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by Robert Laidlaw |  Greece, August 21, 2004 – 

This story is part of a series running on baseball.com.au from August 15-25 commemorating the 20-year anniversary of the 2004 Australian Olympic Baseball team. Each day will feature a recap and story as if the tournament is happening now. Scroll to bottom of this story for more links and recaps.

Australia will play for a medal at the 2004 Olympics after a resounding 22-2 victory over the Netherlands. The win guarantees Australia a spot in the top four and the semi-finals with one group stage game to play.

It’s also their fourth win in a row after starting the tournament 0-2.

With a spot in the medal rounds on the line, it didn’t take long for Team Australia to put the game to bed.

by Robert Laidlaw |  Greece, August 18, 2004 – 

This story is part of a series running on baseball.com.au from August 15-25 commemorating the 20-year anniversary of the 2004 Australian Olympic Baseball team. Each day will feature a recap and story as if the tournament is happening now. Scroll to bottom of this story for more links and recaps.

COMEBACK AUSSIES IN THE HUNT

Australia has sent a clear message to the baseball world: we are medal contenders at the 2004 Olympics.

The Aussies shocked previously undefeated Japan with a 9-4 comeback win to even their record at 2-2 and breathe serious life into their Olympic campaign.

It’s a big bounce back from an 0-2 start to the tournament.

by Robert Laidlaw |  Greece, August 20, 2004 – 

This story is part of a series running on baseball.com.au from August 15-25 commemorating the 20-year anniversary of the 2004 Australian Olympic Baseball team. Each day will feature a recap and story as if the tournament is happening now. Scroll to bottom of this story for more links and recaps.

Call it a comeback.

Australia stormed back from a five run deficit to defeat Greece 11-7 and gain a winning record after game five of the 2004 Olympic baseball tournament in Athens.

A five-run seventh inning for the Aussies broke open a close one-run game that at one stage looked to be owned by the Greeks.

Greece opened up an early 5-0 lead and even led 6-3 in the sixth inning before the Aussies fought back.

BOX SCORE AND PLAY-BY-PLAY: Click here for detailed stats and box score

Greece came out with all guns blazing to score four runs at the top of the first inning, after hits to Peter Maestrales, James Demetral, Cory Harris, James Kavourias and future MLBer Nick Markakis.

Then at the top of the second, Maestrales smashed a home run and Greece seemed to be in full control, as Australia failed to collect a hit off Greek starter Clinton Zavaras in the first two frames.

Finally, some noise from the Aussie bats in the bottom of the third.

Craig Lewis led off with a single, followed by Paul Gonzalez’s huge home run. Later, Brett Roneberg also put one out, and it was 5-3 Greece. There was life.

The next two innings were scoreless, as Greece continued to hold on, and then at the top of the sixth gained a bit of breathing space, after back-to-back doubles to Kavourias and Peter Rasmusen, to go 6-3 up.

But Australia responded in the bottom of the sixth close the gap.

Roneberg hit his second dinger of the game, followed by David Nilsson walking and coming home on Glenn Williams’ double.

Australia trailed 6-5 in the bottom of the seventh and needed to find a way to grab the lead for the first time in the game.

Brett Tamburrino led off with a walk and went to second base on Rodney van Buizen’s bunt. Gavin Fingleson did the job with a single to tie the scores.

Fingleson stole second base, Nilsson reached on an infield hit, Williams hit a RBI double for the lead, and then the big blow, as Brendan Kingman cleared the bases with a three-run homer.

Although leading 10-6, no game is safe, especially when Kavourias led off the top of the eighth for Greece with a home run, but that was it for the home country.

Australia added another run in the bottom of the eighth on Fingleson’s RBI single.

“For our medal chances the Greece game was a must win,” said slugger Paul Gonzalez. “After a couple of early losses, every game was critical, and anytime you’re playing the host nation you need to be wary – they were a tough side, with US born Greeks.”

Gonzalez’s homer seemed to spark the Australian bats in this game.

(PHOTO: OMAR TORRES/AFP via Getty Images)

“We needed to position ourself for later on (in the tournament) and gain some momentum, which we did by overcoming an early deficit. For me personally, you’re always happy to ignite the offence, so yes, it was good to hit that home run to help us get started.”

Gonzalez said preparation was key for the Australian bats.

It was another team effort. Roneberg, Williams and Fingleson each had two hits while eight different players in the line-up reached base.

“We had faced him (Greek pitcher Zavaras) in a few exhibition games, I knew he threw a lot of changeups, I sat on one and drove it over the rightfield fence – he couldn’t beat me with the fastball, as I would go after it if he left something up,” said Gonzalez. “Anything I could contribute, that’s always the goal. Everyone knew they had a role – one hit, one pitch, they knew their role.”

