2010 AAA World Championships

2010 World Junior Baseball Championships

Date:	24th July, 2010	Tournament:	AAA World Championships
Venue:	Port Arthur Stadium Thunder Bay, Canada	AUSTRALIA  vs	USA

Pitchers

Greg Mosel was our starting pitcher and, backed by some great defence, threw a terrific game into the 5^th keeping the Americans scoreless. We had taken a 1 - 0 lead in the 3^rd with Sam Morris smashing a home run over the left field fence.  

Then in the bottom of the 4^th we again threatened to score with White then Cone putting together back to back hits but White was called out on a very questionable call at 3^rd to end the innings. 

USA then bounced back in the top of the 5^th on a couple of hits and some aggressive base running to take the lead  2 - 1. Mosel then came out and was relieved by Murphy who did a great job to pitch the rest of the game. 

USA then scored another two runs in the 6^th after their first two runners got on with walks to extend their lead to 4 - 1. We got it back to 4 – 2, which was the final score, courtesy of an opposite field home run by Matavesi in the 9^th. 

It had been a very tight, hard game of baseball in which we had led for almost half the game but a couple of errors in one innings and a couple of walks in another, gave the Americans some opportunities on which they capitalised.  

While a 4 – 2 scoreline seems a creditable result against what is undoubtedly one of the best teams in the world, what our boys took away from today was that that we can’t afford to give our opponents more than 27 outs over the nine innings.  We are constantly at our kids about perfect execution and today we were close to that, but if you want to beat the best then you do have to be at your absolute best for the entire game. But our kids certainly showed today that they can match it with any team here and we certainly have taken a great deal of confidence out of the game. 

Tomorrow is another tough one which sees us up against Chinese Taipei.

Date:	25th July, 2010	Tournament:	AAA World Championships
Venue:	Central Stadium Thunder Bay, Canada	AUSTRALIA  vs	CHINESE TAIPEI

Pitchers

In the bottom of the 1^st, Chinese Taipei led off with a double and that runner ended up scoring for them to take a 1 - 0 lead. 
 

They extended this to 3 - 0 in the 3^rd on the back of three hits which scored two runs. 
 

In the top of the 4^th, McDonald led off with a single and was driven in by a Battaglia home run over deep centre field and the scoreline was now 3 - 2. 
 

Then in the top of the 5^th, Cone and Campbell hit safely, Younis walked and we had loaded bases with one out. McDonald brought in Cone and then Battaglia smashed his second home run of the game WAAAY over left field to bring in another three runs and we had now taken the lead 6 – 3. 
 

Lodge was replaced on the mound by Warner at the start of the 6^th and he had done a fine job throwing five really solid innings and giving up just the two earned runs. But in the 6^th innings, two walks, three hits and a couple of costly errors saw Chinese Taipei score five runs and regain the lead 8 – 6. Warner was replaced by Bakker on the mound and he did a good job to shut down the innings. 
 

Then in the 7^th, the Taiwanese scored another five runs on four hits. McDonald took over from Bakker on the mound to complete the innings.

In the top of the 8^th we started our own fightback scoring five runs when Matavesi walked, White doubled, Cone doubled and then Younis, McDonald, Battaglia and Parish all hit consecutive singles. The scoreline was now 13 - 11. 
 

In the top of the 9^th we had an excellent chance to tie the game up with runners on 1^st and 2^nd with one out, but we failed to score and so the final score was 13 - 11 against us. 
 

This was a game that really was ours for the taking when we led 6 - 3 going into the 6^th but some poor defensive options, shaky defence and pitching let Chinese Taipei right back into the game. Indeed they scored 10 runs in two innings to go from 6 - 3 down to 13 – 6 up and to our boys’ great credit we showed tremendous ticker to get back to 13 – 11 and even had further scoring opportunities in the final innings. 
 

Again, we didn’t execute fully and again, we gave our opponents some additional extra bats with poor defence. At this level, against the top teams in the world you just simply can’t afford to do it because they will take full advantage. 
 

But there some real positives to come out of the game. Battaglia had the game of his life, going 4 for 4 with 2 home runs and 6 RBIs. Cone, White, McDonald and Parish also all hit well and we had some real quality at bats under pressure late in the game. 
 

As I said, we showed great character to fight back but we really should have been able to close the game out with a three run lead late in the game.  
 

We have now been beaten by two runs in both games against teams that are right up there with the best in this competition. We have no game tomorrow and our final two pool games are against France then Italy so we are still in solid shape to make it into the quarter finals. 

