Cockman Stars as Aussie Steelers crowned World Champions
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Sunday, 26 July 2009
The Aussie Steelers are World Champions after beating NZ 5-0 in the ISF Men's World Championship gold medal game.
The Aussie Steelers are number one in the world after putting in a flawless display against the New Zealand Black Sox in the gold medal game at the ISF Men's World Championship in Saskatoon, Canada.
The Aussie Steelers scored five runs on seven hits with no errors, whilst Adam Folkard pitched a no-hitter, with NZ only being allowed two runners on base for the entire game through walks.
Nick Shailes scored the first run of the game for the Aussie Steelers. Shailes got on base with some speedy base running, beating out a grounder to third base. A sacrifice bunt from Josh Davison advanced him to 2nd. NZ tried a couple of times to get Shailes out on 2nd with throws from the catcher. The third time they tried, Shailes went for 3rd base. The throw from the NZ shortstop to 3rd base hit Shailes on the helmet, the ball getting away to allow Shailes to score.
Australia scored again in the bottom of the fourth innings. Nick Shailes led off and got a base from an error by the NZ shortstop, Davison got a safe hit to get Shailes to 3rd and Davison got to 2nd, Jeff Goolagong then hit a sacrifice fly to right field to score Shailes. Davison is currently on 3rd with 1 out, NZ making a pitching change, Jeremy Manley in for Heinie Shannon.
Aaron Cockman came in for a pinch hit for Bartorillo, and hit the first pitch he faced to left field for a single to score Davison to make it 3-0.
Michael Tanner scored in the bottom of the fifth, getting on base with a walk, stealing to 2nd, and then Zenon Winters got a safe hit to left field to score Tanner to make it 4-0.
Aaron Cockman hit a solo home run in the bottom of the sixth innings to make it 5-0.
New Zealand earlier defeated Canada 8-5 to earn their spot against the Steelers. Host nation Canada finishes with bronze.
The Steelers gained automatic entry into the gold medal game yesterday courtesy of a 2-0 win over Canada.