Gonzales has the rare distinction of playing in Australia’s previous senior medal winning tournaments, in Intercontinental Cups – bronze in 1997 and gold in 1999.

Although having retired after the 2000 Olympics, Gonzalesz returned to support David Nilsson and manager Jon Deeble to help add some experience for the 2004 Olympic campaign.

Australia now sits at 3-2 in the tournament and moves into a Top 4 spot. If they can find a way to beat Netherlands tomorrow, it likely clinches a spot in the medal rounds.

Here are other scores from Day 5 of the Olympic Baseball tournament:
– Italy 5 def Chinese Taipei 4
– Japan 9 def Canada 1
– Cuba 9 def Netherlands 2

Standings After Day 5
1. Japan 4-1
2. Cuba 4-1
3. Canada 4-1
4. Australia 3-2
—-
5. Netherlands 2-3
6. Chinese Taipei 2-3
7. Italy 1-4
8. Greece 0-5

Other stories:
– Game 4 Recap: Australia vs Japan
– Game 3 Recap: Australia vs Italy
– Game 2 Recap: Australia vs Chinese Taipei
– Game 1 Recap: Australia vs Cuba
– Preview: Australia looks to learn from success and failures past ahead of 2004 Olympics
– Roster: Meet the 2004 Australian Olympic Baseball team

by Robert Laidlaw |  Greece, August 17, 2004 – 

This story is part of a series running on baseball.com.au from August 15-25 commemorating the 20-year anniversary of the 2004 Australian Olympic Baseball team. Each day will feature a recap and story as if the tournament is happening now. Scroll to bottom of this story for more links and recaps.

BASEBALL CAMPAIGN KICK STARTED

Finally, some breathing space, as Australia won its first game at the 2004 Olympic baseball tournament in Greece, with a 6-0 victory over Italy.

Starting pitcher Chris Oxspring was brilliant on the mound to give Australia a fighting chance.

The game wasn’t as easy or as distant as the scoreline depicts.

The game was scoreless through the first six innings, although Australia picked up a hit in each of the first five frames.

The key to the Aussies’ win was the pitching of Chris Oxspring. He threw a one-hitter for eight innings, with one walk and five strikeouts. Ryan Rowland-Smith pitched a scoreless ninth to keep the shutout in order.

That’s magic from two eventual Australian Major Leaguers.

(PHOTO: Chris Oxspring was dominant in the win. Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images)

It took an error and a hit batsman to set up Australia’s first runs in the top of the seventh. Andrew Utting reached on a misplay, Gavin Fingleson was hit-by-a-pitch, and Brett Roneberg smashed a two-run double – 2-0 the Aussies.

It seemed just a matter of time before Australia would bunch its hits to score, and it did at the top of the seventh, with Tom Brice, Utting, Fingleson, Rodney van Buizen and David Nilsson collecting singles, for four runs, to pad out the margin to 6-0.

Through the first five innings Oxspring was perfect, facing 15 Italians for 15 outs, with just Giuseppe Mazzanti spoiling the party with a leadoff single in the bottom of the sixth, for his country’s sole hit of the game.

BOX SCORE AND PLAY-BY-PLAY: Click here for detailed stats and box score

From the mound for Italy, Michael Marchesano was plucky, holding the Aussies at bay, before being relieved with two out in the seventh frame, conceding six hits for three walks and four K2s in 6.2 innings.

“In such a short tournament we had nothing to lose after going into the Italian game 0-2,” said Tom Brice, who went 3-for-5 in the game.  “Well, it was difficult to go anywhere, as we still had to play Japan, so it was a matter of taking every game as it comes, and at this stage it didn’t look like we would make the medal rounds.”

Brice’s three hits were crucial in Australia’s win. He was an omission from the starting line-up the first two games.

“On a personal perspective, I was annoyed I didn’t start the first two games, so I went into this game with a bit of a chip on my shoulder and wanted to prove a point. I felt I deserved to be in line-up, so, it was pleasing to get three hits.”

“With a team like Italy, as long as you stay in touch, and (Chris) Oxspring was throwing a hell of a game, you know they don’t have the depth.”

Brice said it was a challenge to get by the plucky Italian pitching.

“Their starter was one of their more experienced and better players, so we knew once we got through him, they did not have the depth to hold us off. It was just a matter of trying to chew up pitches, with longer at bats.”

With his strong showing in this game, Brice has set up his tournament and with his outstanding play in the outfield, he is a monty to remain in the starting nine for the rest of the tournament.

