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Tournament hosts Chinese Taipei overwhelmed Australia to conclude group play at the Under-12 World Cup, winning 18-0 on Wednesday night.

Chinese Taipei were red-hot favourites entering the game. The win moves them to a perfect 5-0 record – one of only two unbeaten teams left.

Chinese Taipei started the game with five straight hits. They scored five runs in the first, eight runs in the second and another five in the third, all while keeping Australian bats in check.

Yu-Yen Lo was the catalyst for Taiwan. He had two hits, 5 RBIs and a massive grand slam in the second inning.

Australia’s big highlight was a 9-4-3 double play in the first inning.

Archer Petersen and Toby Kelman had the lone hits for the Green & Gold.

Chinese Taipei advance to the Super Round of the tournament. They will be a strong contender to win it all. All teams who finish Top 3 in their group advance to the championship portion of the tournament.

Australia (0-5) moves on to the placement round. They will play the bottom three teams from Group B over the coming days. These teams are: New Zealand (0-5), Panama (2-3) and Czechia (1-4).

BOX SCORE

AUSTRALIA GAME HIGHLIGHTS

• A nifty heads-up double-play to end the first. It was a 9-4-6 double-play by Ashton Diplock, Litsu Tamura and Archer Petersen
• A great opposite field double that split the outfielders for Toby Kelman (NSW) in the second inning
• Litsu Tamura had a nice day in the field. He made another nice play in the third inning off a hard hit ground ball and nearly turned two;
• Archer Petersen had another base hit. He is hitting over .500 for the tournament;
• Honestly, just the experience. Let’s remember these are just kids. Australia got the invite just four weeks before the tournament started. They started strangers and will end brothers. Today they got to play in front of a big crowd, with cheerleaders, music, trumpets and vs a world-class opponent. What an experience!

Above: Australia visited a school in Taiwan today.

Below: Started off strangers, ended up brothers.

Japan has handed Australia it’s fourth straight loss to open the 2023 Under-12 World Cup.

The formidable Japanese bats could not be contained, as the power house baseball nation raced to a 15-0 win in Taiwan on Tuesday

Japan exploded for nine runs in the second inning.

Kengo Wada led the way for the winners, going 3-for-3 with a grand slam and six RBI.

Archer Peterson had Australia’s only hit of the game.

Australia wraps up pool play tomorrow with a game vs the hosts Taiwan.

The consolation round will occur after, with a schedule to be announced soon.

Some highlights for Australia include:

• A nifty double play turned by Archer Peterson at shortstop
• After allowing a grand slam, Harry Roberts showed some nice toughness by bouncing back and striking out the next batter
• Harrison Thomas-McLean made a fantastic trap and throw at third to retire the Japanese batter

Korea rode a terrific team pitching performance to defeat Australia 5-1 at the Intermediate League World Series in Livermore, California.

Australia, represented by the Brisbane North Vikings charter team, were struck out 13 times by the Korean outfit from West Seoul. They also limited the Aussies to just two hits, both by Alonzo Zaire Griffin.

Australia’s pitching also combined for 13 strike-outs.

Alonzo Zaire Griffin put forward a tremendous start on the mound for Australia. He had ten strike-outs in 4.2 innings and gave up just four hits.

The loss sends Brisbane North to an elimination game at 9:00AM local time, or 2:00AM AEST on Wednesday 2 August, vs Puerto Rico. If Australia can win that game, their tournament will continue.

Game Recap

It was never going to be easy for Australia. Their Korean opposition entered the game in phenomenal form – a 5-0 win over Europe where they tossed a no-hitter.

Their pitching looked good in this one, too. Doyun Yi started the game for Korea and allowed just one hit with no walks and no runs in 2.1 inning effort. He also struck out five batters.

Alonzo Zaire Griffin had his special moments as the Australian starting pitcher. He struck out seven batters in his first three innings of work while allowing just four hits.

Doyun Yi then made it happen on the basepaths. He surprised the Australians by stealing home to give Australia the lead.

Korea loaded the bases in the third inning and added two more runs, thanks to a ground ball up the middle.

Zaire Griffin left the game with a stat line to be proud of: 4.2 innings pitched, 4 hits, 3 runs, two walks…and an astounding 10 strikeouts.

The Aussies didn’t have much luck vs Seunghyeon, the Korean relief pitcher. He went the next 1.2 innings without allowing a hit while striking out two.

In the bottom of the fifth, Australia finally put some pressure on the team from West Seoul. Xavier Honsa worked a lead off walk, Zaire Griffin picked up his second hit of the day and suddenly it was runners on the corners and no outs.

Australia gave Korea a taste of their own medicine. Honsa stole home itself to put Australia on the board.

