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story by Eric Balnar, photos by SMP Images

Australia had plenty of chance but couldn’t find a decisive blow in their 4-3 loss vs Cuba on Saturday afternoon at the Premier12.

It’s the same score Cuba bested Australia with at the 2023 World Baseball Classic quarterfinals.

In this particular ball game, Australia stranded 12 baserunners, including twice leaving the bases loaded.

To be fair to Cuba, they also had plenty of chances. They tallied eleven hits and fourteen base runners of their own. Cuba just scored one more.

Cuba did their damage in the third inning in the form of a Yadier Drake three-run homer. It helped erase an early 2-0 advantage the Australians had jumped out to in the first inning.

The Aussies stayed in the fight, knocked on the door, but ultimately couldn’t bang it down.

Australia’s record falls to 1-2, but are still very much in contention for a spot in the Super Round. More on that below. Cuba improves to 1-2.

“Both teams played similar,” commented manager Dave Nilsson after the game. “We both navigated well through baserunners, we just couldn’t find that breakthrough.”

Australia’s top of the line up was productive. Travis Bazzana, Aaron Whitefield, Robbie Glendinning and Rixon Wingrove combined for seven of Australia’s eight hits.

Glendinning (2-for-2, HR, RBI, 2 runs), Bazzana (2-for-4) and Whitefield (2-for-5) led the offensive output.

Darryl George and Rixon Wingrove also had RBIs for Australia. Those game in the first inning, drawing the Green & Gold ahead 2-0.

BOX SCORE: Cuba 4 def Australia 3 

Here is the situation for Australia to advance to the Super Round…

Australia is now in a log-jam at 1-2, tied with Cuba, Dominican Republic and Korea.

Japan and Chinese Taipei sit top with a 2-0 record but play each other Saturday night.

Australia will be cheering for Japan tonight to inflict a loss to their Taipei-based hosts.

If that happens, Australia will have a chance to enter the Top 2 should they beat Chinese Taipei tomorrow. Their 5-0 win over Dominican and one run loss vs Cuba bodes well in the event of a tie-breaker.

They’re still well placed. But, regardless of tonight’s outcome, Australia must win their next two games if they wish to advance.

“The most important game is tomorrow night vs Chinese Taipei, right now we just have to focus on that and get a win and focus on that,” he says.

High stakes.

STANDINGS (remaining games in parenthesis)

1. Japan 2-0 (vs TPE, CUB, vs DOM)
2. Chinese Taipei 2-0 (vs JPN, vs AUS, vs CUB)
—
3. Australia 1-2 (vs TPE, vs KOR)
4. Cuba 1-2 (vs JPN, vs TPE)
5. Dominican Republic 1-2 (vs KOR, vs JPN)
6. Korea 1-2 (vs DOM, vs AUS)

Schedule, scores, stats, standings and results can be found here: www.wbsc.org/en/events/2024-premier12/

How The Game Unfolded

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It was a high event first two innings. Well, a high-event ballgame.

In the first inning & a half, Australia and Cuba combined for nine baserunners, including six from the Green & Gold, but only three runs crossed the plate.

Australia jumped 19-year-old Cuban starter Dario Sarduy. Aaron Whitefield, Robbie Glendinning, Rixon Wingrove and Darryl George all recorded singles – the latter two RBIs – to give the Aussies an early 2-0 advantage.

Sarduy was pulled in favour of Andy Vargas after just two outs.

Australia loaded the bases with two outs in the second, but left them loaded.

Cuba recorded three straight hits to start the game off starter Tim Atherton. One of those hits scored a run. 2-1.

But Atherton held firm. He struck out global baseball’s all-time homer king in Alfredo Despaigne and forced an inning-ending double play ball to Ariel Martinez to end the inning.

Longtime national team slugger Yadir Drake belted a three run homer in the third inning to put Cuba up 4-2. 

Australia was mostly neutralised until the fifth inning when Robbie Glendinning set a solo shot over the left-field wall. 4-3.

Australia was able to hold themselves in it thanks to some fine work by the bullpen.

Luke Wilkins (below)  tossed 2.0 innings, allowing just two hits. Steve Kent followed suit, registering two outs in the fifth and sitting down Cuba in order in the sixth.

Australia had a glorious chance in the seventh. Three walks by Cuban pitchers loaded the bases. Alex Hall had a good crack at it, hitting the ball hard, but right at the second baseman.

“He hit it well but it was right at him, that’s how it goes,” said Nilsson.

Cuba kept up their pressure on pitchers Will Sherriff and Josh Guyer. Australian defense held firm. The big moment came in the bottom of the eighth when Josh Guyer connected with catcher Robbie Perkins and second baseman Travis Bazzana on a strike-em-out-throw-em-out.

STRIKE HIM OUT THROW HIM OUT 🎯

📹: @WBSC #Premier12 pic.twitter.com/PysNF7wINK

— Team Australia ⚾️ (@TeamAusBaseball) November 16, 2024

But, closing pitcher Radiel Martinez closed the door.

Australia used six pitchers in the loss. They’ve now used 18 pitchers in the tournament.

“It’s a match-up thing, and just the way the game has gone,” said Nilsson.

Australian pitching took a no-hitter deep into the eighth inning, Robbie Perkins drove in four runs and the Aussies left Tianmu Stadium with a 5-0 win over the Dominican Republic.

It’s the first win of the tournament for Australia, who even their record up at 1-1. Dominican Republic falls to 1-2.
It was a full team effort. Six different Aussies collected hits, including two from Robbie Perkins, Alex Hall, and Darryl George.

Six different pitchers stifled the Dominican Republic bats.

But this game has Robbie Perkins paw prints all over it. The longtime catcher was productive, to say the least.

Manager Dave Nilsson called it the ‘height of a performance.’

He opened the Australian scoring in the third inning with a two-run homer to deep centre field. Alex Hall helped set it up with a triple.

 

He cashed in Darryl George with an RBI single in the fourth inning to push the lead to 3-0.

His sacrifice fly in the sixth gave the Aussies a 4-0 advantage. The sox score could have read: Robbie Perkins 4, Dominican Republic 0.

“I don’t think you’re going to get a bigger contribution than what Robbie did today. He really assisted with Saupold in those first three innings, so that is the height of a performance when it comes to someone,” says manager Dave Nilsson.

All up, Perkins went 2-for-3 with a homer and three RBI.

But what he did behind the plate was even more special. Australia took a no-hitter into the eighth inning off the back of five different arms.

“My job was easy today,” laughed Perkins after the game. “Warwick came out pounding the zone and everyone followed suit.”

Warwick Saupold opened the game with three excellent innings, allowing just a walk. Sam Holland was perfect in his two innings.

“Warwick just through strikes. We needed to be crisp and clean and Warwick did that right away and put us on the front foot,” says Nilsson.

It wasn’t without its troubles. Luke Wilkins walked a pair of batters to start the sixth inning.

Enter Coen Wynne. The Sydney-sider struck out Michael De Leon and then forced former MLB third-baseman Kelvin Gutierrez into an inning ending double play.

Swaggy.

“Pure adrenaline. Pure passion. Pure energy for the boys. I just wanted to put my best effort forward to keep the boys in the game and get us back in the dugout,” he says. “I tried not to think too much. The situation is the situation. You have to control what you can control. I back myself to get anybody out.”

Wynne tossed a perfect seventh inning with two punch outs, finishing with a line that read: 2.0 innings, 3 strikeouts, no runs, no hits and a massive double play.

Jon Kennedy conceded the first hit of the ball-game in the eighth. The next batter? Double play.

Dan McGrath closed it out in a 1-2-3 inning.

“I think we’re at our best when we are having fun by doing it for each other, but it’s so much more stress free when the pitchers do their job like that as well.”

Tim Kennelly helped add insurance with a seventh inning RBI-single.