As for Oxspring, his outing has helped put Australia back on track, and has put his name at the top of the list as a candidate to pitch in the medal rounds, if the Aussies can continue to play well.

“Going into the game (against Italy), you know, I always felt confident,” Oxspring said. “You still had to consider the unknown, with the players Italy sourced from America. Who were the dangers? But we had good scouting reports on who we could attack and who to avoid in big situations.”

“We had a good game plan and we executed it well, and came away with the win.”

Oxspring said the moment was not lost on him.

“For me it was the first game I played as an Olympian. The whole situation was emphasised, magnified, as far as the importance of beating Italy,” he said.

“That win was a way to bring the team forward, so we could turn our tournament around and move on.”

Australia improves to 1-2 on the tournament but have a date with undefeated Japan looming tomorrow. Australia likely needs a victory to keep their chances of progressing alive.

Here are other scores from Day 3:
– Canada  7 def Netherlands 3
– Chinese Taipei def Greece 1
– Japan 6 def Cuba 3

Standings After Day 3
1. Japan 3-0
2. Canada 3-0
3. Cuba 2-1
4. Chinese Taipei 2-1
—
5. Australia 1-2
6. Netherlands 1-2
7. Greece 0-3
8. Italy 0-3

Top four advance to semi finals.

Other stories:
– Game 2 Recap: Australia vs Chinese Taipei
– Game 1 Recap: Australia vs Cuba
– Preview: Australia looks to learn from success and failures past ahead of 2004 Olympics
– Roster: Meet the 2004 Australian Olympic Baseball team

by Robert Laidlaw | 2004 OLYMPIC BASEBALL – Greece, August 16, 2004 – 

This story is part of a series running on baseball.com.au from August 15-25 commemorating the 20-year anniversary of the 2004 Australian Olympic Baseball team. Each day will feature a recap and story as if the tournament is happening now. Scroll to bottom of this story for more links and recaps.

IS IT OVER BEFOR IT GETS STARTED?

After dropping its first game to Cuba, Australia has dug themselves in huge hole after a 3-0 loss Chinese Taipei in game two of the 2004 Olympic baseball tournament in Greece.

It was always going to be a tough battle. Chinese Taipei also entered the game with an 0-1 record and send highly touted pitcher Chien-Ming Wang to the mound. Wang would progress to a nine year MLB career, mainly with the Yankees, right after the Olympics.

But back to the ball game…

Both starting pitchers, Australia’s John Stephens and Taiwan’s Wang, were solid and each lasted seven innings. Chinese Taipei scored twice in the third inning and once in the eighth.

At the top of the third with one out, Yung-Chi Chen and Chih-Yuan Chen collected singles, with the first run coming in on Chung-Yi Huang’s grounder, which was errored. The second run came from a RBI hit to Cheng-Min Peng.

Then at the top of the eighth, Peng hit a RBI double, which forced a pitching change. In Australia’s last two frames, hits to Gavin Fingleson (eighth) and David Nilsson (ninth), were not capitalised on.

BOX SCORE AND PLAY-BY-PLAY: Click here for detailed stats and box score

Stephens pitched 7.1 innings for seven hits and a walk for two strikeouts in taking the loss. Wang conceded just three hits in seven shutout frames to claim the win for Chinese Taipei.

“It was pretty straight forward, we never wavered but faced good pitching,” Nilsson said. “Straight after the game we addressed what had happened. We were a good team, and don’t need to change much. Trust the process – we are good enough.”

Nilsson added the mentality of the Australian team was to trust their preparation.

“We were prepared, so the message was simple, don’t worry about 0-2, just take it one game at a time.”

Manager Jon Deeble echoed Nilsson’s comments, while also praising experienced MLB pitcher Graeme Lloyd for his insights.

“Firstly, Chinese Taipei threw some good pitching at us, with two Big-Leaguers,” Deeble said. “Graeme (Lloyd) told me he thought we were playing fantastic and to keep doing what we were doing.”

Lloyd (below) even drew on some of his Major League Baseball experience in the biggest of stages.

“He told how when he was with the New York Yankees in 1996 when they were down two games in the World Series against Atlanta, but got up. He said, you just have to keep executing.”

“That was our approach, to keep executing and not worry about the score. That’s right through, the coaches, the players, the EO and the physio. We all have a job to do, and to just keep executing.”

Australia now finds themselves in an 0-2 hole to start the Olympic campaign.

It’s effectively a do-or-die game vs Italy tomorrow, with Japan coming up after that. Only the top four teams advance to the semi finals.

