---South Africa v Australia---

Aussies close out Tournament with a marathon win
Aussies scrape their way past South Africa in a four hour marathon
The Australian Baseball Team managed to outlast a plucky South African outfit, winning 13-11 in a four hour slugfest on the final day of competition at the 2008 Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Taiwan.
Despite learning just twelve hours earlier that their Olympic dreams had came to an abrupt end following Canada’s 4-3 upset win over Korea, the Australian squad showed considerable fortitude to withstand the South African’s seemingly endless comebacks
The Aussies sent nine men to the plate and jumped out to an early 4-0 lead in the top first inning, before a seven run second from South Africa had Australia on the wrong side of an unexpected three run hole
From there the game was quickly (or rather slowly) becoming a free for all, when first the Aussies, then South Africa mounted comebacks that tied the game in both the third and the fifth innings
With the scores deadlock at 9-9 entering the seventh frame, Australia finally managed a little breathing space, plating four more runs and taking a 13-9 lead heading into South Africa’s final turn at bat
But in a game that saw almost 100 men come to the plate (94 to be exact), it was unlikely that the ninth inning would be a simple 1-2-3 affair, with South Africa scoring twice more and bringing the tying run to the plate before this “wild and wacky” game ended suitably with South Africa’s Allan Randall picked off at first base by Australia Adam Bright
While the narrow victory will be remembered as anything but “pretty”, it certainly had its fair share of highlights, some not easily lost on Australian Manager Jon Deeble
“It was tough going out there today and that could certainly be classed as one of the ugliest wins of all time, but there were a few things there really worth noting” Deeble said
“We could very well look back at that game for producing things like James Linger’s first hit for Australia and Brad Tippett’s first win
Two things you’re likely to see a lot more of for many year’s to come” Deeble said
Infact, twenty-year-old Tippett and seventeen-year-old Linger were just two of a host of debutants for Australia that could well be heralding a new era in Australia Baseball
With Beijing out of the picture, the National team will have almost twelve months before they come together again for the World Baseball Classic in March 2009, offering the side a rare opportunity to take stock of their up and coming stars
And while the bitter disappointment of what might have been will weigh on the side for some time, the promise of what is sure to come next is sure to mean an exciting time ahead for the Australian side and their fans

Australia wins slugfest against South Africa
It was not the brightest win for Australia
They defeated South Africa 13-11, finishing the tournament with a 4-3 record and in fifth place
The game was tied 9-9 after six innings
The Aussies scored three runs and took a 12-9 lead
Daniel Berg provided the eventual winning run with a sacrifice fly
South Africa rallied in the ninth, scoring two runs on a balk and a throwing error by second baseman Luke Hughes
The game ended when Allan Randall was picked off at first
Overall it was an interesting match with poor pitching efforts and several mishaps in defense
Australia jumped out to a fast lead, but South Africa came right back and scored seven runs in the second
It went back and forth until the seventh period
Hughes hit a two run homerun, reached base four times and drove in three runs
James Linder, Glenn Williams, Tom Brice, Paul Weichard and Brendan Kingman each had two hits for Australia
South Africa celebrated their biggest offensive outburst of the event
Jamie Rossouw had three hits, Anthony Phillips, Kyle Botha and Brett Willenburg each two
Gavin Ray drove in two with a single
Their starter Jared Elario was hit by a line drive of the bat of the fifth batter he faced and left the game due to an arm injury
He was charged with three hits, four runs and a walk in 1/3 of an inning
Kevin Townend gave up the deciding runs to take the loss
Australia’s starter Steve Kent allowed seven hits, seven runs (5 ER) and two base on balls in 1-2/3 innings
Brad Tippett stopped the South African offense and received the win after three one hit innings of relief
It was the seventh loss in the seventh game for South Africa
However they were competitive in nearly every game and gained much experience for the next tournament

Aussies miss Beijing trip
Australia's baseballers finished fourth (fifth?) in the last Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Taiwan and only the top three qualified
The Australians, Silver Medallists in Athens, won their last game 13-11 over South Africa
The qualifiers were decided the previous day with pre-tournament favourites Canada, South Korea and Taiwan advancing
Australia's last game was anything but pretty according to manager Jon Deeble
"It was tough going out there today and that could certainly be classed as one of the ugliest wins of all time, but there were a few things there really worth noting" Deeble said
"We could very well look back at that game for producing things like James Linger's first hit for Australia and Brad Tippett's first win, two things youre likely to see a lot more of for many years to come"
Tippett, twenty, and seventeen-year-old Linger were just two of a host of debutants for Australia that could well be heralding a new era
But with Beijing out of the picture, the national team will have almost twelve months before they come together again for the World Baseball Classic in March 2009
In other Friday games Mexico upset Spain 2-1, Canada edged past Germany 2-1 in extra innings and South Korea edged Taiwan 4-3
---------------South Korea and Canada finished with six wins and one loss each
---------------Taiwan was third with five wins and two losses
---------------Australia and Mexico had four wins and three losses each
---------------Germany two wins and five losses
---------------Spain one win and six losses, and
---------------South Africa lost all seven games
The Beijing Olympic Games baseball competition will feature eight teams including the hosts China
The others are Cuba and the United States as the top two teams from the Americas, Japan as the top team from Asia, and the top European team, Netherlands
Beijing will host the last Olympic Baseball Tournament

The following article was published after Australia's fifth game
It is included here ...... because it includes comments from Manager Jon Deeble and it makes "interesting" reading!!!

