Bedggood has golden glory vision
SURFERS Paradise baseballer Josh Bedggood believes Australia’s squad has what it takes to compete for a first Under-18 World Cup gold medal.
The 18-year-old was one of 20 players to make the cut for the main squad and yesterday departed for Toronto, Canada.
There the side will play a series of warm-up games before heading 1400km northwest to Thunder Bay for the main tournament, starting with a showdown against South Korea on September 1.
“I’m definitely confident that we are going to get a medal and I reckon we have got a good shot at playing for gold with the team we have,” Bedggood told the Bulletin.
While pointing out strength across the board, Bedggood noted the likes of Major League Baseball-bound stars Jack O’Loughlin and Jarryd Dale are central to their hopes.
O’Loughlin has been signed by the Detroit Tigers and Dale by the San Diego Padres.
“We have got a lot of good players that can do special things to make us place with a medal,” said Bedggood, a twoway player as a pitcher and outfielder.
“Jack is a lefty pitcher so that will be a strong point for us and Dale is a good infielder and can definitely hit the ball and can run as well.”
The first step for Australia will be to make it through to the Super Round – where the top three teams of both sixteam pools proceed.
Australia has been helped by drawing Canada, South Korea, Chinese Taipei, Italy and Nicaragua.
Group B, meanwhile, is headed by the world’s top two ranked under-18 sides Japan and the United States.
Following the tournament, Bedggood will take the next step in his career by starting at Odessa College in Texas, where he will juggle studying kinesiology with playing in pursuit of higher honours.
“I’ll see where that takes me but obviously I want to make it to the majors,” he said.