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Hitters
turn it on in Game Four
Australia
continued its great hitting and defensive form
to take Game Four of the Friendship Series at Napier Park this
evening
With nine games having been played
in the past fortnight - in Perth and Victoria - the Australian
national team won six, with another one drawn
Playing errorless baseball again this evening, Australia overcame
a deficit to hit back in a blistering seventh innings that yielded
three home runs and a 7-6 winning margin over Chinese Taipei
The game was tight for the first three, as Craig Anderson for
Australia and right-armed Yi-Chieh held the opposition scoreless,
with the assistance of some great double plays turned by both
sides
After wearing a Grant Karlsen missile hit back at him, Yi-Chieh
was replaced by Pittsburgh Pirates prospect Chi-Hung Cheng and
the game started to hot up
Australia opened scoring in the bottom of four, compliments of
a Justin Huber single, a walk, a wild pitch, a Michael Collins
RBI single and a Karlsen hit that somewhat fortuitously plated
another two
Hard-throwing Western Australian Tristan Crawford relieved Anderson,
who scattered four hits and gave nothing away in four innings
of off-speed and hitting spots
But a string of Australian changes in the sixth brought a new
complexion to the game
Reliever Glen Richards walked a couple of hitters and paid dearly
with a wild pitch and a three-run bomb to Yi-Chuan Lin delivering
a total of four runs
Darryn Cassidy went to the hill but was greeted with a solo shot
to Chih-Hsiang Huang and Chinese Taipei led 5-3
Australia got one back on a Karslen sacrifice fly in the equaliser,
the Waverley catcher having had a terrific series with the bat
and behind the dish
But another homer - this time to Ying-Chieh Liao - stretched
it again to a two-run lead
As if stung into action and deciding that enough was enough against
Chinese Taipei pitching that must have been feeling the pinch
after a long campaign away from home, the Aussies made an emphatic
statement in the seventh
A solo shot to Hayden Dingle over the left-centre wall was followed
by another bomb to Justin Huber - over deep deep centrefield
- followed by a Michael Collins monster that was still heading
up as it cleared leftfield
Australia’s fifth pitcher for the evening, Kable Hogben
finished the job, with his side again playing errorless baseball
and marginally outhitting Chinese Taipei eleven to ten
Collins was a star with three hits and two RBIs (including a
home run), Grant Karlsen went two and two, unofficial player
of the series Justin Huber was outstanding with two hits (including
a home run) and Hayden Dingle relished a shot at this level by
providing a cameo of his hitting power
With Jon Deeble having flown out to Korea this morning, Phil
Dale took on the managerial role, shuffling his side around and
giving his hitters some key at-bats
Speaking to Baseball Radio after the game, Dale said that he
was “absolutely happy with what we saw today”
“The extra guys we brought in hit the ball well
Our established hitters are swinging the bats well - we’ll
need that at the Classic” he said
Reflecting upon the series in its entirety, Dale was able to
identify a number of real positives
“Crawford and Liam Hendricks have pitched well
And they carried themselves really well
Most of our pitchers performed right throughout this series,
and in Perth
I was impressed with Hogben’s poise when he had a chance”
“Chinese Taipei is a quality unit and they’ve still
got plenty of improvement to make
But so do we” Dale said
While there is scope for changes to the World Classic squad until
the eleventh hour, the Australian squad will be pretty much decided
after the Japan leg of the preparations
“We have to lock in the formalities” said Dale
“We have a fair idea who will be in the final squad, but
we can still make moves - for injury - right up until Mexico”
Victorian baseball has been privileged to have hosted the four
“Friendly” games, which showcased some of the best
players in international baseball
We thank our umpiring officials and extend our appreciation to
the Australian and Chinese Taipei squads for the competitive,
fair and respectful way in which they have conducted themselves
during this week
We thank the Victorian baseball community - especially the legion
of Taiwanese supporters - for coming out in support of their
teams and creating such a great spectacle at all venues
Baseball Victoria extends its appreciation to all of those who
have contributed and continue to contribute to the Victorian
Bushfire Appeal
We extend special thanks to the Geelong Baseball Club and the
Waverley Baseball Club for making their facilities available
and for putting in so much effort to deliver these games
Finally, Baseball Victoria extends its best wishes to both national
squads for a successful campaign at the 2009 World Baseball Classic
C’arn the Aussies!! |