Aussies slam Beijing baseball rivals
National Coach Jon Deeble has slammed the International Baseball Federation and accused rival countries of conspiring to ensure reigning Olympic Silver Medallists Australia didn't qualify for Beijing
The Australians are competing at an eight-team tournament in Taiwan where they need to finish in the top three to qualify for the 2008 Olympics
But Deeble's young side has slumped to a 2-3 record and has virtually given up hope of reaching Beijing, needing to beat Spain and South Africa and rely on Canada dropping their final games against Korea and minnows Germany
Deeble pointed to a number of reasons for the disappointing display, including the schedule, training venues and player availability
"The Koreans went out of their way to make sure we never got our two best players, which are Chris Oxspring and Brett Thomas" Deeble said
"They wouldn't allow them to play for us because they didn't want us to beat them
Their Korean clubs wouldn't release them
We've got guys in Japan we couldn't get released
But it's not about this bunch of kids
It's about the World Baseball Federation having this tournament at this time
It's a joke"
Deeble said thirty-two of Australia's best players were unavailable for the tournament, including fourteen currently training with US Major League clubs
"The Asians pushed to have it at this time of year to put us and Canada at a disadvantage" he said
"Canada have got the depth to be able to replace thirty players
At this point we just don't and that's no disrespect to the players we have out here
But we're sending seventeen-year-olds out against former Major League players
It's a big ask"
Despite their poor record, Deeble insists Australia have performed well in the Tournament
They beat the Canadians (4-1 record) and Germany, but suffered losses to Korea, Taiwan and an extremely costly defeat to Mexico
Deeble feels things haven't gone smoothly right from the outset
"They've gone out of their way here to make sure we don't qualify" he said of the event organisers
"There's two fields here
One is ten minutes from the hotel, the other is an hour and twenty minutes away in a bus
We've been scheduled there eight out of the ten days
Even our training sessions have been scheduled out there
They've allowed the Taiwanese to set the schedule up
I don't want to make excuses but it's been a very difficult process"
Deeble re-iterated that player availability was an enormous issue
"We just don't have access to the players" he said
"If the Brisbane Lions had thirty-two players out would they be competitive in the league?
If the Sydney Kings had the equivalent out, would they be playing in the final?"

Top 1st (AUSTRALIA At Bat)
Paul WEICHARD - Doubles on a line drive to right-centre, (0 out)
Daniel BERG - Walks, (0 out)
Ben RISINGER - Flys out to LF, (1 out)
Glenn WILLIAMS - Singles on a soft line drive to RF (RBI), WEICHARD scores, BERG advances to 2B, AUS 1-0, (1 out)
Tom BRICE - Singles on a line drive to P (RBI), BERG scores, AUS 2-0, (1 out)
Pitcher Jared ELARIO forced from the game due to arm injury on line drive come-backer. #24 Garth TERRY enters game
Brendan KINGMAN - Doubles on a line drive to CF (2 RBI), WILLIAMS scores, BRICE scores, AUS 4-0, (1 out)
Luke HUGHES - Strikes out swinging, (2 out)
Andrew UTTING - Walks, (2 out)
James LINGER - Singles on aline drive to LF, KINGMAN thrown out at the plate attempting to score, (3 out)
(4 Runs, 5 Hits, 0 Errors)

Bot 1st (Sth AFRICA At Bat)
Anthony PHILLIPS - Grounds out to 3B, 5-3, (1 out)
Kyle BOTHA - Singles on a line drive to CF, (1 out)
Jonathon PHILLIPS - Singles on a line drive to LF, BOTHA advances to 2B, (1 out)
Brett WILLENBURG - Strikes out swinging, (2 out)
William LIEBENBERG - Flys out to CF, (3 out)
(0 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors)

Top 2nd (AUSTRALIA At Bat)
Paul WEICHARD - Walks, (0 out)
Daniel BERG - Walks, WEICHARD advances to 2B, (0 out)
Ben RISINGER - Grounds into a double play 6-4-3, BERG out at 2B, WEICHARD advances to 3B (2 out)
Glenn WILLIAMS - Grounds out to 1B unassisted, (3 out)
(0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors)

