---Germany v Australia---

It's all going okay over here
The good thing is that I haven't had to run because it's only practice
Just hitting and getting ready
Big game tomorrow!!
Although I don't think I am going to play
Before we left Jon Deeble mentioned that I would play against righties and Brendan Kingman would play against the lefties
And tomorrow we have a lefty against us
Who knows ... just have to hope I am in there and if I'm not, to have a pinch-hit later on ... and that we win!

“GÜT” enough – Australia beats Germany 4-1
The Australian baseball team has won their opening game of the IBAF Final Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Taiwan, taking care of Germany in a “workman-like” display in Douliou
The heavily favoured Aussies were not at their best against their fledgling European counterparts, but did just enough to come away with the all-important first win
South Australian Paul Mildren started on the mound and earned the win for the Aussies less than fourty-eight hours after arriving in Taiwan, direct from spring training in the United States
Mildren, who was making his first appearance for Australia in over sixteen months, was applauded for his performance by Head Coach John Deeble shortly after the game
“I thought we pitched pretty well today and there were a lot of positives with our defence” Deeble said
“I would have liked it if we had swung the bats a little better, but all in all it was good to come away with a win”
The Australians faced an early scare in the bottom half of the first when German catcher Kai Gronauer belted a two out double off the leftfield wall driving in Dominik Wulf, posting the Germans a surprise 1-0 lead
But Australia bounced back quickly when Brendan Kingman grounded a single up the middle, scoring Tom Brice from third base with one out in the top of the second inning
They offence continued to roll over the next two frames as Glenn Williams, Luke Hughes and Paul Weichard all came up with run scoring hits to pad the lead out to a 4-1 advantage
That would be all the run support Mildren would require, as the left hander finished the evening firing five innings, allowing just four hits and striking out seven
Mildren then handed the reigns to West Australian Scott Mitchinson, who closed out the final four innings to earn the save without allowing a run
While the first up win is the ideal start towards Olympic qualification, the real test for the Aussies will come when they face off against tournament favourites Korea in Taichung Saturday night
The teams were split in their two meetings last November during the 2007 World Cup, and a win against Korea here would place the Australians in prime position for one of the three Olympic berths up for grabs in the eight nation Tournament

Australia defeats Germany 4-1 behind strong pitching performances
Left-handed starter Paul Mildren and right-hander Scott Mitchinson scattered six hits and held the German National Team to one run as Australia defeated Germany 4-1 in the nightcap in Douliou
Mildren struck out seven over five innings to pick up the win, mixing up a series of breaking pitches and working the strike zone efficiently
Mitchinson pitched well in relief, picking up the save with four scoreless innings
He gave up only two hits, struck out four and walked none
Pitcher Tim Henkenjohann took the loss for the German team, struggling with command and walking five over six innings, including two wild pitches
The German team struggled to make anything happen offensively, with catcher Kai Grounauer providing the team's only spark with an RBI double in the first inning
For the Australians, second baseman Luke Hughes shone on offense and defense, going 2-for-3 with a run and an RBI and playing strong defense in the middle infield

Australia defeats Germany 4-1
Considered as one of the favourites the Australian team had to defeat Germany
They needed to work harder than expected but won nonetheless by a score of 4-1
Germany, which is handicapped by a short preparation time for the Final Olympic Qualifying Tournament, started strong into the game
After two strikeouts to lead off the bottom of the first, Dominik Wulf walked and scored through a double of the left field wall by Kai Gronauer
However the Aussies didn’t mess around and answered right away
Tom Brice, who had reached on a fielder’s choice, advanced to third on wild pitches by starter Tim Henkenjohann
Brendan Kingman brought him home through a single to tie the game
They went up in front in the third, when Glenn Williams drove in Brett Roneberg with a RBI-single
Luke Hughes and Paul Weichard added two more runs in the fourth with a RBI-single and a RBI-double
Neither team scored afterwards as the pitchers took over
Southpaw Paul Mildren dominated through five innings
He gave up only one run on four hits and one base on balls, while striking out seven
Scott Mitchinson completed the game with four two hit innings to earn the save
Henkenjohann (L 0-1) was pretty wild with five walks, one hit batter and five wild pitches
He also gave up five hits, striking out three in six innings
Mirko Heid, who finished the game, allowed just two more hits
Australia faces South Korea on Saturday