The win moves the Aussies to a promising position.

But Perkins says it’s a business-like approach for the squad ahead of their 12:00PM clash with Cuba tomorrow.

“We’re happy with the win. You’ll take a moment to appreciate it but there’s a game tomorrow and we’ll get right back at it,” he says.

For the full box score, click here.

POOL B STANDINGS

For full tournament standings, visit www.wbsc.org.

1. Chinese Taipei 2-0
2. Japan 1-0
—-
3. Australia 1-1
4. Korea 1-1
5. Dominican Republic 1-2
6. Cuba 0-2

Upcoming Australia schedule:
– Saturday 16 November vs Cuba @ 12:00PM local / 3:00PM AEDT
– Sunday 17 November vs Chinese Taipei @ 6:30PM local / 9:30PM AEDT
– Monday 18 November vs Korea @ 12:00PM local / 3:00PM AEDT

More Stories

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Head to our Premier12 hub for more stories and information: www.baseball.com.au/premier12

But, it would be worth your while to check out our mini documentary series from this tournament & training camp. It’s called ‘Out of Left Field: The Story of Australia’s Best Kept Sporting Secret’

All episodes can be found here: www.baseball.com.au/documentary.

The latest episode can be found below:

 

We are in Asia covering Team Australia in the Premier12. We hope you follow along our journey at www.baseball.com.au/premier12.

We’re taking you behind the scenes with a mini documentary series released every few days. The series is called “Out of Left Field: The Story of Australia’s Sporting Stars”.

Make sure you follow @teamaustraliabaseball on Instagram, @teamausbaseball on X and Team Australia Baseball on Facebook for behind the scenes.

Filmed, produced and edited by Trent Schwarz.

Coordinated by Eric Balnar, Team Australia content & media manager.

Created by Team Australia Media, Trent, Eric & Kaitlin.

recap by Eric Balnar, photos by Scott Powick

You wouldn’t say Team Australia was particularly sharp in their 9-3 Premier12 opening game loss to Japan.

You need to be clean if you have hopes of defeating a world number one team, like reigning Premier12 champions Japan. Especially in their house.

The Japanese line-up took advantage of an Australian team that wasn’t at their best.

Australia’s head coach Dave Nilsson called the day “disappointing.”

Japan piled on early and pulled away late in the Group B clash in Nagoya in front of an enthusiastic and supportive sold out crowd.

Although, Australia did find themselves within a pair of runs in the late stages of the game, thanks to Travis Bazzana’s second hit of the night, and homers to Ulrich Bojarski & Rixon Wingrove.

Japan, though, were persistent and consistent.

All nine batters in Japan’s starting nine reached base. Six of them reached twice. Japan scored in six of their eight offensive innings.

Australia didn’t help themselves.

They made a crucial error, saw wild pitches and were caught out on the base baths.

Japan scored five of their runs in the first four innings, scoring at least once in each frame, to race out to a 5-0 lead.

One of those runs came off a wild pitch, another two of them came off a Robbie Glendinning throwing error.

“I’m disappointed with today,” says Australia’s manager Dave Nilsson. “The moment was maybe a bit too big for the guys early. The first few innings we weren’t really sharp. We let ourselves down with a few errors. When you give a team like that opportunities, it makes it hard.”

For Australia, Travis Bazzana had two hits and a stolen base in his senior team debut.

Rixon Wingrove and Ulrich Bojarski hit home runs in the sixth inning to cut the margin to 5-3. Bojarksi’s was a 452 foot monster shot. Rixon powered his to 436 feet.

At the post-game press conference, Bazzana wasn’t interested in talking much about his two-hit performance.

“It’s a team game,” Bazzana said. “Two hits was good in this environment but it’s disappointing the way we played so it only means so much.”

What does Travis Bazzana do in his first senior men’s national team at-bat?@WBSC @Premier12 @CleGuardians pic.twitter.com/9t2is7jCcJ

— Team Australia ⚾️ (@TeamAusBaseball) November 13, 2024

Bazzana accounted for two of the five hits vs 21-year-old Japanese starter Haruto Inoue.

The Tokyo Giants pitcher, who had a 2.76 ERA in the NPB this season, tossed 5.0 innings with eight strikeouts, five hits, no walks and two runs.

Australia provided a glimmer of home in the sixth. To their credit, they worked themselves right back in the ballgame to give themselves a chance.

Ulrich Bojarski led off the inning with a solo shot off Inoue. Rixon Wingrove put an exclamation mark on it with a two-run homer of his own of their first relief pitcher.

“We did show a bit of fight and did some good things. And we can build on that in Taiwan,” says Nilsson. “[That] was encouraging. Some good swings of the bat. It was a tough night. We will get back after it.”

Japan’s relentless batting was led by Hanshin Tigers superstar Shota Morishita who had three hits and two RBI.

Japan, laced with a team of NPB All-Stars, also benefitted from multi-hit contributions from Kaito Kozono, Ryoya Kuhihara, Shugo Maki and Shoji Sakakura.

Those collection of stars helped blow the game open late.

The crowd was whipped into a frenzy most of the night. They were singing, chanting and cheering their Japanese heroes with vigour.

Japan scored one run in the seventh and pulled away with a crooked eighth inning, scoring three runs.

9-3 is your final score from Nagoya.

Of note, Australia used 12 pitchers in the game: Lewis Thorpe (below), Sam Holland, Blake Townsend, Mitch Neunborn, Jon Kennedy, Todd Van Steensel, Tim Atherton, Coen Wynne, Dan McGrath, Will Sherriff, Josh Guyer and Steve Kent.

“I wanted to make sure our pitching staff was ready for the rest of the tournament. We need to make sure we are set up for the next four games and I can understand who they are a bit better,” Nilsson said.

Australia continues their tournament in Taiwan on Friday night when they’ll face the Dominican Republic. 

They’ll use Thursday as a travel day.

Nilsson isn’t panicking.

“Losing one game doesn’t derail us or take us off course. We know every team will probably have some losses along the way,” says Nilsson. “It’s about being able to bounce back and stay on target and that’s what we’ll do.”

For Bazzana and the players, it’s time to regroup.

“I think we need to learn what we did poorly tonight, but not take it into the next game,” he says. “Play with confidence. Trust the players next to us. But we have to play with confidence and not let this game lower our expectations of winning. Refresh, learn from mistakes, but play with great confidence.”

You can find the schedule at www.baseball.com.au/premier12 

You can view the Box Score here. 

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW – GAME UPDATES AS IT HAPPENED

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– Travis Bazzana led off the game with a full-count single to open his account as a senior men’s team player

– A persistent Japanese batting line-up scored one run in each of the first three innings. By the end of the third, seven Japanese batters had already reached. Kaito Kozono and Ryosuke Tatsumi had RBI. One of those runs was on a wild pitch.

– A throwing error by Robbie Glendinning allowed two more runs to score in the fourth. 5-0 Japan.

– Australia managed just two hits in the first four inning.

– 21-year-old starter Haruto Inoue has tossed 5.0 innings, allowing just three hits & no walks with eight strikeouts. Inoue had a 2.76 ERA in 101.1 innings for Tokyo Giants in his first full NPB season.

Robbie 🤝 Robbie @WBSC @Premier12 pic.twitter.com/F3tXg10v9j

— Team Australia ⚾️ (@TeamAusBaseball) November 13, 2024

– Australian pitching coach Jim Bennett told us before the game that every pitcher’s job was to ‘be ready’. True to his word, he used a lot of pitchers. Through six innings, Australia used seven arms: Lewis Thorpe, Sam Holland, Blake Townsend, Mitch Neunborn, Jon Kennedy, Todd Van Steensel & Tim Atherton

– New life in the sixth! Great fight! Ulrich Bojarski and Rixon Wingrove each hit a homer and Australia is now just down 5-3!

