A workmanlike performance under adversity from Jake Green and an offence that made the most of their opportunities lead Australia to their first victory at the U18 World Cup.
The heavens opened after the fifth inning was in the books, and fortunately for Australia, that constituted a final result.
Green gave up an early run and seemed unsettled on the mound in the opening inning. Those jitters were compounded as he took a line drive hard to the ankle.
Following his eventful opening frame, starting pitcher Jake Green settled exceptionally well, mowing down hitter after hitter. Despite scattering a few hits here and there, Green and his Australian defence came up big in some key moments to keep Italy off the scoreboard.
Mitch Edwards drove in his first runs of the World Cup with a two-RBI single to give Australia the lead in the 2nd. The ACT representative singled to right field, scoring Alex Hall and Dermot Fritsch to turn the momentum in Australia's favour.
Australian Manager Steve Fish was pleased to see his team bounce back after a tight loss yesterday.
"I've had a chance to see Jake pitch quite a bit," Fish said.
"The defence loves playing behind him. He's got a great tempo and does a great job of keeping us in ballgames. Overall I was really pleased by the way we swung the bats and kept the pressure on Italy. The boys thoroughly deserved this one."
Runs came in bunches for the Australians in the middle frames, with an eight run fifth inning opening the floodgates and putting the result beyond doubt. Alex Hall picked up a two-RBI triple in the fifth, while Jarryd Dale and Nic Anderson-Vine both drove a run in as Australia batted around in the inning.
After the rain, lightning, hail and thunder set in at the beginning of the sixth, the ballgame was all but over.
A nice touch was shown by the Australian team, as they assisted the grounds crew in pulling the tarps over the infield. After the tarps were pulled, the Australian boys had a bit of fun as they celebrated their win with a trademark tarp slide or two.
Australia's next match of the U18 World Cup is against Nicaragua, with first pitch scheduled for Sunday 3 September at 11.30pm AEST.