29 July 2023
Australia displays resiliency and sportsmanship despite opening game loss to Germany
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.