BRAND. NEW. BALLGAME. RIXON WINGROVE TO DEEP CENTREFIELD!!!!!@WBSC @Premier12 pic.twitter.com/J0CWsej6Sv

— Team Australia ⚾️ (@TeamAusBaseball) November 13, 2024

– Japan has started to pull away. They score one in the seventh and seemingly blow it out in the eighth with another three runs.

– Turns out, Australia used twelve of their fourteen pitchers. The only arms who haven’t thrown today are Luke Wilkins and Warwick Saupold.

– We have a final score in Nagoya. On to Taiwan.

BROADCAST / COVERAGE DETAILS

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In Australia, you can watch on either WBSC’s streaming platform Gametime.Sport or through DAZN.

We recommend following @TeamAusBaseball on X for updates. Our Instagram and Facebook Pages will have updates, too.

We will post a post-game recap with highlight links where we can, and send a press-release to our national database.

LINE-UP

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USEFUL LINKS & STORIES

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Let’s gear you up.

We’ve been working with Trent Schwarz to produce some behind the scenes stories and videos.

Here is Episode 1 & 2 of ‘Out of Left Field: The Story of Australia’s Best Kept Sporting Secret’:

And one from Todd Van Steensel. Get your tissues ready.

T̶e̶l̶l̶ t̶h̶e̶m̶ Show them what it means, Todd 🥹 Want to know what it means to be an Australian baseball player? ⬇️ @WBSC @Premier12 @WBCBaseball @toddvs35 #Premier12 #Baseball pic.twitter.com/4b3ApURBnq

— Team Australia ⚾️ (@TeamAusBaseball) November 9, 2024

Other stories

Great news! Fox Sports wrote a huge feature: –  “Like Nothing I’ve ever Seen”: How these Australian baseballers become sporting royalty in Japan

Here is a story on Austrlalia’s pitching strategy: “Be Ready” | Behind the role & mentality of every Team Australia pitcher at the Premier12

And here’s a heartfelt one on Mitch Neunborn: “For Mum” | The story of the remarkably brilliant Mitch Neunborn

Here is a pre-game press-conference transcript: Transcript of Pre-tournament Press Conference featuring Dave Nilsson, Tim Kennelly, Shusei Togo and Ibata

Story on Lewis Thorpe, our starting pitcher: ‘Friendship, Fatherhood & Finding Joy | The story of Australia’s major league rookie Lewis Thorpe’ at baseball.com.au.

In fact, you can find all our stories we’ve written at www.baseball.com.au/premier12.

This story is written by Eric Balnar, with photos from Scott Powick. We are filing daily stories from Australia’s ten-day training camp in Fuchu, Japan as they prepare to play in the Premier12. For more stories, visit www.baseball.com.au/premier12. You can watch the tournament in Australia on WBSC streaming platform Gametime.Sport. 

We’ve been greeted by a media frenzy ahead of our first Premier12 game vs Japan.

At 9:00PM AEDT on November 13, live from the Nagoya Dome, we’ll play the World #1. There will be a sold out stadium and a Japanese TV audience of over 25 million people.

You can watch the games in Australia on Gametime.Sport or through the app ‘DAZN’.

Here is the transcript from the pre-tournament press-conference featuring Team Australia manager Dave Nilsson, team captain Tim Kennelly, Japan manager Ibata and Japanese pitcher Shosei Togo.

 

Here is the transcript from the Press Conference

 TV Tokyo

How do you feel about the team’s situation and the players’ movements as you approach tomorrow’s first game?

Manager Ibata: I haven’t seen today’s practice yet, but we’ve had a training camp in Miyazaki and Nagoya for about two weeks. I think the players have been able to regain their game sense. The pitchers have also had good adjustments by pitching to the batters. I feel that we’ve made steady progress as we prepare for the actual games.

Manager Nilsson: I think both teams are going to be very excited for tomorrow night. We’ve known for a long time that this game is coming in for both teams, that we’ve been preparing for two weeks. I expect to be a very clean game with a good pitching and solid defense in a very good facility, great place to play. I think you’re going to see a very good game tomorrow night from two very well prepared teams.

TV Tokyo

What is your impression of the opposing team, and which players do you think should be particularly watched out for?

Manager Nilsson: I think it’s always a privilege and an honor to play against Team Japan. And I think one of the strengths of their team is that every player is very well prepared, and they play together very well as a team. So from our point of view, we don’t isolate any player, we don’t prepare for just one player, we prepare for the whole team, and we expect them to perform together as a group, very Good tomorrow.

Manager Ibata: I feel the same way. Baseball is not something you do alone; it’s a team sport, so I think they’re a well-balanced team overall. They have batters who can hit home runs, and I’m sure they also have players who can use their speed effectively. Year by year, Australia has been getting stronger, so I hope we can have a good game tomorrow.

TV Tokyo

Once again, who will be the starting pitcher?

Manager Ibata: I’m planning to go with Haruto Inoue as the starting pitcher tomorrow. He’s 21 years old, the youngest player, but I want him to bring out that youthfulness. I hope he can pitch with the same power and momentum he’s shown in the regular season, just like he would in the postseason.

Manager Nilsson: Starting pitcher for Team Australia tomorrow will be Lewis Thorpe. He played the big leagues before, and spent a lot of this year in Mexico. And I think he’ll match up very well with Japanese hitters.

TV Tokyo

What is your goal for this tournament, and what are your thoughts as you head into the opening game?

Manager Ibata: Our ultimate goal is to win the championship. Above all, I want us to fight in every game with that goal in mind. I know each game will be tough, but I hope we can give our all in every match, focusing on one game at a time.

Manager Nilsson: Our goal is to play good baseball every day, and that means our focus is on tomorrow, winning tomorrow’s game. And then getting through to the Super Round in Tokyo and playing baseball there.

TV Tokyo

(To the players) How is the players’ physical condition after finishing the season?

Togo: My condition is really good. Although I only had a little over a week of rest after the CS (Climax Series), we spent about two weeks in Miyazaki, where we had a lot of discussions and exchanges of opinions with the other players. I’m really excited to get back on the field and play as soon as possible.

Kennelly: Conditions are great and I feel fresh. Team Australia had a training camp in Japan in Fuchu city and came up with a long off season, so there’s no excuses to not feel good, bodies feeling fresh. Speaking to a lot of the other players, everyone says ready to go.

TV Tokyo

How would you like to contribute for the team in this tournament?

Kennedy: We got nine hitters that are going to take the field tomorrow night, so everyone’s role is going to be trying to do whatever they can, each out back to get on base or trying to conduct him back to the driving runs or move runners over. We know we’re up against a very good pitching staff in the Japanese pitchers, we’re going to be really well prepared. So I think we have a good plan, as long as we stick to that plan, our goal is to score as many runs.

Togo: This will be my first time starting, so the most important thing is to meet everyone’s expectations. More than anything, we’re aiming for a consecutive championship, so I want to do my part to contribute to that. I want to show the best of Japan as a united team.

Daily Sports

Regarding tomorrow’s lineup, in the first game against the Czech Republic, Maki played in the heart of the lineup, and in the second game, Morishita was the main batter. How do you plan to set up the lineup for tomorrow’s opening game?

Ibata: It’s not decided yet. I’d like to think about it until around this time tomorrow (press conference took place around 4 PM).

Kyodo News

Travis Bazzana is already well-known in Japan due to the MLB draft. What kind of player is he for the Australian national team?

Nilsson: Travis is a young player, very young and still learning the game of baseball. So I’m hoping he gets to gain a lot of experience from being around the older guys on the team. And I just, I just want to encourage him through this. I’m not expecting anything from Travis right now. He’s very talented and obviously the very number one pick in the Major League draft, so I think that speaks to the talent and how people view him, but on the international stage and tournaments like this, this is new to him, and he’ll be leaning on our players for guys.