Bot 2nd (Sth AFRICA At Bat)
Gavin RAY - Walks, (0 out)
Moegamat HENDRICKS - Grounds out to 3B, 5-3, RAY advances to 2B, (1 out)
Jamie ROSSOUW - Singles on a ground ball to CF (bad hop at SS) RBI, RAY scores, AUS 4-1, (1 out)
Allan RANDALL - Walks, ROSSOUW advances to 2B, (1 out)
Anthony PHILLIPS - Singles on a ground ball to LF, ROSSOUW advances to 3B, RANDALL advances to 2B, (1 out)
Kyle BOTHA - Reaches on Fielding error by 2B, ROSSOUW scores, RANDALL scores, PHILLIPS advances to 3B, AUS 4-3, (1 out)
Jonathon PHILLIPS - Pops out to shallow LF, (2 out)
Brett WILLEMBURG - Singles on a line drive to LF (RBI), PHILLIPS scores, BOTHA advances to 2B, SCORE TIED 4-4
William LIEBENBERG - Singles on a ground ball to CF, BOTHA scores, WILLEMBURG advances to 3B, LIEBENBERG advances to 2B on the throw, SA 5-4, (2 out)
Gavin RAY - Singles on a soft line drive to CF (2 RBI), WILLEMBURG scores, LIEBENBERG scores, SA 7-4, (2 out)
Pitching Change #35 Scott MITCHINSON replaces Steve KENT
Moegamat HENDRICKS - Pops out to 2B, (3 out)
(7 Runs, 5 Hits, 1 Error)

Top 3rd (AUSTRALIA At Bat)
Tom BRICE - Walks, (0 out)
Brendan KINGMAN - Pops out to 1B, (1 out)
Luke HUGHES - Hits a Home Run to LF (2 RBI), BRICE scores, HUGHES scores, SA 7-6, (1 out)
Andrew UTTING - Singles on line drive to CF, (1 out)
James LINGER - Reaches on a fielder's choice 4-6, UTTING out at 2B, (2 out)
Paul WEICHARD - Singles on a line drive to RF, LINGER advances to 3B, (2 out)
Daniel BERG - Singles on a line drive to CF (RBI), LINGER scores, WEICHARD advances to 2B, SCORE TIED 7-7, (2 out)
Ben RISINGER - Flys out to LF, (3 out)
(3 Runs, 4 Hits, 1 Error)

Bot 3rd (Sth AFRICA At Bat)
Jamie ROSSOUW - Singles on a ground ball to 2B, (0 out)
Allan RANDALL - Pops out to 1B on attempted sacrifice bunt, (1 out)
Anthony PHILLIPS - Flys out to RF, (2 out)
Kyle BOTHA - Singles on a ground ball to RF, ROSSOUW advances to 3B, (2 out)
Jonathon PHILLIPS - Grounds out to P, 1-3, (3 out)
(0 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors)

Top 4th (AUSTRALIA At Bat)
Glenn WILLIAMS - Lines out to SS, (1 out)
Tom BRICE - Singles on a line drive to RF, (1 out)
Pitching Change #30 Gavin JEFFRIES replaces Garth TERRY
With KINGMAN batting WILD PITCH - BRICE advances to 2B, (1 out)
Brendan KINGMAN - Grounds out to 2B, 4-3, BRICE advances to 3B, (2 out)
Luke HUGHES - Singles on a soft line drive to RF (RBI), BRICE scores, AUS 8-7, (2 out)
With UTTING batting HUGHES advances 2 bases to 3B on awild pitch, (2 out)
Andrew UTTING - Walks, (2 out)
With LINGER batting - UTTING tagged out at 2B on DELAYED STEAL attempt, HUGHES scores, AUS 9-7, (3 out)
James LINGER -
(2 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors)

Bot 4th (Sth AFRICA At Bat)
Brett WILLENBURG - Triples on a line drive to RF, (0 out)
William LIEBENBERG - Grounds out to 3B (RBI), 5-3, WILLENBURG scores, AUS 9-8, (1 out)
Gavin RAY - Grounds out to 1B, 3-1, (2 out)
Moegamat HENDRICKS - Flys out to RF, (3 out)
(1 Run, 1 Hit, 0 Errors)

Top 5th (AUSTRALIA At Bat)
James LINGER - Grounds out to 3B, 5-3, (1 out)
Paul WEICHARD - Grounds out to 2B, 4-3, (2 out)
Daniel BERG - Pops out to Shallow RF, (3 out)
(0 runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors)

