CUBS LOVE UNDERDOG TAG
COOMERA Cubs young guns Jaime Fox and Ian Lee are embracing Australia’s underdog tag as they prepare to take on the giants of world baseball.
The pair left for a week of training in Atlanta with their Aussie under-15 teammates last Thursday, ahead of the biggest moment of their careers at the World Cup in Panama from tomorrow until August 19. The 20strong Australian squad enters the tournament ranked eighth in the world and will face Japan (No.2) in their first game, before meetings with South Africa (26), Dominican Republic (12), Netherlands (9) and two-time defending champions Cuba (4).
Should they progress, the Australians will likely have to topple the topranked Americans to claim silverware, but Fox, 14, believes it is a goal within their reach.
“I think we can go all the way. We’re going in as underdogs but I think that’s just fuel to the fire for us to show them we can compete and win a medal,” the Kingscliff-based catcher said.
“We gel really well as a team and if we put it all together over there we can go well. It’s going to be tough to compete but our staff’s pretty good, we’ve got a lot of good position players and I think we can compete really well over there.”
Schoolmates at Robina State High, Fox and
Lee were members of the Australian side that beat New Zealand in the Oceanic qualifier in January to book a place at the World Cup.