Samurai Japan Official Website: I heard that you had a training camp in Fuchu City and had some interactions with the local citizens. What kind of experience was that?

Nilsson: Fuchu city has been very big to us and allowed us to train there, and we’ve really come to enjoy it, and the people of Fuchu have been very kind to us, and our players really enjoy the hospitality. So it worked out very well. It’s a great opportunity for our players to show appreciation and do clinics for local children and visit high schools and to show our appreciation and the Mayor Takano for Fuchu has done a wonderful job of preparing the field, and hopefully we’ll continue to go there in the future.

Chunichi Shimbun

Both managers have a deep connection to Nagoya Dome, having played there during their careers. With the support of the fans, how do you feel about the fact that the tournament begins here in Nagoya?

Nilsson: Mr. Ibata knows a lot more about Nagoya than I do. I didn’t get to play many games here unfortunately. We were on the same team together in 2000 and even though they were very good career in Japan. So I think we both know a lot about the time, and our teams are very excited to be playing here.

Ibata: My professional baseball career started when I was used as a pinch runner and defensive replacement for Dingo (nickname for David Nilsson as a player). A player who had been active in Major League Baseball came to the team, and that allowed me to get my career started. I feel a strong sense of fate in being able to start this Premier12 tournament in this way, from the very first game. I believe that my role as manager now is because Dingo came to Japan, so I’m filled with a deep sense of gratitude. I will give my all tomorrow, just as I always do.

This story is written by Eric Balnar, with photos from Scott Powick. We are filing daily stories from Australia’s ten-day training camp in Fuchu, Japan as they prepare to play in the Premier12. For more stories, visit www.baseball.com.au/premier12. You can watch the tournament in Australia on WBSC streaming platform Gametime.Sport. 

Local Japanese TV broadcasters and writers for the Premier12 have been asking me one particular question a lot over the past week.

Who will be Australia’s starting pitcher when they take the field vs World #1 Japan in Nagoya at one of the biggest international baseball tournaments?

There are fourteen pitchers listed on Team Australia’s roster. Any one of them could be. It makes Australia difficult team to prepare for.

Pitchers will tell you first hand there is no pre-defined roles, although an update to this story – we know who will open the game vs Japan (more on that at the bottom).

One thing is for sure – whoever’s name is called, they’ll be ready.

“This is not a pro ball season. This is a tournament,” says Jim Bennett, Australia’s pitching coach.  “If you ask any of [our pitchers] what their roles are, they’ll say: ‘To Be Ready’.”

“That’s a tough role but they don’t look at it that way. They look at it as that’s the way we are going to win so that’s what we’re going to do. Just be ready.”

Above: Jim Bennett at Nagoya Dome training. Photo: Scott Powick.

I put that mentality to the test.

Hey, right-handed pitcher Josh Guyer, do you know your role for the Premier12?

“I guess the short answer is no, but the long answer is yes. Absolutely we do know,” he says. “In a tournament like this it’s all hands on deck. Someone will get a tap on the shoulder and start the game. That could mean two outs. That could mean seven innings. But, everybody is ready from pitch one. Our job is to go out there and win each pitch. That will lead success for us.

Thoughts, lefty pro-ball pitcher Blake Townsend?

“The biggest thing for these tournaments is to be ready. Everybody is going to be relied upon. Be available. One out, three innings, just be ready,” he says.

How about 27-year-old former MLB pitcher Lewis Thorpe, making his senior Team Australia debut after starting an entire season of top-tier Mexican League Baseball in 2024.

“Go out there. Compete. Get outs,” says Thorpe. “It doesn’t matter when. Whatever they want me to do, whenever they want me to do, give me the ball and I’ll do it.”

A veteran pitcher like Jon Kennedy (below), who has pitched in two World Baseball Classics and a Premier12 must have his role carved out, right?

“We don’t have [typical] roles. My job as a pitcher here is to be ready. We’re available first pitch to last pitch. Whenever we’re called upon we’ll be out there to do our best,” he says.

MORE: Go behind the scenes of Team Australia at our Premier12 Hub – Stories, Roster, Broadcast Details and more. 

Sam Holland has served a number of roles in the Green & Gold. At the World Baseball Classic, he came into the game as a reliever. Australia had a one run lead in the eighth inning vs Korea. The bases were loaded.

He delivered an epic strikeout to get Australia out of a jam as a reliever in what became an iconic moment of the game.

At the 2023 Asia Professional Baseball Championship, Sam Holland started a game, working four innings.

“I have no preference. I love them all,” says Holland. “Just have to be ready at all times. From the first pitch of the first inning it’s an all hands on deck mentality to get the job down.”

I think you get it.

Guyer is another glowing example of versatility. At the WBC he was entrusted with the final three outs of Australia’s biggest game. He got the job done.

Three days later, he pitched in a middle inning.

“It’s one of those things where we are not defined by your standard typical roles – starter, middle relief, set-up, closer, long relief, whatever – the biggest inning of the game could be third inning. Or maybe it’s the seventh or ninth or first,” he says. “We don’t know. Dave Nilsson and Jim Bennett do a good job of reading the situation and figuring out what guy is ready for each inning.”

“Everybody is ready to fight for whatever out they can get.”

FUCHU PREPARATION

Team Australia is now in Nagoya, completing their second on-field training at the famous Ventalin Dome.

Their first task is against World #1 Japan who quite literally owns the trophy of every major international tournament at every level.

To help them prepare, Australia assembled in Fuchu City for a 10-day training camp.

Everybody pitched across their five games vs Industrial League Japanese teams. They also worked out, running defensive plays and pitching bullpens.

Bennett says he was just hoping to see everybody build up to their best.

“The first thing I’m looking to make sure is if everybody is in the position to be at their best, whatever that means to the individual, because everybody brings something to the table,” says Bennett.

Bennett says the preparation is individualised. Some pitchers are coming off pro-ball seasons, others are building back up after last pitching in the Hanhwa Series in February, 2024.

“I think we’re in a good spot,” says Bennett. “The Fuchu camp showed me that people put in the work.”

The secret to it all though, according to Bennett, is communication.

This extends beyond the pitchers but also to the catcher who are tasked with managing the staff, personality and moments.

Dave Nilsson, Australia’s head coach & most prolific catcher, says this is one of the reasons the Fuchu is so important.

“It’s all in the preparation. At Fuchu a big focal point for the catchers is spending that one-on-one time. At the hotel, at the field, in bullpen, when you’re catching each other. When you get in the game, hopefully it’s a smooth transition. That’s a big thing in Fuchu.

He says simplifying things is key.

“You just have to trust that you prepared the right why. It can be hard catching a lot of guys, but you just have to trust you have the ability or you have all sorts of demons in your head. You have to move past it and just be in the moment,” he says.

A DAUNTING ENVIRONMENT

What’s tough to prepare for, however, is the environment Australia is about to enter. Just look at the atmosphere below.

Being in the moment, staying present, is a key to success.

We love the passion of Japanese fans 💚

This is the atmosphere from the last time we played in Japan at the APBC 🇯🇵

We are very appreciative of the opportunity to play in this type of environment at the @Premier12

🎥: via @TSUBA_ch2020 account (a great feed)

Follow us! pic.twitter.com/bXp1Kk2O94

— Team Australia ⚾️ (@TeamAusBaseball) October 26, 2024

There will be 25 million Japanese diehard baseball fans watching on TV. The Ventalin Dome seats 40,000 people. It will be at capacity.

When Japan is up to bat, Australian pitchers will be greeted with loud ‘fight songs’ for each of the players.

It’s a different animal for any human tasked with getting a big out.

“Yeah, you can feel [the noise],” says Kennedy. “It can overwhelm you to the point you can’t hear your own internal dialogue. Make sure you’re aware that can happen because if it catches you off guard you’re in trouble.”

