Australia is one step closer to the knockouts at the World Baseball Classic after Curtis Mead produced a three-run homer in a 5-1 win over Czechia on Friday.
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Fresh off a stunning victory against world No.2 Chinese Taipei, Team Australia showed no signs of complacency as they backed up that impressive effort against a far less fancied opponent.
It was an important win considering Czechia loomed as Australia’s best chance to pick up a win in what was widely called the group of death at the World Cup, with Japan and South Korea still to come.
The Australians can take confidence from the fact they pulled off a shock 8-7 win against South Korea in the 2023 World Baseball Classic, but they will face their biggest test of the tournament on Sunday at 9pm AEDT when they face Shohei Ohtani and world No.1 Japan.
The last time Australia played Japan in a World Baseball Classic, over 40 million Japanese people watched on television so the stakes will be high and the star power will be on full display, headlined by Ohtani — who is on a a 10-year, $US700 million ($AU996m) contract with the Dodgers.
Australia will embrace the underdog status for Saturday’s game, with Robbie Perkins hitting back at suggestions their first win of the tournament against Chinese Taipei was any sort of an upset.
“I don’t know why people keep thinking these are upsets,” Perkins said.
“We beat Korea last time, and we beat Chinese Taipei today. I think we’re there with the best in the world on any given day. I think we need to start acknowledging we can give it to them.”
Now you can add Czechia to the list, and while they are obviously not up there with the likes of Chinese Taipei and South Korea, it was pleasing nonetheless to see that Australia didn’t get too far ahead of themselves and got the job done as expected on Friday.
Mead, who made his MLB debut in 2023 with the Rays and spent time with both Tampa Bay and Chicago-AL in 2025 before being traded to the White Sox, had the highlight of the night with a three-run blast in the third inning.
That put Australia ahead 3-1 before they added another two runs in the ninth to put the result beyond doubt.
But manager Dave Nilsson paid credit to the relief pitching in his post-game interview, with Todd Van Steensel, Coen Wynne, Ky Hampton, Blake Townsend and Mitch Neunborn combining to allow just two hits and four base runners total in relief of Josh Hendrickson.
Hendrickson, for what it is worth, went 3.0 innings allowing just one run.
“The bullpen was great, everyone was great. Even our starter Josh Hendrickson was very good,” said manager Dave Nilsson after the game.
“I think the key here is we are limiting the walks, staying focused and executing the game plan. We’ve allowed one run in 18 innings and I think anywhere that’s a good stat. We’ve really simplified the game plan and all the credit goes to the players and coaches for executing a game plan.”
The win saw Australia improve to 2-0, likely needing just one more win to progress through to the knockouts.
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