Bot 5th (Sth AFRICA At Bat)
Jamie ROSSOUW - Singles on a soft line drive to CF, (0 out)
Allan RANDALL - Out on sacrifice bunt, 1-3, ROSSOUW advances to 2B, (1 out)
Anthony PHILLIPS - Singles on a ground ball to RF (RBI), ROSSOUW scores, SCORE TIED 9-9, (1 out)
Kyle BOTHA - Flys out to RF, (2 out)
Jonathon PHILLIPS - Flys out to CF, (3 out)
(1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors)

Top 6th (AUSTRALIA At Bat)
Ben RISINGER - Lines out o SS, (1 out)
Glenn WILLIAMS - Singles on a lines drive to CF, (1 out)
Tom BRICE - Flys out to LF, (2 out)
Brendan KINGMAN - Grounds into fielder's choice, 5-4, WILLIAMS out at 2B, (3 out)
(0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors)

Bot 6th (Sth AFRICA At Bat)
Pitching Change #9 Brad TIPPET replaces Scott MITCHINSON
Brett WILLENBURG - Pops out to SS, (1 out)
William LIEBENBERG - Strikes out looking, (2 out)
Gavin RAY - Pops out to 2B, (3 out)
(0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors)

Top 7th (AUSTRALIA At Bat)
Pitching Change #26 Kevin TOWNEND replaces Gavin JEFFRIES
Luke HUGHES - Walks, (0 out)
Andrew UTTING - Hit By pitch, HUGHES advances to 2B, (0 out)
Pitching Change #25 Darryn SMITH replaces Kevin TOWNEND
With LINGER batting BALK - HUGHES advances to 3B, UTTING advances to 2B
James LINGER - Singles on a line drive to LF (RBI), HUGHES scores, UTTING advances to 3B, AUS 10-9, (0 out)
With WEICHARD batting LINGER advances to 2B on defensive indifference
Paul WEICHARD - Grounds out to 1B unassisted (RBI), UTTING scores, LINGER advances to 3B, AUS 11-9, (1 out)
Daniel BERG - Out on a sacrifice fly to CF (RBI), LINGER scores, AUS 12-9, (2 out)
Ben RISINGER - Grounds out to 2B, 4-3, (3 out)
(3 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors)

Bot 7th (Sth AFRICA At Bat)
Defensive change - #5 Brad DUTTON enters the game at SS for James LINGER
Defensive change - #29 Joel NAUGHTON enters the game at C for Andrew UTTING
Moegamat HENDRICKS - Flys out to RF, (1 out)
Jamie ROSSOUW - Grounds out to P,1-3, (2 out)
Allan RANDALL - Singles ona line drive to RF, (2 out)
Anthony PHILLIPS - Strikes out swinging, (3 out)
(0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors)

Top 8th (AUSTRALIA At Bat)
Glenn WILLIAMS - Flys out to LF, (1 out)
Tom BRICE - Walks, (1 out)
Brendan KINGMAN - Doubles off the LF wall, BRICE advances to 3B, (1 out)
Luke HUGHES - Intentional walk, Bases loaded, (1 out)
Joel NAUGHTON - Walks (RBI), BRICE scores, KINGMAN advances to 3B, HUGHES advances to 2B, AUS 13-9, (1 out)
Brad DUTTON - Strikes out looking, (2 out)
Paul WEICHARD - Strikes out looking, (3 out)
(1 Run, 1 Hit, 0 Errors)

Bot 8th (Sth AFRICA At Bat)
Kyle BOTHA - Flys out to CF, (1 out)
Jonathon PHILLIPS - Grounds out to SS, 6-3, (2 out)
Brett WILLENBURG - Strikes out swinging, (3 out)
(0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors)

Top 9th (AUSTRALIA At Bat)
Daniel BERG - Flys out to RF, (1 out)
Ben RISINGER - Grounds out to SS, 6-3, (2 out)
Glenn WILLIAMS - Flys out to RF, (3 out)
(0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors)

Bot 9th (Sth AFRICA At Bat)
Pitching Change #11 Adam BRIGHT replaces Brad TIPPETT
William LIEBENBERG - Strikes out swinging, (1 out)
Pinch Hitter #19 Jocobus MOSTERT replaces Gavin RAY
Jocobus MOSTERT - Reaches on a fielding error by 3B, (1 out)
Moegamat HENDRICKS - Singles on a ground ball to RF, MOSTERT advances to 3B, (1 out)
with ROSSOUW batting - BALK called, MOSTERT scores, HENDRICKS advances to 2B, AUS 13-10, (1 out)
Jamie ROSSOUW - Strikes out looking, (2 out)
Allan RANDALL - Reaches on a throwing error by 2B, HENDRICKS scores, AUS 13-11, (2 out)
with PHILLIPS batting RANDALL picked off at 1B, (3 out)
(2 Runs, 1 Hit, 2 Errors)
GAME OVER - AUSTRALIA WINS 13-11