Australia kept the pressure going but Park Jihoon induced a pair of strike-outs to keep the Korean lead at two.

Tirrell Waiwai pitched well in relief for Australia. He pitched 1.0 innings of 1-hit ball with three strike outs.

A two-out, two-run homerun from Park Jihoon helped Korea pull away in the top of the seventh.

Australia will look to rebound tomorrow vs. Puerto Rico.

BOX SCORE

ASIA PACIFIC (KOREA):  5 Runs, 6 Hits, 1 Error.
0-1-2-0-0-0-2

AUSTRALIA REGION (BRISBANE NORTH):  1 Run,  2 Hits, 1 Error.
0-0-0-0-0-1-0

Hits: Alonzo Zaire Griffin (2)

Pitchers
Alonzo Zaire Griffin: 4.2IP, 4H, 3R, 2BB, 10SO
Tirrell Waiwai: 1.0IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 3SO
Lachlan Richards: 1.0IP, 1H, 2R, 2BB, 0SO
Fletcher Adams: 0.1IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 0SO

Mexico scored a big 14-0 victory over Australia during Monday’s action at the Under-12 World Cup.
The win was Mexico’s first of the tournament. Australia falls to 0-3.

Mexico wasted no time finding the scoresheet. They shot out of the gate with four quick runs in the first inning. The dagger was from a 2-RBI knock from Alejandro Ibarra.

They added four more in the third, a pair in the fourth and four in the fifth.

Team Australia News: Ryde Hawks score famous victory over Mexico at Senior League World Series.

Rey Beltran led the offensive attack for Mexico with three hits and a pair of RBIs. Andre Salvador also had three hits.

Joseph Galvan pitched four shutout innings.

Archer Petersen, Harrison Thomas-McLean and Thomas Holborrow had hits for the Green & Gold.

Australia’s next game is tomorrow afternoon at 1:00PM AEST vs Japan.

Some nice highlights for Australia in today’s game:

• A nice defensive play from Litsu Tamura on a ground ball to end the second inning;
• Zavier Leigh showed some character by bouncing back after a tough first-inning to hold Mexico scoreless in the second inning and hold them to one in the third;
• A hard driven double to the wall from Harrison Thomas-Mclean (NSW) brought the crowd to its feet in the second inning;
• Archer Petersen had another hit for Australia. Not only has he pitched this tournament, but he has a .667 batting average;

BOX SCORE: Mexico vs Australia

Australia has won their first game at the Senior League World Series (U17) in South Carolina, holding off a late surge from Mexico to win 3-1.

Australia, represented by Senior League national champion Ryde Hawks (NSW), raced out to an early 3-0 lead and had to stand up to a relentless Mexican challenge late in the game.

Some tidy defense and clutch double plays helped Australia escape some tricky situations. Mexico had the bases-loaded with one-out in the sixth, and two runners on with no-out in the seventh. Australia induced inning ending double-plays on both occasions to keep Mexico off the board.

Lachlan Heap’s two-RBI single in the second inning was the offensive difference maker. Bradley Dalton also had two hits and scored.

Daniel Thwaites pitched the lion’s share of the game for Australia. He went 4.0 innings and allowed just one run.

Australia advances to the next round of this double-elimination tournament. They will play Curacao, the Carribean representative team, in the next round on Wednesday 2 August at 9:30AM AEST (Tuesday @ 7:30PM local time).

If they win that game, they will advance to the weekend’s international Championship Game, aka the semi-final of the Senior League World Series – a competition to determine the best club team in the world.

GAME RECAP

Things were scoreless early, large in part due to the efforts of Australia’s first female pitcher at the Senior League World Series. Isobel Lambert delivered a 1.2 inning performance allowing no runs, no hits and walking just two batters.

The Hawks had an initial breakthrough in the second inning. With bases loaded and two-outs, Lachlan Heap delivered a line drive single to score two runs and put Australia up 3-0.

From there, Ryde pitcher Daniel Thwaites took over. He navigated his first few innings cleanly, but Mexico started a rally in the late innings.

Mexico first pegged one back in the fifth. Back-to-back hits put the opposition in a threatening position with runners on second and third with just one out. Thwaites conceded just a sacrifice fly and Australia escaped by only allowing one run.

Then came the real pressure moment – a bases loaded jam in the sixth.

A walk and two straight singles put Australia on the ropes and juiced up the bases for Mexico. However, Thwaites induced an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play to keep Australia out of trouble.

In the end, it was a tidy little stat line for Thwaites. He tossed 4.0 innings of five-hit ball and allowed just the one run.

Australia had to work out of another tough situation in the seventh and final inning.

An error and a single and suddenly Mexico was threatening again with runners on first and second and nobody out.

Simon Slapeta induced a ground ball for a fielder’s choice, followed by a game-ending double play to seal it for Australia.

