Dalton
Pompey began the game with a fly-out to deep right-center after an
eight-pitch at-bat vs. Australia starter Tim Atherton. Wes Darvill
popped up to third for the second out. Eric Wood knocked a two-out
single into left field, but Michael Saunders left him stranded,
grounding out to second to end the inning.
Tim
Kennelly crushed a long drive to left just inside the foul line off
of Canada starter Brock Dykxhoorn for a double to start the bottom
half of the first. He then advanced on a ground-out to second by
Andrew Campbell. Rob Glendinning followed with a deep fly to the
warning track in right field, scoring Kennelly on the sacrifice fly.
Logan Wade flied out to center to end the inning, but the Aussies put
a run on the board first.
In
the top of the second, Tristan Pompey demolished a 1-0 off-speed
pitch off the wall in right for a lead-off double, missing the homer
by about half a meter. Lennerton followed with a hard-hit grounder to
first off a first-pitch curve that caught the heart of the plate,
moving Pompey to third on the 3-unassisted putout. Leblanc chased a
2-2 fastball after Atherton dropped a big, slow curve on him,
striking out swinging for the second out. Tosoni tied the game on a
blistered liner to right that Kennelly dove to stop, losing the ball
just under his glove but keeping the short bounce in front of him.
Atherton
would give way to LHP Josh Tols after Tosoni's RBI. (Note: A seven-year pro at multiple levels and leagues, Tols made 24 appearances with the Phillies' Triple-A affiliate in Lehigh Valley in 2019). Deglan whiffed on a big,
sweeping 2-2 curve to end the inning.
Aaron
Whitefield led off the bottom half of the inning, popping up to
Leblanc on a 0-1 fastball. Mitchell Nilsson followed with another
infield pop-up, this time to Wood at third. Darryl George hit a 2-2
fastball to shallow left-center, T. Pompey chasing it down for the
third out, ending an exceedingly-quick inning for Dykxhoorn.
D.
Pompey led off the third, popping up to Glendinning at second on the
first pitch he faced. Darvill went down in the count on back-to-back
fastballs, then had to bail out of the box on a curve that got away
from Tols. After working the count full, he struck out swinging on an
outside fastball that finished just off the outside corner. Wood
worked a fantastic nine-pitch at-bat to draw the walk after being
down 0-2 and fouling off several slow curves. Saunders made it
back-to-back walks, bringing T. Pompey to the plate. Australia
manager David Nilsson made the call to the pen, once more, ending the
day for Tols.
Fellow
lefty Steven Kent entered to face the Canadian left fielder. Kent
dealt Pompey three straight balls, but then spotted a fastball over
the outer third of the plate for the first strike. Pompey flied out
to Whitefield in center on the next pitch to end the threat.
David
Sutherland stepped in to start the bottom half, striking out swinging
on a fastball high in the zone. Alan De San Miguel, taking over for
Ryan Battaglia, fouled off a 3-2 curve that struck HP umpire NAME in
the right forearm, who had to be checked out by the Team Canada
trainer before the game resumed. On the very next pitch, a fastball
in the dirt got past Deglan on a swinging strike three, De San Miguel
hustling down to first to reach on the play. Kennelly took a 2-2
fastball on the black for the second out. Campbell grounded out to
Leblanc to end the inning.
Lennerton
started off the fourth, just topping a sweeping curve to ground out
to first. Leblanc hammered a fastball on the outer third into
right-center for what looked to be a double, but Kennelly got to it
too quickly for Leblanc to advance to second. Tosoni drew a walk to
move Leblanc into scoring position. Deglan couldn't check his swing
on a short 0-2 curve in the dirt and went down on strikes. D. Pompey
grounded out to Kent, who took the ball to first himself to end the
scoring threat.
Glendinning
struck out swinging to start the bottom of the fourth. Wade was able
to reach on an error by Darvill, followed by a swinging strikeout by
Whitefield. Nilsson stranded the runner with a 4-3 ground-out.
The
fifth saw Darvill fly out to left on a 1-2 fastball to start things
off, followed by a swinging strikeout for Wood. (Note: Kent is
going to the fastball noticeably more often now, and seems more
confident.) Saunders made it back-to-back K for Kent with a
swing-and-miss on a high 2-2 fastball out of the zone to end the top
half.
