Press Release Austrian Baseball Federation
On Friday the 28th of October the Austrian U-23 National Team will make its debut at the I. WBSC U-23 Baseball World Cup 2016 in Monterrey (MEX) against Australia. Game time for the matchup will be 10:00 AM in Cadereyta.
After a year of preparation, Austria is ready for its biggest journey in the Federation’s history. The first opponent of the Austrian National Team will be Australia. Australia is currently ranked #13 in the world and finished the U-21 World Cup on the 6th place. The game will take place in the city of Cadereyta at 10:00 AM local time.
Australia will be a tough opponent to face in the first game of the tournament. For the Aussies only a win counts, as they seek for the promotion to the Super Round, where only the top three teams of each groups will compete for the title of world champion.
Austria set its goal clearly. Being the underdog, the team wants to perform on the highest level possible. Every player is highly motivated for the historic debut on Friday and wants to give his best. There might be a little nervousness in the air, but the will try to canalize this and get everybody ready to perform tomorrow morning.
Australia’s manager, Tony Harris, selected 24 players for the U-23 Baseball World Cup, while ten of them already competed at the last World Cup in 2014. “We’re excited to see how this team performs on the world stage, it’s a great opportunity for some of the younger members of the team to see how they match up against the best of the best.”, Harris says about his selection.
The starting lineup and the probable pitcher have not been announced yet. Hiroyuki Sakanashi and his coaching staff will finalize the starters tonight, before communicating to the players.
Austria spend the last week in Monterrey, preparing for this unique chance to exhibit the great development the Austrian Baseball Federation went through in the last couple of years. The team successfully completed daily practice session and played three exhibition games in the past week.
The Austrian U23 National Team also had the honor to face the host of this year’s WBSC U-23 Baseball World Cup. Mexico beat Austria 7:9, but the Europeans had a great comeback and competed with the worlds #8 on a level playing field. On Monday and Tuesday, Austria was hosted by the LMB Academia for two more games, where the Austrian Squad could prepare itself accordingly.
Photo by Austrian Baseball Federation