Australia has won the 2012 18U Oceania Championship, which was held at Paseo Stadium in Guam. The team from down under defeated New Zealand 17-2 in the gold medal game on Thursday. It was the seventh win in as many games for Australia to finish the tournament with a perfect 7-0 record. The event served as qualifier for the XXV IBAF 18U Baseball World Championship, which takes place from August 30 to September 8, 2012 in Seoul, Korea.
After breaking the scoreless tie with four runs in the third, Australia broke the game wide open with an eight-run rally in the fourth. New Zealand managed to avoid the shutout, but couldn’t create a comeback. Josh Guyer led the way at the plate for the Aussies, driving in five runs. Zac Shepherd scored three times. Ryan Ihle collected three hits. On the mound Daniel McGrath struck out nine for the win. Joe Boyce took the loss.
Earlier on the day host Guam had won the bronze medal. They celebrated a 3-1 victory over the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianna Islands. They scored all three runs in the second inning. CNMI got on the board in the fourth, but weren’t able to close the gap. Sean Cruz dealt on the mound, striking out eight batters in the win. Leroy Regis got charged with the loss.
Results:
Friday, January 27:
CNMI 3 – New Zealand 14
Guam 0 – Australia 10
Saturday, January 28:
Australia 10 – CNMI 0
New Zealand 10 – Guam 0
Sunday, January 29:
New Zealand 0 – Australia 19
CNMI 2 – Guam 8
Monday, January 30:
New Zealand 2 – CNMI 4
Australia 3 – Guam 1
Tuesday, January 31:
CNMI 1 – Australia 18
Guam 2 – New Zealand 9
Wednesday, February 1:
Australia 11 – New Zealand 1
Guam 11 – CNMI 7
Thursday, February 2:
Bronze Medal Game: Guam 3 – CNMI 1
Gold Medal Game: Australia 17 – New Zealand 2
Final Standings:
1) Australia
2) New Zealand
3) Guam
4) CNMI