George
flew out to T. Pompey to begin Australia's half of the fifth. A
well-timed dive by Leblanc to his left made it two outs for
Australia. De San Miguel finished off a quiet inning for the Aussies
by striking out on a 1-2 fastball. (Note: Dykxhoorn has also found
his rhythm, at this point. He's in cruise control; De San Miguel is
his 6th strikeout of the game.)
T.
Pompey struck out on three straight pitches to start the sixth, with
Lennerton following that by striking out looking on a front-door,
late-breaking 1-2 curve, middle-in. Leblanc flied out to right to end
the inning. (Note: Kent, through 3 1/3 innings, now has only one
less strikeout than Dykxhoorn. He's looking awfully dominant.)
Kennelly
struck out on a low 3-2 fastball straight down Broadway. Campbell hit
a very hard grounder to Lennerton at first, who tossed to Dykxhoorn
at the bag for the second out. Glendinning swung hard on a hanging
curve and smacked a hard liner between third and short for a two-out
single. Now with the go-ahead run at first base, Dykxhoorn induced an
inning-ending fly-out to center to strand Glendinning.
Tosoni
flied out to center for the first out of the seventh. Dustin Houle,
entering as a pinch-hitter for Deglan, struck out swinging. D. Pompey
just missed an extra-base hit when a 1-2 fly to right fell just
outside the foul line, then struck out swinging to end the inning.
Kent pumped his fist and yelled while walking back to the dugout, the
first overt sign of emotion from the calm lefty.
Taking
over for Dykxhoorn, RHP Brandon Marklund entered for the bottom half
of the inning. He retired Whitefield on a grounder to short to start
the action. Nilsson hit a hard one-hopper off of Marklund's right
thigh, reaching first as the ball caromed away from the pitcher. As
he reached the ball, Marklund hopped once or twice on his left leg,
but appeared to be alright as Whitt came out to check on him. He then
struck out George on three straight sliders, and induced a 4-3
ground-out on the first pitch to Sutherland to strand Nilsson.
LHP
Jon Kennedy, the fourth pitcher of the game for Australia and the
third-straight lefty, entered the game in relief of Kent in the top
of the eighth. Darvill struck out swinging to start things off. Wood
cracked his bat while flying out to center on a 2-2 fastball down the
heart of the plate. Saunders grounded out to second, making it a
short inning for the new Aussie reliever.
Marklund
returned for the bottom half of the eighth, struggling a bit to
locate his pitches and giving up a walk to Luke Hughes, who was
pinch-hitting for De San Miguel. Kennelly worked the count to 3-1
before grounding into what looked to be a double play, but a low
throw from Leblanc to Lennerton allowed him to reach first. A review
of the play at second, on which Leblanc had to leap just a bit to
reach the high throw from Wood at third, was held up as a force-out
and fielder's choice. Campbell grounded out on a slow, weak
two-hopper to Marklund, who tossed to first for the second out, but
Kennelly advanced into scoring position. Glendinning drew the second
walk of the inning on a 3-1 low-and-away slider in the dirt,
prompting Whitt to make a call to the pen for RHP Scott Mathieson,
who got the save vs. Cuba in Canada's first game of the Opening
Round.
On
a 1-2 knee-high fastball, Wade crushed a triple into the right-center
gap, scoring Kennelly and Glendinning and giving Australia the 3-1
lead. Whitefield flied out to right to end the inning, but the damage
was done, as Australia entered the ninth inning with a two-run lead
on a night in which neither team had been able to break through,
offensively.
T.
Pompey worked a tough, eight-pitch at-bat against Kennedy into a
lead-off walk, taking a 3-2 slider that missed the low-and-outside
corner by a very narrow margin. Lennerton grounded into a rare 1-6-3
double play, hanging back on a middle-of-the-zone curve from Kennedy
but making weak contact on the grounder back to the pitcher. Nilsson relieved Kennedy for the final out, bringing in
the RHP and closer Ryan Searle. Lefty pinch-hitter Connor Panas
entered the game for Leblanc, drawing the walk on a very close 3-2
curve just off the outside corner and keeping the game alive for
Canada. Tosoni followed up by flying out to center for the third out, an upset win vs. Canada, and Team Australia's first-ever victory in the WBSC Premier-12 Tournament.