LATIN AMERICA (MEXICO): 1 Run, 6 Hits, 1 Errors.
0-0-0-0-1-0-0

AUSTRALIA REGION (RYDE HAWKS): 3 Runs, 4 Hits, 1 Errors.
0-3-0-0-0-0-x

Hits: Lachlan Heap, Christian Lane, Bradley Dalton (2)
RBI: Lachlan Heap (2)

Pitchers
M. Harris: 0.1IP, 0H, 0R, 1BB, 1SO
Isobel Lambert: 1.2IP, 0H, 0R, 2BB, 1SO
Daniel Thwaites: 4.0IP, 5H, 1R, 1BB, 1SO
Simon Slapeta (Save): 1.0IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 0SO,

Venezuela scored early and often in a 19-2 win over Australia in the second game of the WBSC Under 12 World Cup.

It’s Australia’s second loss of the tournament after falling to Germany on Saturday afternoon, despite a valiant comeback effort.

Australia may have dropped their opening game of the Under-12 World Cup by a 7-3 scoreline to Germany but a resilient never-say-die effort, some nice defensive plays and a wonderful display of sportsmanship leaves plenty of reasons to be proud.

To be fair, Australia’s youngest national team ran into a heck-of-a-pitcher.

German starting pitcher Felipe Morales took a no-hitter into the fifth inning. He delivered a big-time performance on the global stage he’ll never forget. He struck out seven batters and was looking confident all afternoon, dancing the baseball all around the strike-zone.

Above: Felipe Morales (Photo: WBSC)

Australia could have folded over and packed it in, but they didn’t. Despite being down seven runs going into the final inning, the team grinded out some tough at-bats vs Morales. The Green & Gold punched back with three late runs to apply some serious pressure on the Germans. That’s the never-say-die attitude we love to see.

Then there’s the sportsmanship.

Morales left the game with bases loaded in the sixth after fooling the Australian batters all game. When he left the game, Australian first baseman Oliver Allen (VIC) gave the German pitcher a cool little fist bump to the opposition in a tremendous display of respect and sportsmanship.

The final line on Morales reads 5.1 innings with two hit, four walks, three earned runs and seven strikeouts. The damage came from the final three batters he faced – he allowed a walk, hit-by-pitch and a double in his final three batters – not indicative of his start at all.

In another positive note for the Green & Gold, not many German-batters were able to power a ball to the outfield. They scored most of their runs off Australian walks, infield-hits and a handful of errors.

In total, Germany had five hits and Australia had three. Litsu Tamura (QLD) was the one that broke up the no-hitter and recorded Australia’s first base knock of the tournament.

The German infield was sensational most of the game. They made a number of athletic plays to retire Australian batters off hard-hit balls in play. Perhaps the Aussies would have reached base in club ball, but not at this World Cup.

Germany jumped Australia early. A patient approach at the plate led to four walks for the Germans and lots of pressure on the base paths.

Box Score: Australia vs Germany – U-12 World Cup

There weren’t many hard-hit balls, but singles to Liam Hagen and Willem Lenhart helped bring home three first inning scores for Germany.

It could have been more if it weren’t for a nifty backhanded catch from third baseman Toby Kelman (NSW) and a sharp line-drive snag from Oliver Allen (VIC) at first. Both those plays limited damage and kept the German bats at bay.

Australia had difficulty responding to the initial German strike, thanks in large part to the pitching from Morales.

After allowing a lead-off walk in the first inning, Morales proceeded to sit down the next eleven batters in order.

Germany added four more runs in the third inning. Only one ball left the infield that entire frame – a shallow pop fly to end an inning. Once again, Germany took advantage of walks and hits.

Australia’s push back came in the sixth inning. With bases loaded and one out, Allen had a deep left-field double that bounced off the wall to score a run. Mark Howell (WA) and Litsu Tamura (QLD) both had RBIs.

The spark was just too little, too late for Australia – but lots of positive signs to build from. Let’s hope it’s a great learning experience heading into their next game.

Australia will take on Venezuela at 11:00AM local time (1:00PM AEST) on Sunday. It won’t be easy – Venezuela didn’t allow a hit in their Saturday afternoon victory over Mexico.

A mass amount of rain due to a Typhoon passing by Taiwan has forced the postponement of Day 1 of the Under-12 World Cup.

The teams are not in any danger and are safe. There’s just a lot of rain.

WBSC is working hard on a revised schedule of play. Stay tuned to this page and Team Australia Baseball channels for updates.

UPDATE (6:50AEST): WBSC is still working on a revised schedule, but Day 2 of the U12 World Cup will continue as originally planned. Australia will play one game on Saturday 29 July – Germany at 4:30PM.