A trip to Miami and the semifinals is on the line when Australia and Cuba face each other at Tokyo Dome on Wednesday. While Australia has already exceeded expectations entering the tournament -- their three wins are a team record and they've never reached the second round before -- the team has made it clear they don't think the job is done.
Australia made sporting history this week, qualifying for the quarter-final of the World Baseball Classic after a stunning 8-3 win over the Czech Republic.
The World Baseball Classic quarterfinals will begin Wednesday morning as Pool A winners Cuba take on second-seeded Australia of Pool B.
"We're not done yet," team captain Tim Kennelly said. "It's cool to get through the quarterfinals, and if we get through to Miami, the last four teams, that's going to be pretty cool."
Cuba finished as runners-up in the first World Baseball Classic, but have been out of the top four since. They'll have hard-throwing righty Yariel Rodriguez start in this game. He won't be awed by pitching at Tokyo Dome: Rodriguez posted a 1.15 ERA as a reliever for the Chunichi Dragons of the NPB last year.
This win, combined with victories over both South Korea and China, proved enough to get the Aussies into second in Pool B, behind only Japan, and in doing so saw them emerge from the WBC group stage for the first time ever.
But the road to success gets much steeper from here; they will now face the winners of Pool A in the second round - Cuba, a team stacked with current and former MLB talent.
Team Australia World Baseball Classic 2023 roster Despite missing star MLB pitcher Liam Hendriks - who is currently undergoing cancer treatment - the Australians have stacked up a deep lineup, headlined by Chicago Cub Liam Spence and LA Angel Aaron Whitefield.
In addition, there is a tonne of talent pulled from both the domestic league, as well as American and Canadian leagues.
Team Australia has put together a 30-man roster to compete in Tokyo, including 15 pitchers.
This year’s World Baseball Classic is the most competitive tournament among its five iterations dating to 2006, a bracket packed with star names and countries hungry for bragging rights.
So maybe it shouldn’t be a surprise that the first quarterfinal matchup — Cuba versus Australia in Tokyo — needed a tiebreaking quotient to determine the teams. In Pool A, which played out in Taiwan last week, each of the five teams finished with identical 2-2 records. Cuba was declared the winner of the group because they allowed the fewest runs. Sorta.
Cuba finished first in a pool full of 2-2 teams, thanks to allowing the fewest runs per out in the pool. Australia, on the other hand, could make the final four with a win after finishing behind Japan in Pool B.
Neither team has won a WBC title or appeared in the championship game, and neither was viewed as a favorite this year.
Australia only lost to Japan in Pool play and has been one of the better teams of the tournament so far. Australia bounced back nicely against the Czech Republic, winning 8-3 to punch its ticket to the quarterfinals.
The game was tied at one run apiece going into the seventh inning where Australia just kept on tacking on runs. Team Australia scored seven of its eight runs in the final three innings. Lefty Steven Kent, who last played for the Melbourne Aces, will get the start for Australia today.