Here are the other scores from Day 2 of the 2004 Olympic Baseball tournament:
– Japan 8 (2-0) def Netherlands 3 (1-1)
– Canada 9 (2-0) def Italy 4 (0-2)
– Cuba 5 (2-0) def Greece 4 (0-2)

Standings After Day 2
1. Japan 2-0
2. Canada 2-0
3. Cuba 2-0
4. Netherlands 1-1
—
5. Chinese Taipei 1-1
6. Greece 0-2
7. Australia 0-2
8. Italy 0-2

Top four advance to semi finals.

Other stories:
– Game 1 Recap: Australia vs Cuba
– Preview: Australia looks to learn from success and failures past ahead of 2004 Olympics
– Roster: Meet the 2004 Australian Olympic Baseball team

by Robert Laidlaw | 2004 OLYMPIC BASEBALL – Greece, August 15, 2004 – 

This story is part of a series running on baseball.com.au from August 15-25 commemorating the 20-year anniversary of the 2004 Australian Olympic Baseball team. Each day will feature a recap and story as if the tournament is happening now. Scroll to bottom of this story for more links and recaps.

Australian bats stifled by reigning silver medalist Cuba in opening game of 2004 Olympics

Australia has opened their 2004 Olympic baseball tournament in Greece with 4-1 loss to Cuba. Two Australian fielding errors and two Cuban home runs did the bulk of the damage.

Michel Enriquez gave Cuba a great start with a one-out home run in the bottom of the opening inning.

A pair of errors set up a second run for Cuba in the third frame, while in the sixth inning, Osmani Urrutia put another one out and over the fence for a 3-0 advantage.

Australia was struggling with the bat.

Over the first six innings, Australia managed just one infield single and a walk and failed to get a runner to second base.

Cuban starter Adiel Palma tossed eight innings of two-hit baseball to shutout the Australians with five strikeouts and one walk.

The best chance for the Aussies to score came at the top of the seventh, when Glenn Williams singled with two out and reached second on an error. But, that’s where he was left stranded.

BOX SCORE AND PLAY-BY-PLAY: Click here for detailed stats and box score

An error and a pair of hits helped Cuba extend its lead with a run in the bottom of the seventh, with Australia finally breaking through at the top of the ninth for its only run of the game.

Rodney van Buizen ran out an infield hit, and after two outs, came home on Andrew Utting’s single to leftfield.

Starting pitcher Craig Anderson threw seven innings in taking the loss, conceding nine hits and no walks for three K2s. Adiel Palma spearheaded Cuba’s win from the mound, giving up two hits and a walk for five strikeouts in eight frames.

“It was disappointing for us, losing that first game, but they threw some good pitching at us,” manager Jon Deeble (below) said. “It was just the first game, so we need to regroup quickly, as it’s a short tournament and every win counts.”

Australia must regroup quickly. They play Chinese Taipei tomorrow, August 16, in their second game. Chinese Taipei dropped their opening game 7-0 to Canada.

Australia must finish in the top four to progress to the semi-finals of the tournament.

Here is a look at the other scores from Day 1 of Olympic action:
– Canada 7 def Chinese Taipei 0
– Japan 12 def Italy 0
– Netherlands 11 def Greece 0

Standings:
1. Japan 1-0
2. Netherlands 1-0
3. Canada 1-0
4. Cuba 1-0
—
5. Australia 0-1
6. Chinese Taipei 0-1
7. Greece 0-1
8. Italy 0-1.

Top four advance to semi finals.

Other stories:
– Preview: Australia looks to learn from success and failures past ahead of 2004 Olympics
– Roster: Meet the 2004 Australian Olympic Baseball team

by Robert Laidlaw

Note: This story is part of a collection in a series celebrating the 2004 Australian Olympic baseball team. Each day between August 15 and 25 we will recap Team Australia’s games, replaying the tournament in “real time” with stories from Robert Laidlaw.

Can Australia win a medal at the 2004 Olympic baseball tournament in Greece? That is the big question, as the Aussies look for some redemption after failing to win a medal in Sydney four years earlier.

Setting the stage: International promise

It was just five years ago Australia sat atop the international baseball world. They won a gold medal at the 1999 Intercontinental Cup, with a 4-3, 11-inning thrilling climax in Sydney against Cuba.

Medal hopes were high for the 2000 Olympic campaign but Australia came up short. A 2-5 win-loss record had the Australians finishing seventh.

Losing to Italy and the Netherlands put Australia out of contention for a medal at the Sydney games.

There was a new coach in 2000.

Former Australian coach Mike Young, who led Australia to its gold medal victory in 1999, was replaced by Jon Deeble – a great Australian national team mainstay transitioning out of his playing career.