Kennedy says it’s about building an awareness to what is coming so it doesn’t catch you off guard. That’s what he says he is trying to share with the younger players.

“It’s about keeping them in the moment and handling big situations when they arise,” says Kennedy. “I struggled with that when I was young and leant on senior guys when I was coming up. The game can speed up on you, you move away from your game plan and strengths and can let the other team dictate the pace.”

Blake Townsend (below) is a 23-year-old pitcher entering his second major senior tournament with Team Australia.

He says there are huge takeaways from the last World Baseball Classic (WBC).

“I definitely want to come in the dome in a different approach. At the WBC, I wasn’t really in the moment. I don’t know if you could call it overwhelmed, but I think I’ve learned more about myself, which pitches I can throw, and what I can do to put a guy away. That’s been super beneficial,” says Townsend.

For Sam Holland, it’s all about embracing your surroundings.

“The adrenaline is going and you enjoy the moment,” says Holland. “Bases loaded with two outs in the eighth inning and you get that out? It’s a big momentum swing and an awesome feeling.”

EMBRACING THE TEAM

There’s a genuine belief among the Aussie pitching staff that the power of the collective can navigate them through a tournament.

“It’s no secret we [used] a lot of pitchers in at the World Baseball Classic,” says Bennett. “But we had success because guys were ready, they worked hard to be ready, and they were ready.”

There’s also the pride of playing for Team Australia.

“It’s easy to get caught up in the daily lifestyle of the minor leagues,” says Townsend, who pitched for both the Mariners and the Pirates in the minor leagues.

“Here [with Team Australia] you just have to win every day. You play more for yourself in the minor leagues. Here we just need a win. We don’t care who is out there at the time. Every guy is the best guy in every opportunity,” he says.

—

Team Australia plays Samurai Japan at 9:00PM AEDT (7:00PM in Nagoya). Fans in Australia can watch via the WBSC streaming service Gametime.Sport.

For more stories, articles and news about Australia at the Premier12, visit www.baseball.com.au/premier12.

GAME 1 STARTER – LEWIS THORPE

We wrote about Lewis Thorpe earlier in the week.

He is one of 38 Australians to ever play Major League Baseball. But, this is the first time he’s pitched for a senior men’s Australian team.

Thorpe took a short break from baseball to clear his head and recover his body. He’s returned refresh, hungry and motivated.

“It means everything to me,” says Thorpe. “This is what it’s all about. I want to put this team in a good position to win this ballgame”

I encourage you to read the story ‘Friendship, Fatherhood and Finding Joy | The story of Australian starting pitcher Lewis Thorpe’

 

 

This story is written by Eric Balnar, with photos from Scott Powick. We are filing daily stories from Australia’s ten-day training camp in Fuchu, Japan as they prepare to play in the Premier12. For more stories, visit www.baseball.com.au/premier12. You can watch the tournament in Australia on WBSC streaming platform Gametime.Sport. 

Mitch Neunborn kisses a pendant attached to his necklace every time he takes the mound.

It belonged to his mum, Lynda Neunborn. It serves as a reminder of why he plays the game.

She passed away in May 2023 after a year-long battle with cancer. Mitch was just 25.

When it happened, Mitch was overseas.

After years of grinding in an unforgiving baseball world, through two major surgeries and working multiple jobs at once, Mitch finally had his baseball dream come true. He had just signed his first professional baseball contract in April 2023.

“A lifelong dream,” he calls it.

Mitch delayed the start of his professional career to stay with his mum while she was in hospice before heading to America at the beginning of May.

“That was the hardest decision I’ve ever made in my life. I still struggle with it today,” he says.

“But she was the drive and the motivation behind it. She told me to go. She knows my ups and downs. She knows my surgeries and Tommy Johns and the adversity I have been through. To her, it was a no-brainer.”

“She made me chase the dream, just like she always has,” he adds. “She knows my story.”

It’s redefined his ‘why’ he plays the game.

“It’s me trying to keep her proud and trying to keep the legacy of what she’s sacrificed to play the game I love. She was a massive factor in me travelling and to be able to play on this team. She was very supportive. It’s given me an extra push to never give up and keep going with the sport,” he says.

That legacy will be preserved when Mitch pitches for his country as soon as Wednesday night vs Japan at the Premier12 in front of 40,000+ people. 

So in honour of Mitch and his Mum. This is a story of his baseball journey, injury, adversity, and a mother who wouldn’t let her son give up on his dream.

“A story of resilience personified,” one coach called it.

PROMISING AUSSIE TWO-WAY PROSPECT, OVERCOMING INJURY

Neunborn was always a highly-talented junior baseball player. He started at Melville Braves and stayed there for his entire Western Australian club ball career.

He not only would command the middle infield, but he had a handy bat and could pitch with prowess from the mound.

Growing up in the Perth system, Neunborn starred for junior and WA state teams.

“I played a lot of sports and my parents were great,” he says. “I was from a split household, but no matter who it was, mum or dad, they would make sure I was able to get to the [sports] I wanted to do.”

He was recognised early by Australian selectors. At just 19-years-old, he was selected to play for Australia at the U23 World Cup. He pitched and hit, and Australia won silver – their best ever showing at that particular event.

With the power of his parents and community, Mitch took his dream overseas. 

He committed to Northern Iowa Community College – a junior college – in the United States.

In his injury plagued career which lasted just one season, he posted a 3.18 ERA while slashing .331/.435/.665 at the plate. He led the team in homers.

“I was able to do a lot of trips to the states and even go to college,” says Neunborn. “It’s all through them, through mum and dad. I was obviously not able to pay for all that. They sacrificed all their time & money to reach their goal.”

Despite his college success, Neunborn never had a chance to fully explore professional chances in front of scouts. Injuries had a lot to do with it.

His list of injuries seems unbelievable itself.

In 2016, he tore his UCL (elbow) two months into his freshman year.

In 2017, he had his first Tommy John Surgery. It’s an injury which takes about a year to recover from.

Nine months later he had an MRI and the graft failed.

“There was a less than one percent chance of something like that happening,” says Neunborn. “Somehow my body basically ate the graft.”

He had a second Tommy John surgery in 2018.

When he was healthy, he debuted for the Perth Heat in the Australian Baseball League in the last half of the 2019-20 season.

He signed with Adelaide Giants the following season.

“When he came to us we had glowing recommendations of him as a player and a person,” says Team Australia hitting coach Chris Adamson, who manages Neunborn both with the Adelaide Giants and in the Phillies’ minor leagues.

“The whole story of Mitch is just resilience personified,” he adds.

In a COVID-shortened 2020-21 ABL campaign, Neunborn became the ace of the Giants’ staff, winning the league’s Rookie of the Year award.

“I think it’s the ‘when’ these injuries that make it amazing,” says Adamson. “All these injuries happened before he signed in pro ball. Most people in his situation have already started. He had to show resilience. It would have been easy just to say no, and go play amateur. He could have just said pro ball is not for me. It would have been understandable. To push through all that before he got a crack? It’s wild.”

Then, the world shut down and the next obstacle reared its head.

There was no Australian Baseball League and professional competition for Mitch to play in between February 2021 and November 2022.

AN UNBELIEVABLE YEAR FULL OF HIGHS AND LOWS

Not many people can say they’ve experienced the sort of whirlwind year Neunborn had between June 2022 and June 2023.

In a twelve month stretch, the Aussie arm went from working two ‘regular’ jobs to winning a Claxton Shield, signing his first professional baseball contract, and making his senior team tournament debut at the World Baseball Classic.

Let’s start in June, 2022. He worked two jobs – as plumber’s assistant and in disability support.

“But I was always a baseball player,” laughs Mitch. “In all my spare time I was at the field, working, training, still believing. That never went away.”

It was also around the time he found out his Mum was sick. Things moved fast.

