“Premier12 has been a fantastic tournament,” said David Nilsson

Australia finished today its participation in the Premier12 with a 5-1 loss against Chinese Taipei. At the press conference, manager David Nilsson reviewed today’s game, as well as Australia’s performance in the whole tournament.

“Premier12 has been a fantastic tournament from every point of view. Having the best 12 baseball programs in the world competing in different places is a wonderful concept, and exposes the world to a lot of great players from different countries,” said Nilsson. 

He continued: “Our team faced some good moments and some disappointing moments, but I think that as a nation we’ve trying to build more exposure for us, as a team, to this level of competition. And it’s going to make us better, so I have nothing bad to say. A lot of disappointment, a lot of emotions about some results, but I think we’ve been in every game and we’ve had an opportunity to win every game, so we’ll continue to improve as a team.”

Asked about today’s game, he shared his feelings: “First of all, a great disappointment for the result of the game. The game itself was a very good ballgame, great pitching from both teams, a lot of opportunities for the batters, but ultimately Chinese Taipei got the big hit an broke up the game. I’m very proud of the way Australia played.”

Also during the press conference, shortstop Logan Wade agreed with his manager: “For me as a player it was a very clean game, it really could go in any way, but they came up with the big hit.”

Wade hit a solo homer in the top of the sixth inning to tie the game. He explained his approach in this at-bat. “I just wanted to drive the ball. With the pitching changes, you’re not going to see as many fastballs, so if I saw something up in the zone I was trying to put the barrel on it, and I did. It felt good, but I was just trying to attack the ball.”