Praise for Australian Little League Intermediate World Series team

Baseball Australia has dished out well-deserved praise for team of players from the City of Moreton Bay representing the country on the world stage.

The Australian team, made up of players from the Redcliffe Padres, the Narangba Demons and the Pine Rivers Rapids, is at the Little League Intermediate Baseball 50/70 World Series in the United States.

It's the second year in a row a team from Moreton Bay has represented the nation in America, with many of this year's players travelling to Williamsport, Pennsylvania for last year's Little League World Series. 

In the early hours of this morning they took on Puerto Rico in Livermore, California, with the final score of 22-1 in the Latin Americans’ favour.

Despite scoring two runs – an improvement on the previous day’s play against the Asia-Pacific team in which they scored one – the Australian team was unable to stop the juggernaut that was the Puerto Ricans.

Tirrell Waiwai pitched for five innings, conceding nine hits and 10 runs, striking out seven and walking four.

Puerto Rico scored eight from Xavier Honsa’s inning on the mound and four from Tyler Wilson’s single inning of pitching.

Alonso Zaire Griffin put Australia on the batting scoreboard with a home run, backed up by another run from Archie Baert.

Promising future

Baseball Australia, in a post to Facebook, says the valiant efforts of the Aussies did the nation proud.

“Your Australian Intermediate League Champions fell out of the championship bracket of the World Series this morning but they represented the country so well,” Baseball Australia says.

“A team who found a way to back (its) 2022 Little League title with an undefeated run in the age group above at the Australian 2023 Intermediate League tournament.

“A team that other countries in Livermore speak so highly of on how they carry themselves.

“Big future ahead for these ones.”

In the Baseball Australia post head coach David West, from the Redcliffe Padres, says he is also proud of the effort his team showed all week.

“We put today's game behind us. Every day is a new opportunity. You can build on yesterday's success and put its failures behind you.”

The team from Moreton Bay will enjoy a well-earned evening off, catching a Major League Baseball game between the Arizona Diamondbacks and the San Francisco Giants.

Australia takes the field again for a consolation game on Thursday at noon California time (5am AEST on Friday) .