While his mother was struggling with a health battle, Mitch’s career took off.

To make things tricky, Neunborn was playing interstate in Adelaide for the Giants.

He dazzled that ABL season. He delivered a 2.25 ERA in 28.0 innings with a strikeout per nine innings ratio of 11.9.

“The biggest thing for me was outing to outing the self belief we saw grow over time. You could see he just started to know he belonged,” he says. “To see that was really special to witness.”

Neunborn was the Giants’ high-leverage guy, often used in the biggest of situations in 2022-23. He played his part in helping the Giants break a 43-year championship drought for South Australia in the ABL.

Neunborn only allowed six hits after December 1. He faced 68 batters.

That’s the kind of stuff that gets you signed.

In club land, Neunborn played second base and was the West Torrens Eagles go-to pitcher as they won two straight titles.

A dream of almost any Australian baseballer is to play for your country. Mitch parlayed his strong ABL season into the call of his life – to pitch for your country at the game’s biggest international tournament.

Neunborn pitched key innings in Australia’s win over Korea and the quarterfinal clincher vs Czechia.

Team Australia pitching coach Jim Bennett says he loved what he saw.

“When I see that change-up, I go wow this is a big league change up, that’s a plus-plus pitch” says Bennett. “Then you see his fastball at the WBC, he just has such a good mix. He has an ability to locate his pitch.”

But Bennett says what drew him to Neunborn was his attitude.

“He’s a competitor. He will do whatever it takes for the green & gold,” he says.

For Neunborn, it meant everything.

“It was complete justification for everything I was doing. Both for me, but also for the people who have supported me,” he says.

While his dad and step-mom were able to travel to Tokyo, his mum watched from a hospital bed in Perth.

“It was justification for the sacrifices my parents had,” he says.

It’s hard to miss Mitch’s dad, Peter. He is boisterous, positive and wears a trademark fighting kangaroo outfit.

Mitch says he feels the love and support from his dad wherever he goes, too.

“The similarities between Mitch and his family, with setbacks, injuries and disappointments, just to see his ability to find that inner resiliency and keep chasing that dream is pretty wild,” he says. “Not a lot of people can say the same.”

FOR MUM

Since signing with the Phillies, Mitch has seen success in the USA.

In his first year of professional minor league baseball, Neunborn had a 3.38 ERA in 42.2 innings for the Jersey Shore Blue Claws (High-A).

His stuff was promising enough to be assigned to the Arizona Fall League, an October competition reserved for only the best prospects in baseball.

After a slow start in the 2024 season, Neunborn found his form. His 2.39 ERA in High-A was one of the best in the league. He ended the season in Double-A, a competition reserved for promising young players tipped to one day make the Majors. He’s quite literally knocking on the door of a Major League dream.

Mitch Neunborn tossed a gem in tonight’s 3-1 win over Harrisburg!https://t.co/RGscjsIypz

— Reading Fightin Phils (@ReadingFightins) September 13, 2024

He’ll pitch for the Adelaide Giants in the ABL when the Premier12 comes to an end.

Mitch says no matter what uniform he is wearing, he can feel his mum wherever he goes. Although, it’s hard to look into the stands and notice an absence.

“I know exactly where she would [usually] sit at my games. I know exactly where she would sit if she was here,” he says. “It’s always on your mind. I’m always looking at those spots knowing she’s not there but that she’s still watching.”

Mitch’s dad will make the trip over to Japan and Taiwan to cheer Mitch on. He says that support means the world to him.

 But still, he misses mum.

He says he feels grateful for all his parents helped him become.

“Without them I would never have been a professional athlete. Those building blocks I never had an understanding to grasp what was important. When you lose someone like that, it’s super hard to compartmentalise everything. She was the building blocks of everything I have done.”

When you see Mitch pitching for Australia vs some of the best players in the world this year, know his mum with him.

Whether it’s with the Adelaide Giants, the Reading Fightin’ Phils, or for his country, his mum is on the mound too.

“They, my parents, made life easy when it wasn’t. I’m grateful for that.”

They’re some of Australia’s most popular sports stars. It’s just that most of Australia doesn’t know about them.

When Australia plays their Premier12 opener vs Japan in Nagoya on Wednesday, local TV stations are expecting the Japanese TV audience to exceed 25 million. The national TV audience of the 2024 AFL Grand Final was 4.09 million.

Over five times the number of people will watch the likes of Whitefield, Bazzana and Glendinning wear the green & gold than Daniher, Neale and Cameron on the Brisbane Lions.

If you took the NRL Grand Final audience (3.42 million) and doubled it, you’d still be 10 million shy.

Baseball isn’t just big in Japan. It is a lifestyle.

Every day in Fuchu, players are greeted by national media members, daily stories, viral videos and fans hunting for autographs. Keen fans wait outside the baseball field or hotel every day to grab a signature from their favourite players.

In the last week, Team Australia’s X account has surpassed 6 million impressions, 98% of the audience coming from Japan.

私たちの日本語を評価してください 😆 🇯🇵

Please rate our Japanese 🇯🇵 pic.twitter.com/BEQg6JCePI

— Team Australia ⚾️ (@TeamAusBaseball) November 7, 2024

They are captivated by the team’s genuine and heartfelt attitude towards the game.

Just take a look at this tweet about Australian pitcher Steve Kent. He was walking back to the hotel from the field, saw some local kids playing in the street, and decided to join.

The result? A tweet that is about to exceed 3 million views.

豪州代表と近所の公園で野球ができるまち府中🇦🇺⚾️ pic.twitter.com/7WhCG0ckUg

— KuMa🧸 (@KuMaHAO43) November 8, 2024

“This group of kids stops and waves to us everyday on our walk back to the hotel after practice,” Kent tweeted after video. “Seeing the smiles on their faces from just taking two minutes to play with wiffle ball with them was a great reminder of how even small gestures can have a huge impact on people.”

When the team arrives in Nagoya on Monday, they will be greeted by a long list of media requests, and attend scrums with 50+ reporters in the room.

It’s hard to keep track of all the media attention so I am going to try to put it in one place.

Scroll down and have some fun reading. I’ll update as we go. This first update comes at 12:00PM AEDT, Sydney time on Sunday 10 November.

BASEBALL AUSTRALIA MEDIA

---

First, some shameless self promotion. I (Eric Balnar) am in Fuchu writing daily about Team Australia to try to keep fans at home up-to-date and to engage with the Japanese public. Joining me is longtime Team Australia photographer extraordinaire Scott Powick and exceptional videographer Trent Schwarz.

I encourage you to follow us on X, Instagram and Facebook. There are daily photos, written stories and videos.

You can read all the stories in our Premier12 Hub, as well as grab our schedule: www.baseball.com.au/premier12.

Heartfelt videos like this are being shared. Get your tissues ready.

Galleries from Scott’s lens are regularly posted.

You can see the beautiful imagery below.

Some stories from my end include:

November 12 – “Be Ready” | Behind the role & mentality of every Team Australia pitcher at the Premier12

November 11 – “For Mum” | The story of the remarkably brilliant Mitch Neunborn

November 11 – Travis Bazzana eager to make his senior Team Australia debut (Japan Times)

November 10 – Check out all the media buzz around Australia at the Premier12

November 8 – From Ace to Opposition: U23 Aussie ace Ky Jackson faces senior squad as member of Japanese pro team 

November 6 – It’s a special Spence brothers family reunion at Team Australia training camp

November 4 – Friendship, Fatherhood, Finding Joy | The story of Australia’s Rookie, MLB pitcher Lewis Thorpe

November 3 – Unique Japanese welcome ceremony blows Australian national team away ahead of team’s first practice game

November 2 –  What does Fuchu City, and Team Australia’s training camp, actually look like?

We’re shooting doco style content that will be released. You want to follow us, forsake.