The nucleus of the team remained in tact, including the leadership of Australia’s MLB All-Star David Nilsson.

MEET THE ROSTER: 2004 Athens Olympics Squad. 

Nillson said the team could draw on memories from the 1999 campaign.

“In 1999 it worked well, as the tournament (Intercontinental Cup) was in November and I had finished my season with Milwaukee after breaking my thumb six weeks earlier,” Nilsson said.

“I had not played a tournament for Australia previously and I knew we were a chance to win a medal. Personally, it was nice to win a few awards (Nilsson was the MVP of the tournament), but winning a gold medal was special – Australia’s first in senior competition.”

There was a big team mentality of that 1999 bunch.

“Winning was so important, especially when Gary White came off the bench to drive in the winning run against Cuba in the final,” said Nilsson. “He was a veteran guy who had not played much in the tournament but was ready mentally and ready for any situation, and in extra innings with a guy on base, it was a good match-up.”

But things changed just a year later in front of Australian home fans in a Sydney Olympics.

“In 2000 (Olympics) we failed miserably,” stated Nilsson. “Between 1999 and 2000 we had a change of leadership – the whole DNA, the make-up changed, we were a different team. We were positioned to do something at home, but with the changes made we weren’t ready to play, and it showed in our performance.”

“Athens was absolutely about correcting the wrong.”

But this is a different beast. It’s tournament baseball. And, it’s the Olympics.

“The thing about Olympic baseball is that it is a 10-day tournament. In many of the other events, athletes compete for a few days then party and celebrate – we had to forget it was the Olympics and just treat it like a normal baseball tournament,” said Nilsson, then 34.

“The take away for us was that we had a bunch of young guys playing in a pretty big moment, which they had never experienced, so we needed to make sure we were prepared for Athens.”

Nilsson played for Milwaukee Brewers in MLB from 1992-99, batting .284 with 105 home runs and 470 RBIs. In his final MLB season he became the first Australian to play in the All-Star game.

In 2000 Nilsson signed with the Chunichi Dragons in Japan so he could play in the Olympics for Australia. Alhough it was an unsuccessful tournament for the team, he led the competition batting averages with a .565 mark.

A new coach

Jon Deeble played for Australia at the international level from 1983-95 as a pitcher, including the 1988 Olympics.

When Australia won the 1999 Intercontinental Cup, Deeble was a coach and in the turmoil of leadership changes, was appointed manager for the 2000 Olympics.

“That success in 1999 was fantastic,” Deeble said. “I was the bench coach and that team was pretty special.”

The 2000 Olympics didn’t go as planned for Deeble.

“As for the manager’s job for 2000, it was thrown on me late and I wasn’t ready, as the results indicated,” he said. “I put a lot on me but I wasn’t ready. It was just four years after I had played. But you don’t get anywhere without failures, so going into Athens there were lessons learned to fall back on.”

For the 2004 games, Deeble has enlisted some help from the outside.

“After 2000 I did a lot of work with performance psychologist Dr Phil Jauncey, who taught me so much – I spent hours on the phone or in person with him. He helped me and the coaching staff,” he said.

“Our mentality going into Athens was that it’s up to the players – let them play! We had experienced guys who had played professionally, like (David) Nilsson, (Chris) Oxspring, (Graeme) Lloyd, as well as some younger guys who had played at this level for several years.”

Roster & Qualification

The turnover of the roster from the 2000 Olympics to 2004 was amazingly high with just six players remaining in Nilsson, Rodney Van Buizen, Craig Anderson, Brett Roneberg, Paul Gonzalez and Glenn Williams.

To qualify for the Athens Olympics, Australia beat South Africa at Blacktown in Sydney. They won all three games –  8-1, 6-4 and 13-1.

Australia’s program for the 2004 Olympics: August 15 v Cuba; August 16 v Chinese Taipei; August 17 v Italy; August 18 v Japan; August 20 v Greece; August 21 v Netherlands; August 22 v Canada.

Team Manager – Jon Deeble; Coaches – Tony Harris, Paul Elliott, Phil Dale.

Pitchers – Craig Anderson, Adrian Burnside, Graeme Lloyd, Wayne Ough, Chris Oxspring, Ryan Rowland-Smith, John Stephens, Phil Stockman, Rich Thompson, Jeff Williams

Hitters – Tom Brice, Gavin Fingleson, Paul Gonzalez, Nick Kimpton, Brendan Kingman, Craig Lewis, Dave Nilsson, Trent Oeltjen, Brett Roneberg, Brett Tamburrino, Andrew Utting, Rodney van Buizen, Ben Wigmore, Glenn Williams.