Australia v Japan: Nilsson-Ibata looking forward to rekindle friendship in Group B opening game
Samurai Japan manager Hirokazu Ibata is looking forward to rekindle his friendship with Australia manager David Nilsson when the two sides meet in the opening game of WBSC Premier12 present by RAXUS Group B in Vantelin Dome Nagoya on Wednesday.
The two managers were team mates in 2000 with the Chunichi Dragons in Nagoya and Ibata said in Tuesday’s pre-game press conference that he was grateful for having played with the former MLB All-Star and two-time Olympian.
“My professional baseball career started when I was used asa pinch runner and defensive replacement for ‘Dingo’,” said Ibata. “A playerwho had been active in Major League Baseball came to the team, and that allowedme to get my career started.
“I feel a strong sense of fate in being able to start thisPremier12 tournament in this way, from the very first game. I believe that myrole as manager now is because Dingo came to Japan, so I’m filled with a deepsense of gratitude.”
“Mr. Ibata knows a lot more about Nagoya than I do, I didn'tget to play many games here unfortunately,” Nilsson added. “We were on the sameteam together in 2000 and he went onto having very good career in Japan. So Ithink we both know a lot about the time, and our teams are very excited to beplaying here.”
Defendingchampions Japan are hot favourites ahead of Wednesday’s game as the No. 1 worldteam in the world and the holder of every international baseball trophy exceptthe WBSC U-12 Baseball World Cup.
World No.15 Australia have one win against Japan in 18 games since 2011 – a 4-1 win inthe WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup in 2019.
“I think it's always a privilege and an honour to playagainst Team Japan and I think one of the strengths of their team is that everyplayer is very well prepared, and they play together very well as a team,”Nilsson said when asked about his expectations for the game. “So from our pointof view, we don't isolate any player, we don't prepare for just one player, weprepare for the whole team, and we expect them to perform together as a group.
“I feel the same way,” Ibata added. “Baseball is notsomething you do alone; it’s a team sport, so I think they’re a well-balancedteam overall. They have batters who can hit home runs, and I’m sure they alsohave players who can use their speed effectively. Year by year, Australia hasbeen getting stronger, so I hope we can have a good game tomorrow.”
One of the starsof tomorrow’s game and even the tournament is expected to be Travis Bazzana butNilsson played things down for the WBSC U-18 and U-23 Baseball World Cupalum, who made history when he became the MLB Draft No. 1 pick earlier thisyear.
“Travis is a young player, very young and still learning thegame of baseball so I'm hoping he gets to gain a lot of experience from beingaround the older guys on the team and I just want to encourage him through this,”Nilsson said about Bazzana signed for a US $ 8.95 million bonus with the ClevelandGuardians and played his first professional season at Class A+ this year. “I'mnot expecting anything from Travis right now. He's very talented and obviouslythe very number one pick in the Major League draft, so I think that speaks tothe talent and how people view him, but on the international stage andtournaments like this, this is new to him, and he'll be leaning on our playersfor guys.”
The twomanagers also announced their starting pitchers Haruto Inoue and Lewis Thorpefor Japan and Australia respectively.
“I’mplanning to go with Haruto Inoue as the starting pitcher tomorrow,” Ibata said.“He’s 21 years old, the youngest player, but I want him to bring out thatyouthfulness. I hope he can pitch with the same power and momentum he’s shownin the regular season, just like he would in the postseason.”
“Lewis
Thorpe played the big leagues before and spent a lot of this year in Mexico. Ithink he'll match up very well with Japanese hitters,” Nilsson said.
At 25.2years, Japan has the third youngest squad behind Korea (24.8) and ChineseTaipei (24.5) while with 25.7 years, Australia is the 6th youngest side.
USA, at 27.5 years, is the oldest squad.
Tim Kennelly- the third oldest player in the tournament at 37-year’s-old behind 38-year-oldAlfredo Rodriquez of Cuba and Rich Hill from USA, who is aged 44 – told themedia he is looking forward to this year’s Premier12 having starred inAustralia’s impressive run at the 2019 edition, especially making a good start againstJapan.
“We have got nine good hitters that are going to take the field tomorrow night, so everyone's role is going to be trying to do whatever they can, each out back to get on base or trying to conduct him back to the driving runs or move runners over," the right fielder said. “We know we're up against a very good pitching staff in the Japanese pitchers, we're going to be really well prepared. So I think we have a good plan, as long as we stick to that plan, our goal is to score as many runs.”
Japan pitcher Shosei Togo added: “This will be my first time playing in the tournament, so my top priority is to live up to expectations. And more than anything, we're aiming to win back-to-back titles, so I'll do my best to contribute to that. I want to show the world the best of Japan as a team."