Opinion: Australia holding their own at 2026 World Baseball Classic

Curtis Mead (YouTube)

Australia has played two games at the 2026 World Baseball Classic and at this time are looking pretty good. On Friday, Australia defeated the Czech Republic 5-1 to improve their record to two wins and zero losses.

The Australia hero in Tokyo was third baseman Curtis Mead of Adelaide. Mead of the Chicago White Sox had a three-run home run in the top of the third inning which gave Australia a 3-1 lead at the time. The Australians added two more runs in the ninth inning thanks to a home run by Alex Hall of Perth and a RBI single by Robbie Perkins of Canberra.

It is interesting that Australia has two primary catchers in their lineup in Hall and Perkins. As a result, Perkins has been the primary catcher and Hall has been the designated hitter.

From a pitching perspective, Josh Hendrickson of Perth got the win as he only gave up one earned run in three innings of work. Then the Australian relievers came through with six shutout innings in relief. Coen Wynne of Westmead, Blake Townsend of Traralgon, Ky Hampton of Mount Barker, Todd Van Steensel of Sydney had holds, while Mitch Neunborn threw a ninth inning shutout.

In a pool that consists of Australia, Japan, South Korea, the Czech Republic and Chinese Taipei, Australia is currently holding their own. They have beaten their opponents and rather convincingly by a combined score of 8-1.

Now the games are going to be significantly tougher. They play Japan on Sunday and South Korea on Monday. Australia will be the underdog in both contests, and it will still be difficult for them to reach the quarterfinals despite the strong start.