WBSC U18 World Cup

Published Thu 19 Sep 2019

Over the past few weeks I have been involved with the U18 Australian baseball team. We travelled to Lismore, NSW where 39 athletes gathered to participate in an intensive training camp in which the final 20 players were chosen to represent Australia at the WBSC U18 World Cup.

During this training camp we welcomed team Canada to Australian soil to play a series of international friendly matches in preparation for the world cup. Australia has a unique relationship with Canada and have often participated in similar friendly matches to prepare travelling teams for upcoming events on the world stage. They are a professional outfit and offered extremely good competition to test our boys and ultimately assisted with the selection of the best 20 players.

Joining us in Busan, Korea were 11 other countries;

Pool B consisted of Japan, USA, Chinese Taipei, South Africa, Spain and Panama.

Pool A were hosts Korea, Canada, Netherlands, Nicaragua, China and us Aussies.

The opening round proved tough for us with a couple of heart breaking 1 run losses along with a pair of memorable 1 run wins including a nail biting 1-0 win over host nation and world ranked #3, Korea. We moved into the final game of the first round with a record of 2-2 and were faced with a basic scenario; win and play finals or lose and be eliminated from the tournament. A hard-fought game followed which involved a couple of lead changes, but the Aussie’s pulled off a massive 7-6 win over a very strong Canada.

We entered the super round with a 2-0 record. The 2-0 comes from the two games against Korea and Canada who also advanced to the Super round, meaning we sat in top spot which was a first for Australian baseball at this stage of a world tournament. We then faced powerhouse, and world #2, USA. This was one of the most memorable games I’ve ever coached, a very high standard of baseball was maintained, however we unfortunately fell in the bottom of the 9^thby a score of 2-1. From there, after a tough loss to eventual gold medallists Chinese Taipei, we moved on to face the current world ranked #1 team, Japan. Australia had never defeated Japan at this level, and I am pleased to say that we made history securing a 4-1 victory. A memorable win for all involved.

Along with the satisfaction of beating Japan for the first time, the win also secured us a spot in the Bronze medal game against host nation, Korea. A slow start forced a great comeback by the boys, and we sat in a dead lock 4-4 after 4 innings. After another 3 ½ innings of hard-fought scoreless baseball, we managed to take a 5-4 lead after a 2 out RBI from young superstar Solomon Maguire (NSW). We took a 1 run lead into the final inning and got the leadoff hitter out. Unfortunately for us, Korea rallied and came up large with a 1 out, 2 run homerun which landed on top of the fence and bounced over. They say baseball is a game of inches and never in my life have I believed that more than in this moment. Well done to Korea on a massive final inning comeback.

Credit must go to an outstanding group of 20 young men. These boys represented Australia with plenty of courage and never gave up till the very end. These boys deserved a medal, but unfortunately fell just shy. It was a pleasure to represent Australia with these boys and the country should be proud of the result.

Final World Standings