Of the Victorian players selected, Travis Blackley and Adam Bright will be integral to the pitching staff, while Brad Harman, James Beresford, Justin Huber and Daniel Berg will provide defensive and hitting options

Ranked tenth in the world by the International Baseball Federation, Australia will play its first Pool B game in Mexico City on 8 March
It meets Mexico, which is ranked eighth and clearly expecting massive home country support
Australia will play other pool games against Cuba (ranked first in the world) and South Africa (ranked twentieth)

Each of the four nations will need to win two of its three pool games to progress to Round Two

Notwithstanding Victorian pride in the achievements of its home-grown players, all states are united in their enthusiasm for Australia to do well in the Classic, which is much bigger than Olympics baseball and showcases sixteen invited baseball nations acutely aware of personal and financial rewards that are on offer for sides progressing to later rounds

While Australia failed to win a game in Round One of the inaugural series back in 2006, it is pretty well-credentialled to acquit itself well on the world stage

“We have a young team” said Australian Manager Jon Deeble “but I believe a very good team
We’ve moved into another era after Athens and there are a lot of exciting players coming through
I can see this team in the next few years pulling off another Silver Medal-type performance if we can keep them together and let them develop
There is a stack of young talent on this team – some of them just twenty years old
I believe this team has a great future”

Among the talent to which Deeble refers is infielder James Beresford, who turned twenty in January
South Australian third-sacker Stefan Welch is twenty, as are Mitch Dening and the Heat’s Liam Hendricks
Brendan Wise is twenty-three, while Phillies prospect battery Drew Naylor and Joel Naughton - both from Queensland - are only twenty-three

They will suit up with a list of professionals and emerging stars like Travis Blackley (Diamondbacks) and Brad Harman (Phillies)

There are some older heads, of course, into their late twenties or early thirties - still by no means at the veteran stage
The likes of Brett Roneberg, Chris Snelling, Trent Oeltjen, Ben Risinger, Huber, Craig Anderson, Braves Major Leaguer Damien Moss, Andrew Graham, Chris Oxspring and Brad Thomas, many of whom were part of Australia’s success in international baseball in recent years

Silver Medalists at Athens in 2004, Australia disappointed at the 2006 World Baseball Classic and finished sixth in the 2007 World Baseball Cup
They finished with a 4-3 record at the Olympics Qualifying to miss the Games under a decidedly dodgy qualifying process that was stacked against Australia

Australia has an advantage in that most players are coming in fresh from a summer domestic season, including some solid preparation against Chinese Taipei and this week against the Japan National Team - and reigning Classic Champion – that includes Major League superstars Ichiro Suzuki and Daisuke Matsuzaka
Their Pool B opponents, though, have enjoyed a similar preparation

In recent weeks, Australia has been set back somewhat by the withdrawal of a number of pitching stars, including Grant Balfour, Ryan Rowland-Smith, Micheal Nakamura, Wayne Lundgren, Phil Stockman and Adrian Burnside
But most nations have been affected to some degree, with the Classic causing an inevitable clash between spring training and national pride

“Peter Moylan and Tim Cox were another couple not available for us for the Classic” said Deeble
“But we can’t dwell on that
We’re taking the best side available to us and we’ll be giving it a real shot
Australian baseball has a different culture these days
We’re not going away just to compete and to be overawed by what other nations can do
We’re there to try to win the whole thing
We won’t be leaving anything in the shed”

After the final squad meets up in Arizona later this week, Australia will play three Exhibition Matches against the Seattle Mariners, Milwaukee Brewers and Chicago White Sox in early March before heading to Mexico City for its first pool game

Along with baseball supporters nation-wide, Baseball Victoria extends its best wishes to the Australian team for a successful campaign in the World Baseball Classic, the pinnacle of international baseball endeavour

The 28-man Australian squad is:-
Travis Blackley, David Welch, Chris Oxspring, Brad Thomas, Tristan Crawford, Damien Moss, Liam Hendricks, Drew Naylor, Craig Anderson, Paul Mildren, Josh Hill, Brendan Wise, Adam Bright, Richard Thompson, Andrew Graham, Joel Naughton, Brett Roneberg Luke Hughes, Stefan Welch, Ben Risinger, Brad Harman, James Beresford, Michael Collins, Justin Huber, Trent Oeltjen, Chris Snelling, Mitch Dening and Daniel Berg

Also of interest to Victorians will be the news that Donavon Hendricks and Paul Rutgers have been selected in the the final squad for South Africa, one of Australia's opponents in Mexico City