Team Australia showed why they are four-time defending gold medal champions Wednesday night with a 12-1 rout of previously unbeaten Team USA. The game was 6-1 through 6, with the Aussies adding a 6 spot in the final frame.
Team USA could muster only one hit through 6, finishing the game with two on the night, with lefty Nathan Dickinson going the distance, striking out 10. The USA’s lone run came in the fifth, a product of Australia’s two errors.
The Aussies finished with 13 hits.
Australia won the top spot and seeding for Pool A with a perfect 6-0 record, while the USA finished second in the pool, with a 5-1 record, which included a win over New Zealand.
New Zealand, for their part, gave the Aussies their toughest match in pool play, falling in extra innings, but leading at one point, 5-2. In 2008, the only loss suffered by the Aussies was to New Zealand, during pool play.
Two of the thirteen teams finished with unblemished records. Australia in Pool A and host Argentina in Pool B.
Two of the thirteen teams finished with only one loss, USA in Pool A (falling to Australia) and Japan in Pool B (falling to Argentina)
Two of the thirteen teams finished with two losses, New Zealand in Pool A (falling to Australia and USA) and
Canada (falling to Argentina and Japan).
The pool play round, which spanned seven days has now come to a conclusion, with the top four teams in each of the two pools advancing to the playoff round. Click here for the first round schedule of playoff games.