AUSTRALIAN / ENGLISH MEDIA

---

Print: Eight Western Australians make Premier12 Roster

While I do not have links available (will update as we come), we have filed stories for:
– Geelong Advertiser: Spence Brothers Reunite in Tokyo
– MacLeay Argus: Story on Kempsey’s Tim Atherton

Fox Sports: Massive feature on FoxSports.com.au

Newcastle Herald: Batter up: Newcastle slugger to lead Australia’s charge against JapanRixon Wingrove and Team Australia face top-ranked Japan at WBSC Premier12 in Nagoya

WBSC: Australia playing exhibition games against Industrial Team: “We need to face high-quality opponents”

WBSC: Preview: Japan opens WBSC Premier12 2024 against Australia on Wednesday in the Vantelin Dome Nagoya

Japan Times: Fuchu becomes home away from home for Australian national team

Japan Times: Travis Bazzana ready for senior team debut

TV: Travis Bazzana on Fox Sports the Backpage

Radio: Travis Bazzana on the Wide World of Sport (2GB) with Mike Pearsall

Radio: SportFM – Tim Kennelly

Podcast: Will Sherriff joins ‘Tell Him He’s Dreamin’

Radio: Dave Nilsson joins ABC Grandstand Weekend (November 9)

Radio: Regular updates Tuesday / Wednesday with Mike Pearsall on 2GB

Link to come.

Japanese Media

---

This is the big section. Many of these are in Japanese language but click the old translate button in your browser to have a sift through. I’ve (loosely) translated the headlines.

Please note this list isn’t complete. One day we had five reporters at the field interviewing players, and some of it is really hard to find with my limited Japanese.

Japan Times: Fuchu becomes home away from home for Australian national team

Pacific League TV: Interviews with Darryl George and Dave Nilsson 

Yahoo / The Answer: Interview with Darryl George and Opposition Manager after game 

Creative2: Story on Robbie Perkins and Shota Imanaga relationship from Canberra Cavalry

Influencer: Famous Japanese YouTuber makes video of him coming to exhibition game to cheer for Australia.

Animation: With 200,000 views, an animation / cartoon about how Team Australia media gained traction in Japan. It’s a laugh.

The Answer: There are good players all over the world, the wonderful exchange between Team Australia and Working Players

The Answer: Graeme Lloyd, Australia and the last time Australia beat Japan at the 2004 Olympics

The Answer: A story about Tim Kennelly meeting another firefighter in Japan! 

Headline News on Yahoo: Profile on #1 pick Bazzana

Headline News on Yahoo: The heartwarming moment with Australian pitcher Team Australia Steve Kent and Children

Headline News on Yahoo: “The Australian national baseball team is moved to tears by the behavior of the Japanese “It’s the best!” Hats off to junior high school students… Hospitality is “wonderful”

Headline News on Yahoo: A story about Australian players love for local Ramen

Headline News on Yahoo: The Australian national baseball team is impressed by Japan’s welcome. I found it in the cityscape of Fuchu City, “Green and gold are lined up…”:

Headline News on Yahoo: Australian team loves 7-11

CoKara: The Wonderful Australian Display 

BaseballKing: Australia is in Japan

We’ve also been on nightly Japanese news.

Major broadcaster TV Asahi spent two days at training and administered eight interviews with players and coaches they can run throughout the week.

J-Comm, another major outlet, also showed up:

#ジモトピ
府中・小金井・国分寺・武蔵野・三鷹
📢11月9日㊏11時更新

⚾ #野球 の国際大会WBSC #プレミア12 出場の #オーストラリア 代表チームが府中市で事前キャンプ👊歓迎セレモニーや公開練習試合が行われました🔥😀 pic.twitter.com/JDLSTb1oSM

— J:COM｜東京エリア (@jcom_tokyo_area) November 9, 2024

UPCOMING MEDIA IN NAGOYA

This is what we’re about to walk in to…

This story is written by Eric Balnar, with photos from Scott Powick. We are filing daily stories from Australia’s ten-day training camp in Fuchu, Japan as they prepare to play in the Premier12. For more stories, visit www.baseball.com.au/premier12.

Update: Lewis has been named the Game 1 starter. Watch live in Australia at 9:00PM AEDT on Gametime.Sport.

Lewis Thorpe has been where few Australians have before – the Major Leagues.

The 28-year-old is one of 38 Aussies to ever reach the top baseball league in the world, but he has never played on a senior men’s national team.

That’s about to change at the upcoming Premier12. He is Australia’s Major League rookie, so to speak.

Thorpe is at Fuchu training with the rest of his Aussie teammates. He is preparing for Australia’s first game vs Japan in front of a sold-out crowd and a Japanese TV audience of 25 million+.

You can just feel how significant this will be for him.

“[This uniform] means the most,” says Thorpe. “Any time you have the opportunity to wear the green & gold you want to do it. That means the most to me and to everyone at home, to compete with your boys for something bigger than you. It’s a different ball game than anything else.”

This story is written by Eric Balnar, with photos from Scott Powick. We are filing daily stories from Australia’s ten-day training camp in Fuchu, Japan as they prepare to play in the Premier12. For more stories, visit www.baseball.com.au/premier12.

The last time we saw Australian right-handed pitcher Ky Jackson was September, 2024. He was carving up opponents while wearing the Green & Gold at the Under 23 World Cup in China.

In fact, you could make the argument Jackson has been Australia’s U23 ‘Ace’ over the last three years. 

In two World Cups, Jackson has posted a 1.69 ERA across six games and 20.2 innings.

But today, he was his own national program’s opponent.

Ky was playing for his professional team in Japan, but against Australia.

“I’m not gonna lie, I was pretty nervous,” said Jackson. “Nerves, but the excitement part of it wins because I obviously know all the boys. It was weird. Because you never get an opportunity to pitch against Team Australia, I’ve always been with them. It was weird. But exciting.”

Above: Jackson pitching for Australia at the U23 World Cup

Australia is playing a series of five exhibition games against five different Industrial Japanese League opponents as part of their 10-day training camp in Fuchu City.

These teams are effectively baseball playing divisions of companies owned by mega-Japanese companies, featuring a groundswell of young Japanese talent and former NPB professionals.

Jackson, a 23-year-old who was born, raised and developed in the New South Wales baseball system, moved to Japan when he was 18-years-old to pursue his baseball dream.

His mother is Japanese, his father in Australia, so he has a passport.

At 18, Ky moved to Japan to attend university, to play baseball, and to earn sports psychology degree.

Now, Jackson finds himself playing for Nippon Express – today’s Industrial League opponent for Team Australia.

He opened the game, tossing 2.0 innings allowing a couple hits and a run.

Above: Ky Jackson on the mound on Friday for Nippon Express. Photo: Scott Powick.

He says he was maybe more nervous to face his friends than he was to play with them at a World Cup.

“It’s waaaay different nerves,” says Jackson. “But yeah, probably more. It’s just because I know all the boys. This was really fun and probably a one-of-a-kind experience. Bragging rights, you know?”

His Aussie mates were ‘heaps keen’ to face a fellow national team brother.

Solomon Maguire, Rixon Wingrove, Coen Wynne, Alex Hall, Will Sheriff, Blake Townsend & Jarryd Dale were all once U23 World Cup teammates with Jackson, either in 2022 or 2024, in addition to their Aussie domestic exploits.

Now that group is on Australia’s Premier12 roster.

Ky’s first at-bat of the game was against Travis Bazzana – a player he played charter baseball at Ryde with growing up.

“I saw [Travis] before the game and I asked him what pitch he wanted. He said give me a fastball. So, I said ‘you got it’ and I gave him a fastball,” laughs Jackson.

Bazzana ambushed the pitch of the game and found himself on base.

“That’s what he does,” says Jackson.