Australia v Germany
Behind a balanced attack that saw its hitters put up runs in three of the first four innings (for four runs overall), Australia started fast and never looked back in a 4-1 win over Germany
Aussie hurlers kept the German hitters at bay all night with pitchers Paul Mildren (1-0) and Scott Mitchinson combining for ten strikeouts, one walk and a scattering of six hits in the win
At the plate for the Australians, Luke Hughes shone, going 2-3 with a run and an RBI
Catcher Kai Grounauer provided Germany’s lone spark with an RBI double in the first inning

Top 1st (Australia AB)
Paul WEICHARD - Walks (0 Out)
Brad DUTTON - Grounds into fielders Choice 4-3, WEICHARD safe at 2nd, (1 Out)
Brett RONEBERG - Fly out to LF, (2 Out)
Ben RISINGER - Grounds out to SS, 6-3, (3 Out)
(0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors)

Bot 1st (Germany AB)
Sascha LUTZ - Strikes out swinging, (1 Out)
Jendrik SPEER - Stikes out looking, , (2 Out)
Dominik WULF - Walks, (2 Out)
Kai GRONAUER - Doubles off the LF Wall, RBI, WULF scores, 1-0 GER, (2 out)
Simon GURING - Flys out to RF, (3 Out)
(1 Run, 1 Hit, 0 Errors)

Top 2nd (Australia AB)
Glenn WILLIAMS - Walks (0 Out)
Tom BRICE - Reaches on fielder's Choice 5-4, WILLIAMS out at 2B, (1 out)
With KINGMAN batting BRICE advances to 2B on a wild pitch
With KINGMAN batting BRICE advances to 3B on a wild pitch
Brendan KINGMAN - Singles on a ground ball to CF, RBI, BRICES scores, TIED 1-1, (1out)
Joel NAUGHTON - Flys out on a soft line drive to RF, (2 Out)
Luke HUGHES - Singles on a soft line drive to CF, KINGMAN advances to 2B, (2 out)
Paul WEICHARD - Grounds out to P, (3 out)
(1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors)

Bot 2nd (Germany AB)
Robert GRUBER - Flys out to RF, (1 out)
Ludwig GLASER - Strikes out looking, (2 out)
Alex LAUTERBACH - Strikes out looking, (3 out)
(0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors)

Top 3rd (Australia AB)
Brad DUTTON - Grounds out to 3B, (1 out)
Brett RONEBERG - Walks, (1 out)
With RISINGER batting RONERBERG Reaches 2B on a wild pitch
Ben RISINGER - Grounds out to P, RONEBERG advances to 3B, (2 out)
Glenn WILLIAMS - Singles to LF, RBI, RONEBERG scores, AUS 2-1, (2 out)
With BRICE batting WILLIAMS caught stealing, (3 out)
(1 Run, 1 Hit, 0 Errors)

Bot 3rd (Germany AB)
Andy JANZEN - Grounds out to SS, (1 out)
Sascha LUTZ - Flys out to RF, (2 out)
Jendrik SPEER - Singles soft line drive to RF, (2 out)
Dominik WULF - Flys out to shallow LF, (3 Out)
(0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors)

Top 4th (Australia AB)
Tom BRICE - Walks, (0 out)
With KINGMAN batting BRICE caught stealing at 2B, 2-6, (1 out)
Brendan KINGMAN - Walks, (1 out)
With NAUGHTON batting KINGMAN advances to 2B on a wild pitch
Joel NAUGHTON - Strikes out looking, (2 out)
With HUGHES batting KINGMAN advances to 3B on a wild pitch
Luke HUGHES - Singles on a ground ball to 3B, RBI, KINGMAN scores, AUS 3-1, (2 out)
Paul WEICHARD - Doubles to LF, RBI, HUGHES scores, AUS 4-1, WEICHARD out attempting to advance to 3B, (3 out)
(2 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors)

