Three hours of electric softball. Three rain delays. A three-run deficit. The Steelers pushed through it all and came out on top against second-ranked Japan.

It was a great start by the Aussies as Nick Shailes scored Scott Patterson in the first, and then made it home himself on a wild pitch for a solid two-run inning.

Besgrove started on the mound, backing up from a solid outing yesterday against Denmark. Japan are a bigger challenge however and they hit back straight away, scoring one on a wild pitch to cut the deficit in half.

Japan tied things up in the second inning after putting pressure on the Aussie defense, pushing into the lead by scoring on a wild pitch by Marshall Kronk. Kronk came back strong to strike out the side and keep the deficit to one run.

The pressure intensified with both teams going scoreless until the fifth as the Steelers did their best to withstand the barrage from the quality Japanese outfit. The middle of the Japanese lineup took advantage of some loose pitching, scoring two from a sacrifice fly and a left field single.

A lesser player may have felt the pressure of the moment. Not Marshall Kronk. He converted his next at-bat into an RBI double, giving the Steelers a much-needed sniff in the sixth.

The Aussies sensed that things were changing as the game pushed later into the evening, with the all-important seventh inning looming large. Hayden Mathews stepped up to deliver a double to left field, and while Julian Jemmott flew out to centre field, this allowed the pinch-running James Todhunter to move around to third.

A short rain delay did nothing to quench the fire within the Aussies, as Callum Beashel hit an RBI single to centre field followed by another RBI from Nick Shailes, scoring Brendon O'Byrne who had used all his patience to draw a walk three-batters earlier. The comeback was complete. 

The pumped-up Kronk may have walked a Japanese hitter in the seventh, but he shut the door on the walk-off by striking out the 8th and 9th batters and moved onto the eighth inning.

McGovern wasted no time pushing for the win, smashing a triple on the first pitch of the inning to score the pinch-running Riley James. The Steelers had finally grabbed the lead they had been seeking since the second inning.

Kronk once again took the ball in the bottom of the eighth as the game pushed towards three hours. Tensions were running high as the Japanese desperately pushed for a run - flying out to centre and left - however they came up short. With runners on first and second Kazuya Toriyama hit into the safe hands of Nick Shailes, whose force out at third meant that the Steelers registered a famous win against the number 2 ranked team in the world.

Steelers Head Coach Laing Harrow summed it up, saying "This was a real team effort from the guys. To come back from 5-2 down against a Japanese team that's this strong speaks volumes about the heart and culture of the group."

Batting
2B: (1) KRONK, Marshall; (1) MATHEWS, Hayden
3B: (1) MCGOVERN, Joshua
RBI: (1) BEASHEL, Callum; (2) SHAILES, Nick; (1) KRONK, Marshall; (1) MCGOVERN, Joshua
BB: (1) MCGOVERN, Joshua; (2) O'BYRNE, Brendon

Pitching:
BESGROVE, Jack: 1.0 IP, 2H, 1R, 1ER, 4BB, 2K
KRONK, Marshall: 7.0 IP, 5H, 2R, 2ER, 6BB, 7K

The Steelers will be back in action on Monday at 4:30pm NZDT against the ninth-ranked Venezuela. The Venezuelans are fresh off a 12-1 trouncing of South Africa and pushed the third-ranked Canada all the way before succumbing 3-2 in their first game of the World Cup.

Schedule:
Monday November 28 at 4:30pm NZDT v VENEZUELA (Ranked 9th)
Tuesday November 29 at 1:30pm NZDT v CANADA (Ranked 3rd)
Wednesday November 30 at 12pm NZDT v SOUTH AFRICA (Ranked 11th)

Image courtesy of the WBSC.