WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC: POOL B - JAPAN VS AUSTRALIA

March 12, 2023

Dave Nilsson

Tokyo Dome

Team Australia

Postgame Press Conference

Japan 7, Australia 1

Q. First of all, what's the impression of Team Japan, the offense, they scored seven, and defensively, they minimized your offense. Tell us about Team Japan, please.

DAVE NILSSON: Team Samurai is the best team in the world so what they did tonight is no surprise. They very strong offensively and great pitching and solid defense. We saw it all on display to be the. You know they make you play really well if you have a chance to beat them.

Q. Looking back at the game, what was the point, the turning point of tonight's contest?

DAVE NILSSON: Yeah, I think the turning point was when Ohtani hit that ball about 500 feet in the first inning. You know, to be able to compete with Team Japan, you have to keep them scoreless the first few things and you have to work deep into the game and any time they get a lead early in the game, they are going to be very tough to Chase down, and that was the case tonight.

Q. Last November, you played against Japan two games in Sapporo. Compared to that -- since then, it's been four months. Is there any differences in between?

DAVE NILSSON: Yeah, I think we had not played for a long time, and they were at the end of a long season, so I think both teams are very different now. I think both teams are better now. Got a lot of the same players but for the most part, both teams are ready to go, in good shape right now, compared to last November.

Q. Tomorrow it will be winner-takes-all in the game against Czech Republic. What's in your mind for tomorrow?

DAVE NILSSON: Yeah, very excited for tomorrow. When the schedule came out last November, we had a pretty strong idea the game against Czech tomorrow is going to being an important game. We are really well prepared for tomorrow. We are all very excited and we cannot wait for it to come.

Q. Obviously you took kind of a one-sided loss tonight but you still have everything you came into the tournament hoping to achieve still in front of you, still achievable, so what was the message that you had to your players after tonight's game?

DAVE NILSSON: Yeah, look, we've prepared for this game tomorrow and we are really well ready for it. The guys know what they have to do, and they knew that they were going to be coming up against a tough team tonight. Again, we are very prepared and very excited for tomorrow.

Q. You've beat Japan twice at the Olympics in 2004. Compared to that point, is there any huge improvement of Japanese baseball, if there's any, let me know, please.

DAVE NILSSON: Team Samurai are very good. I think what I've noticed with the athletes is the last five, ten years, they are getting bigger and stronger, and I think they are going to continue to have bigger athletes, and you're seeing that with Ohtani and other athletes, they are very good. But as far as the skill level and how they play the game, they are still superb.