Bot 4th (Germany AB)
Kai GRONAUER - Doubles off the LF wall, (0 out)
Simon GURING - Grounds out to 3B, (1 out)
Robert GRUBER - Pops out to C, (2 out)
Ludwig GLASER - Strikes out swinging, (3 out)
(0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors)

Top 5th (Australia AB)
Brad DUTTON - Hit by pitch, (0 out)
Brett RONEBERG - Pops out to shallow CF, (1 Out)
Ben RISINGER - Strikes out swinging, (2 out)
With RISINGER batting DUTTON caught stealing at 2B, (3 out)
(0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors)

Bot 5th (Germany AB)
Alex LAUTERBACH - Singles on a ground ball to LF, (0 out)
Andy JANZEN - Pops out to shallow RF, (1 out)
Sascha LUTZ - Strikes out swinging, (2 out)
Jendrik SPEER - Strikes out swinging, (3 out)
(0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors)

Top 6th (Australia AB)
Glenn WILLIAMS - Grounds out to 2B, (1 out)
Tom BRICE - Grounds out to 2B, (2 out)
Brendan KINGMAN - Strikes out looking, (3 out)
(0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors)

Bot 6th (Germany AB)
Pitching Change #35 Scott Mitchinson replaces Paul MILDREN
Dominik WULF - Grounds out to 2B, (1 out)
Kai GRONAUER - Flys out to deep RF, (2 out)
Robert GRUBER - Strikes out swinging, (3 out)
(0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors)

Top 7th (Australia AB)
Pitching Change #23 Mirko HEID replaces Tim HENKENJOHANN
Joel NAUGHTON - Grounds out to 1B, (0 out)
Luke HUGHES - Flys out to CF, (2 out)
Paul WEICHARD - Strikes out Swinging, (3 out)
(0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors)

Bot 7th (Germany AB)
Pinch Hitter # 8 Donald LUTZ replaces Robert GRUBER
Donald LUTZ - Strikes out swinging, (1 out)
Ludwig GLASSER - Pops out to CF, (2 out)
Alex LAUTERBACH - Strikes out looking, (3 out)
(0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors)

Top 8th (Australia AB)
Brad DUTTON - Strikes out looking, (1 out)
Pinch Hitter - #6 Daniel BERG replaces Brett RONEBERG
Daniel BERG - Singles on a line drive to CF
Ben RISINGER - Grounds into fielder's choice 6-3, BERG advances to 2B, (1 out)
Glenn WILLIAMS - Flys out to CF, (3 out)
(0 Run, 1 Hit, 0 Errors)

Bot 8th (Germany AB)
Andy JANZEN - Reaches on throwing error by SS, (0 out)
Sascha LUTZ - Singles on ground ball to LF, (0 out)
Jendrik SPEER - Pops out to 2B, (1 out)
Dominik WULF - Lines out to RF, (2 out)
Kai GRONAUER - Grounds out to 2B, (3 out)
(0 Runs, 1 Hit, 1 Error)

Top 9th (Australia AB)
Tom BRICE - Pops out to CF, (1 out)
Pinch Hitter - #31 Andy UTTING replaces Brendan KINGMAN
Andy UTTING - Singles on a fly ball to CF, (1 out)
Joel NAUGHTON - Grounds into double play 4-6-3, (3 out)
(0 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors)

Bot 9th (Germany AB)
Simon GURING - Singles on a ground ball to SS, (0 out)
Donald LUTZ - Strikes out swinging, (1 out)
Ludwig GLASSER - Pops out to CF, (2 out)
Alex LAUTERBACH - Strikes out looking, (3 out)
(0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors)
GAME OVER - Australia WINS 4-1