Date:	27th July, 2010	Tournament:	AAA World Championships
Venue:	Port Arthur Stadium Thunder Bay, Canada	AUSTRALIA  vs	FRANCE

Pitchers

In the bottom of the 1^st, we burst out of the blocks to take a 4 - 0 lead. Campbell led off with a single and then Younis tripled to score him. McDonald doubled to score Younis, Parish singled and then Morris doubled to bring in a further two runs, his drive down the left field line actually hitting 3^rd base on the way through. 
 

France responded with a run of their own in the 2^nd innings on the back of three walks and the score was now 4 - 1. 
 

We got that run back straight away plus another one with Parish getting a triple and White a double to score two runs and extend our lead to 6 -1 after two innings. 
 

The score went out to 7 – 1 in the 3^rd when Campbell and Younis hit consecutive doubles with two out and none on. 
 

Then in the bottom of the 5^th, Corbitt came into the game as DH and in his first at bat for the tournament, smashed a triple to deep right centre to lead off the innings. Younis then singled to bring Corbitt home, this being his third hit and third RBI of the game. 
 

Kilby came out of the game after five innings. He had got himself into a little trouble at times but had also got himself out of it, and he had given up just the one earned run while conceding only one hit. He was replaced on the mound by Dale who threw a very tidy innings in relief. 
 

In the bottom of the 6^th, our bats went crazy. White got two hits in the innings and Younis, McDonald and Morris also hit safely. Battaglia also hit a monster home out of the stadium and onto the surrounding road, his third home run of the tournament. We ended up scoring nine runs making the scoreline 16 - 1 and invoking the 15 run mercy rule to end the game early. 
 

All up we had bunched 19 hits over six innings, with Younis and White starring with four hits each, and Younis recording a career high 6 RBIs. In reality, this was a game we were expected to win easily and in the end, this proved to be the case. As Head Coach, Tony Harris, said after the game it was a tradesmanlike performance. 
 

Tomorrow morning we face Italy and are playing off for 3^rd place in our pool. If we win tomorrow, our likely opponent in the quarter finals would be against the hosts, Canada, and that would be something special to look forward to with 4,500 screaming fans against us. In all likelihood, the loser of our game tomorrow would have a tougher road, having to go up against Cuba in the quarters. 
 
 

Date:	27th July, 2010	Tournament:	AAA World Championships
Venue:	Port Arthur Stadium Thunder Bay, Canada	AUSTRALIA  vs	FRANCE

Pitchers

In the bottom of the 1^st, we burst out of the blocks to take a 4 - 0 lead. Campbell led off with a single and then Younis tripled to score him. McDonald doubled to score Younis, Parish singled and then Morris doubled to bring in a further two runs, his drive down the left field line actually hitting 3^rd base on the way through. 
 

France responded with a run of their own in the 2^nd innings on the back of three walks and the score was now 4 - 1. 
 

We got that run back straight away plus another one with Parish getting a triple and White a double to score two runs and extend our lead to 6 -1 after two innings. 
 

The score went out to 7 – 1 in the 3^rd when Campbell and Younis hit consecutive doubles with two out and none on. 
 

Then in the bottom of the 5^th, Corbitt came into the game as DH and in his first at bat for the tournament, smashed a triple to deep right centre to lead off the innings. Younis then singled to bring Corbitt home, this being his third hit and third RBI of the game. 
 

Kilby came out of the game after five innings. He had got himself into a little trouble at times but had also got himself out of it, and he had given up just the one earned run while conceding only one hit. He was replaced on the mound by Dale who threw a very tidy innings in relief. 
 

In the bottom of the 6^th, our bats went crazy. White got two hits in the innings and Younis, McDonald and Morris also hit safely. Battaglia also hit a monster home out of the stadium and onto the surrounding road, his third home run of the tournament. We ended up scoring nine runs making the scoreline 16 - 1 and invoking the 15 run mercy rule to end the game early. 
 

All up we had bunched 19 hits over six innings, with Younis and White starring with four hits each, and Younis recording a career high 6 RBIs. In reality, this was a game we were expected to win easily and in the end, this proved to be the case. As Head Coach, Tony Harris, said after the game it was a tradesmanlike performance. 
 

Tomorrow morning we face Italy and are playing off for 3^rd place in our pool. If we win tomorrow, our likely opponent in the quarter finals would be against the hosts, Canada, and that would be something special to look forward to with 4,500 screaming fans against us. In all likelihood, the loser of our game tomorrow would have a tougher road, having to go up against Cuba in the quarters.