiple-hit games.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
| Sunshine Eagles | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 11 | 2 |
| Upwey FTG | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 0 |
With the series now levelled at one game each, rivalries resume tomorrow with the decisive Game 3 with the first pitch scheduled for 1.00PM.
Despite a gallant fightback against quality opposition,
Australia fell 4-3 in a heartbreaking game against Cuba, and consequently, have
been eliminated from the 2017 World Baseball Classic.
After a lean tournament by his standards, Trent Oeltjen once
again proved he comes up big in clutch situations nailing a solo shot to bring
Australia within two in the top of the seventh. However it wasn’t enough, with
left fielder Alfredo Despaigne’s fifth inning grand slam the difference.
After making his debut for the Detroit Tigers in 2016,
Warwick Saupold continued to show great form in early 2017, putting Australia
in a great position, tossing four scoreless innings and striking out four. Lachlan Wells made two quick outs before
finding himself in some trouble, and eventually, giving up the home run.
Team Australia Manager Jon Deeble was disappointed with the
loss.
“I’m gutted,” Deeble said.
“I thought we outplayed them tonight. Saupold was amazing.
We had more hits, but didn’t get the hits with runners in scoring position.
Credit to Cuba though, you can’t make mistakes against a quality team.”
Mitch Dening swiped second in the fifth for Australia, and
in his first start of the World Baseball Classic, Brisbane Bandits ABL
Championship Series MVP Logan Wade made it count, driving Dening in from second
and giving Australia the lead.
An RBI from Mitch Dening and Oeltjen’s home run brought
Australia within one heading into the final inning, but it wasn’t to be, as
veteran Brad Harman struck out to end one of the tensest ballgames in recent
memory.
Japan and Cuba will progress from Pool B, they will take on
Israel and The Netherlands with the top two teams advancing to the World
Baseball Classic finals in Los Angeles.
President of the Southern Mariners Charter and Executive Officer for the 2016 Senior League Rick Wills team mirrored Foreman’s comments saying the team is thrilled with their nomination.
AN UNBELIEVABLE start from Victoria’s Travis Blackley and grand slam from James Beresford saw Australia claim a vital victory over China in game two of their World Baseball Classic campaign, moving one step closer to the second round of the tournament.
James Beresford made his big-league debut in 2016 after more than ten years of toiling away in the minors, and showed off some of that big-league power against the world’s 18th ranked nation.
Facing the same situation in last night’s loss to world number 1 Japan, Beresford deposited the first pitch of his at bat over the right field fence for a grand slam, move the Australian’s lead to 11.
Blackley set the tone for the Australians, throwing 4.2 scoreless innings, only giving up the two hits while only tossing 48 pitches in an outstanding performance.
Team Australia Manager Jon Deeble spoke about what it would mean for Australia to make the second round.
“It’d mean the world to Australian baseball to make the second round,” Deeble said.
“It’d be the biggest thing since winning silver at the 2004 Olympics.”
“Blackley was super-efficient tonight and we got everything out of him. Our bats came alive and it’s really comforting we swung the bats well.”
Perth’s Luke Hughes continues to swing a hot bat and lit up the Tokyo Dome with a two-run home run in the third to open the scoring, following that up with a double in the seventh, finishing his night with 2 hits and 4 RBI.
Australia’s final pool game of the World Baseball Classic sees them take on world #5 Cuba.
The first pitch of the ballgame will take place at 12pm local (2pm AEDT) with the game to be broadcast on ESPN.
Head-to-head this season has Mulgrave leading the Pumas 4-1 on the season and after a completely dominant season where the Rebels would post a record of 18-2, they’ll start favourites this weekend but don’t expect them to have it all their own way.
After a dominant 2015/16 it was Pakenham who surprised the Rebels to with the Premiership, a feat they’ll look to replicate when the two meet in Sunday’s Grand Final and they’ll be confident as one of only two teams to defeat Mulgrave this season.
What the Rebels do well is get on base and score runs. Posting a league high 242 runs scored on the season, Mulgrave has three of the league’s top four hitters in Nick Thompson (.477), Daniel van den Hoek (.469) and Michael Hunt (.440) all featuring amongst the league’s best.
Couple their dangerous offence with the stingiest pitching staff and the Mulgrave Rebels will be confident they can leave Sunday with a flag to show for their season’s work. Coaching staff will have options on the bump with Matthew Young (2.16 ERA), Joel Stubbs (1.64 ERA) and Liam Richardson (0.69 ERA) all potential starters.
For the Pumas, it’ll be Stuart Brunton and Ben Miller that shoulder the majority of the pitching work on Sunday. Miller with a 3.00 ERA is the league’s number two strikeout man, while Brunton’s 1.47 ERA ranks amongst the league’s best.
With the bats it’s that man Miller that is the Puma’s most difficult out. Hitting .419 on the season with two long balls and 24 RBIs, he’s well supported by Scott Dale, Wayne Porter, Greg McCormick and James Reid who are all hitting above .300 this season.
With a best-of-one Grand Final Series, anything can happen. This weekend’s Division 3 Premiers will be the team that shows up on Sunday with neither side looking to leave empty handed.
Division 3 Grand Final starts at 3PM, Sunday 12 March at Mulgrave.