Hitters turn it on in Game Four
Kingsley Collins, Thursday, 19 February 2009 Australia continued its great hitting and defensive form to take Game Four of the “Friendship” series at Napier Park this evening.....
With nine games having been played in the past fortnight – in Perth and Victoria – the Australian national team won six, with another one drawn.
Playing errorless baseball again this evening, Australia overcame a deficit to hit back in a blistering seventh innings that yielded three home runs and a 7-6 winning margin over Chinese Taipei.
The game was tight for the first three, as Craig Anderson (Australia) and right-armed Yi-Chieh held the opposition scoreless, with the assistance of some great double plays turned by both sides. After wearing a Grant Karlsen missile hit back at him, Yi-Chieh was replaced by Pittsburgh Pirates prospect Chi-Hung Cheng (below left) and the game started to hot up.
 
Game Four images supplied by Richard Mason
Australia opened scoring in the bottom of four, compliments of a Justin Huber single, a walk, a wild pitch, a Michael Collins RBI single and a Karlsen hit that somewhat fortuitously plated another two.
Hard-throwing Western Australian Tristan Crawford (above, right) relieved Anderson, who scattered four hits and gave nothing away in four innings of off-speed and hitting spots. But a string of Australian changes in the sixth brought a new complexion to the game. Reliever Glen Richards walked a couple of hitters and paid dearly with a wild pitch and a three-run bomb to Yi-Chuan Lin delivering four runs. Darryn Cassidy went to the hill but was greeted with a solo shot to Chih-Hsiang Huang and Chinese Taipei led 5-3.
Australia got one back on a Karslen sacrifice fly in the equaliser, the Waverley catcher having had a terrific series with the bat and behind the dish. But another homer – this time to Ying-Chieh Liao – stretched it again to a two-run lead.
As if stung into action and deciding that enough was enough against Chinese Taipei pitching that must have been feeling the pinch after a long campaign away from home, the Aussies made an emphatic statement in the seventh. A solo shot to Hayden Dingle over the left-centre wall was followed by another bomb to Justin Huber – over deep deep centrefield - followed by a Michael Collins monster that was still heading up as it cleared leftfield.
Kable Hogben and Matt Blackmore finished the job, with Australia again terrific in defence and marginally outhitting Chinese Taipei – eleven to ten. Collins was a star with three hits and two RBIs (including home run), Grant Karlsen went two and two, unofficial player of the series Justin Huber was outstanding with two hits (including home run) and Hayden Dingle relished a shot at this level by providing a cameo of his hitting power.
With Jon Deeble having flown out to Korea this morning, Phil Dale took on the managerial role, shuffling his side around and giving his hitters some key at-bats. Speaking to Baseball Radio after the game, Dale said that he was “absolutely happy with what we saw today.”
“The extra guys we brought in hit the ball well. Our established hitters are swinging the bats well – we’ll need that at the Classic,” he said.
Reflecting upon the series in its entirety, Dale was able to identify a number of real positives.
“Crawford and Liam Hendricks have pitched well. And they carried themselves really well. Most of our pitchers performed right throughout this series, and in Perth. I was impressed with Hogben’s poise when he had a chance.”
“Chinese Taipei is a quality unit and they’ve still got plenty of improvement to make. But so do we,” Dale said.
While there is scope for changes to the World Classic squad until the eleventh hour, the Australian squad will be pretty much decided after the Japan leg of the preparations.
“We have to lock in the formalities,” said Dale. “We have a fair idea who will be in the final squad, but we can still make moves – for injury - right up until Mexico.”
Victorian baseball has been privileged to have hosted the four “Friendly” games, which showcased some of the best players in international baseball. We thank our umpiring officials and extend our appreciation to the Australian and Chinese Taipei squads for the competitive, fair and respectful way in which they have conducted themselves during this week.
We thank the Victorian baseball community – especially the legion of Taiwanese supporters – for coming out in support of their teams and creating such a great spectacle at all venues.
Baseball Victoria extends its appreciation to all of those who have contributed and continue to contribute to the Victorian Bushfire Appeal.
We extend special thanks to the Geelong Baseball Club and the Waverley Baseball Club for making their facilities available and for putting in so much effort to deliver these games.
Finally, Baseball Victoria extends its best wishes to both national squads for a successful campaign at the 2009 World Baseball Classic. C’arn the Aussies.
Game Four images supplied by Richard Mason
GAME FOUR PLAY BY PLAY
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