“Yeah, it was kind of a cheap one,” says Bazzana. “But Ky, he’s always been such a great and competitive player growing up. One of the best pitchers in the state kind of thing.”

Outfielder Solomon Maguire says it was a cool moment for him on a personal level. It was another instance in an ever growing list of moments the two have helped each other out. He shares insights as to just how Australian baseball players help each other out.

“Me and Ky are close so whenever we end up back [on the same team], we talk about what we’ve been working on, talk about the path we are on and if we can get pointers from each other. We are in two different baseball countries that play the game completely different,” he says.

Maguire says this game felt special for a number of reasons.

“At the last World Cup, I sat down and asked him how he would pitch to me knowing my weaknesses,” says Maguire. “He broke it down for me and I was like, ‘yeah you would completely get me out.’ But those conversations are healthy because now I can go away and work and figure out how to overcome that. I know for me and a lot of guys it’s a fun experience to test your stuff at this level against a mate.”

Above: Blake Townsend, Solomon Maguire, Ky Jackson, Travis Bazzana and Will Sherriff have all played for Australia together at the U23 or junior levels. Photo: Scott Powick.

Jackson and his Aussie mates all shared a hug and laugh before the game.

“We grew up together, we love each other, yeah it was special,” he says.

Jackson is draft eligible for the NPB next season. He says that’s what he’s working towards right now.

 That, and reaching the senior national team.

“Since I was 12 or 13 I’ve always wanted to play for Australia. I always do and still want to play for Australia. One day hopefully I am good enough to be on one of these senior teams in the future. That’s definitely on my mind. I just have to keep working towards it,” he says.

LENDING A HELPING HAND

Jackson has a big smile on his face when reflecting on the experience.

“Everybody was so pumped,” says Jackson of the Nippon Express. “They were all asking me about all the players and the level. I would say this is a big memory for a lot of them.”

Above: Group Photo – Nippon Express x Team Australia. 

“When we found out we were playing Team Australia it was such a huge honour for everyone. You know, we watch those tournaments in our dorm rooms, with each other, at work. Everyone knows this is Team Australia,” he says.

Jackson says he could tell it meant a lot for those on Nippon Express to play today.

“It’s a surreal thing for my teammates too. Now we’ve played them, now we can go cheer for them knowing we’ve done our part to help get them ready to play [a major tournament],” he says.

Baseball Australia CEO Glenn Williams says it is another great example of how the Japanese community rallies around Team Australia. 

He says these exhibition games are crucial in preparing the team.

“We give Fuchu City a schedule and say we would like to play five games in these time slots and they go and get it done,” he says. “It’s remarkable because some times games are at funny times. They’re not on weekends. They go out of their way for us.”

Players from SegaSammy, another Industrial League team, working on the field pre-game to help Australia prepare for the Premier12. Photo: Scott Powick.

Williams says the games are an important part of the process.

“Guys need to play. They need to have at-bats, they need to face high quality opponents and that’s the quality of the opposition we are facing. We are very appreciative,” he says.

But for Ky, it was a merging of two worlds.

“Japanese people love the game, respect the game, support the game and respect the opponent,” he says. “Now we are part of the journey.”

“For me it was good. Kind of felt like I was in both my homes.”

In a memorable evening at the Australian Embassy in Tokyo, Team Australia’s senior men’s national team was honoured in a gathering that highlighted the powerful role of sports diplomacy in strengthening ties between Australia and Japan.

Hosted by Australian Ambassador to Japan Justin Hayhurst, the event showcased how baseball, one of Japan’s most beloved sports and a growing force in Australia, builds unique connections and offers significant opportunities for collaboration between the two nations.

Team Australia is in Japan preparing to play in the Premier12, one of the most significant international baseball events. They’ve been well received in Japan, gaining over 7 million impressions on X in the first 10 days since arriving, with 97% of the audience coming from Japan.

Australia’s tournament opening game on November 13 is expected to be watched by over 25 million people in Japan. For context, the NRL Grand Final and AFL Grand Final had a combined audience of 7 million in Australia in 2024.

To see all the media coverage Team Australia has attracted in Japan, visit here. 

For businesses in both countries, the event at the Ambassador’s house emphasized the possibilities for leveraging the cultural and economic bridges that baseball creates.

In his opening remarks, Ambassador Hayhurst welcomed guests from government, business, and the sporting community, acknowledging the shared values that underpin Australia-Japan relations.

Baseball, with its deep following in both nations, provides a strong platform for cross-border connections. The recent 2023 World Baseball Classic, where Team Australia and Japan went head-to-head, exemplified this connection. With sell-out crowds and millions tuning in across Japan and Australia, the game showcased the sport’s powerful reach and influence.

Australia has been living and working in Fuchu City, a Tokyo suburb, exemplifying the power of cross-country relations for positive outcomes.

There are also five teams from the NPB, Japan’s top level of professional baseball, sending 14 players to compete in the upcoming Australian Baseball League season from November 15 onward. This includes current NPB Champions DeNA Baystars and the biggest professional sports brand in Japan, the Tokyo Giants.

Sports Diplomacy as a Gateway to New Partnerships

Glenn Williams, Baseball Australia’s CEO, spoke to the significance of Team Australia’s growing popularity in Japan.

“Australia’s popularity in Japan has never been higher,” he said.

Williams emphasized how games like the World Baseball Classic and Premier12 create pathways for new relationships.

“The platforms developed through games we play in Japan are prime opportunities for business to host their current or prospective Japanese partners to an engaged and enthusiastic audience,” he added, underscoring how such events drive business conversations, cultural exchanges, and investment possibilities that extend far beyond the field.

The 2023 World Baseball Classic matchup between Australia and Japan drew millions of viewers and sell-out crowds, highlighting the demand for high-stakes international baseball.

Baseball Australia’s longstanding partnerships with Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) and connections with cities like Fuchu demonstrate how sports diplomacy can drive meaningful engagements.

For Japanese and Australian businesses, the success of such events shows the potential for cross-border collaboration through sponsorships, youth development programs, and fan engagement initiatives, all while fostering brand equity and corporate goodwill.

A Bright Future for Australia-Japan Business Relationships

The night at the embassy served as a reminder of the mutual respect and shared enthusiasm that strengthen the Australia-Japan relationship.

Glenn Williams shared his optimism about the future.

“The relationship between Japan and Australia is stronger than ever, and with more events on the horizon, this is a prime opportunity to partner with Australian baseball,” he said.

Above: Australian head coach Dave Nilsson, who spent time in his career playing in Japan

As baseball continues to bridge Australia and Japan, businesses are presented with unique avenues for growth, including tourism, education, and sports-related investments.

In closing, we extend our gratitude to Ambassador Justin Hayhurst for his hospitality and dedication to supporting Team Australia’s presence in Japan. Under his leadership, the Australian Embassy in Tokyo remains a bridge for fostering economic and cultural ties through sports diplomacy.

The evening was more than a celebration of athletic achievement; it was a reminder of the valuable opportunities for businesses willing to be part of the growing collaboration between Australia and Japan/

Baseball’s popularity creates a platform for long-lasting relationships, uniting government, business, and fans in a shared passion and mutual respect.

For more information and stories about Australia’s Premier12 journey, please visit www.baseball.com.au/premier12

#AustraliaJapan #SportsDiplomacy #BaseballAustralia #WorldBaseballClassic #BusinessOpportunities

Arigato, Fuchu 🙏 🇯🇵 ⬇️

皆さんのおもてなし、友情、そして競技場に向かう途中での挨拶に感謝します。

オーストラリアの国旗を掲げて通りに並んでくれてありがとう。

このスポーツを志すたくさんの素晴らしい子供たちを紹介してくれてありがとう。… pic.twitter.com/dT6Zt5rTYM

— Team Australia ⚾️ (@TeamAusBaseball) November 10, 2024