Four months ahead of the 2017 World Baseball Classic, Australia have impressively raised their profile in the sport.Australia claimed the silver medal at the U-23 Baseball World Cup in Monterrey, Mexico, a milestone result for a program ranked No. 13 in the world. The Aussies won six of eight games in the first two rounds of the tournament to earn a spot in Sunday nights championship game, where they lost 10-3 to top-ranked Japan.The loss is disappointing for Team Australia, but a second-place finish undoubtedly indicates tremendous progress. By winning the silver, Australia are likely to jump to No. 11 in the world rankings and appear to have a bright future.Its very significant, said Australia U-23 head coach Tony Harris. We couldnt be prouder of how the guys played in the entire tournament. Its a credit to this team, and for Australia baseball, its massive.Australia shortstop Jacob Younis was named the top hitter in the World Cup after posting a .571 batting average with seven RBIs. First baseman Connor MacDonald hit a tournament-high four home runs, including two against Panama on Saturday to help clinch a spot in the championship game. Four Aussies were named in the All-World Cup team: Younis, MacDonald, designated hitter Guy Edmonds and relief pitcher Joshua Guyer.Im super proud of these young men, Harris said. They were fantastic ambassadors for Australian baseball, the way they carried themselves on and off the field.Japans U-23 team have a bevy of professional talent, including players from the nations top pro level, the NPB. So Harris knew that his team, which had lost to Japan 11-2 in the opening round, would need to play flawlessly to have a chance to win gold.In the early innings, Australia did just that. Aaron Whitefiled gave the Aussies a 2-0 lead in the second inning with a single that scored Sam Kennelly and Ben Leslie. Zach Shepherd then led off the fourth inning with a home run to make it 3-0 and chase Japan starting pitcher Taiga Kasahara. Meantime, Aussie pitcher Nick Veale was sharp in facing the minimum number of batters through three innings.But Japan is ranked No. 1 in the world for good reason, and their explosive lineup broke through for four runs in the fourth inning and never looked back. Australia banged out 10 base hits, compared to just seven for Japan. But Japan were able to take advantage of four Australia errors to score five unearned runs.Japan first baseman Taishi Hirooka struck the biggest blow, hitting a three-run homer in the sixth inning. Left fielder Yusuke Masago, who hit a solo homer and scored two runs in the championship game, was named MVP of the 12-team tournament.Australia played the World Cup without the services of several key players because of injuries and professional commitments, making the silver-medal result even more impressive.It gave others players a chance to step up, Harris said. And boy did they step up.Australia beat Chinese Taipei, ranked No. 4 in the world, on its way to a 4-1 record in the opening round. The Aussies opened the second round with a loss to host Mexico, but rebounded with wins against No. 3 Korea and Panama to earn a spot in the championship game.Looking ahead, Australias senior team will play in the first round of the World Baseball Classic in Tokyo on March 7-10. The Southern Thunder are grouped with China, Cuba and Japan in pool play.Harris will be in Tokyo as an assistant coach, and about a half-dozen of his U-23 players are candidates to earn roster spots on the WBC team. But first, he will lend some perspective to what Team Australia just accomplished in Mexico.How significant is the achievement for the Australian players who just earned World Cup silver medals?They will carry this experience for the rest of their days and take it to the grave, Harris said. Cheap Air Jordan 4 Wholesale . Halladay signed a one-day contract with the Toronto Blue Jays on Monday that allowed the veteran right-hander to retire as a member of team with which he broke into the majors and spent the bulk of his distinguished 16-year career. Cheap Air Jordan 4 Uk Sale .ca looks back at the stories and moments that made the year memorable. http://www.cheapairjordan4uk.com/ . Radwanska, making her debut in the Seoul tournament, hit eight aces in a match that lasted 1 hour, 4 minutes at Olympic Park tennis stadium. "It was definitely a very good match -- I was playing really good tennis," Radwanska said. Cheap Air Jordan 4 Online . Once again, DeLaet finished tied for second at a PGA Tour stop on the weekend, this time at the Waste Management Phoenix Open. The pride of Weyburn, Sask. Wholesale Air Jordan 4 Uk . Now, correct me if Im wrong but I saw one official distinctly pointing at the net indicating a good goal but after an inconclusive review they overturned the goal. Shouldnt the ruling on the ice (good goal) stand after an inconclusive review? Why was this overturned? James Veaudry Pembroke, ON -- Hey Kerry, Youll get a lot of these, but why was the Montreal goal against Nashville Saturday night overturned? Eller puts the puck on net and the on ice ruling from the ref behind the net is a Montreal goal. New Zealand 152 for 1 (Williamson 66*, Latham 56*) trail India 318 (Vijay 65, Pujara 62, Jadeja 42*, Boult 3-67, Santner 3-94) by 166 runsScorecard and ball-by-ball detailsAn unbroken century stand between Tom Latham and Kane Williamson led New Zealands response to Indias first-innings total of 318, moving them to 152 for 1 before rain washed out the final session of day two. But New Zealands position was still far from secure, with the spinners getting the ball to turn and jump with increasing frequency as the day wore on.A light rain began just before the players went off for tea, and intensified during the break to become a heavy shower. The rain stopped at roughly 3.15pm, but the umpires decided, after an inspection at 3.45pm, to call off further play. From the start of their partnership halfway through the first session until about an hour after lunch, Williamson and Latham looked mostly untroubled against R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja. Both batsmen looked to stay on the back foot as much as possible and use the slowness of the Green Park pitch to their advantage. Williamson did this to great effect, manoeuvering the ball into gaps through the leg side and behind point.Both used the sweep frequently. Latham got in trouble on a few occasions when he swept from a stump-to-stump line, but the shot also brought him a fair proportion of his runs. Williamson was a little more selective, playing it only off balls that were going down the leg side or, more commonly, getting his front leg a long way across to balls pitching outside off - effectively negating lbw - and lapping or paddling behind square.But as they neared their half-centuries, things began to happen. Ashwin seemed to find the right pace for the pitch, tossing it up a little higher and slower to entice the batsmen forward. Williamson, stretching out to defend, took a blow to the helmet as the ball dipped on him and bounced disconcertingly.A couple of overs later, Virat Kohli threw the ball to M Vijay, bringing on the part-time offspinner to change his main spinners ends. In the space of three balls, Vijay beat Lathams edge with a sharply spinning offbreak and had an lbw appeal turned down after hitting his pad on the full with a ball that may just have been angling down the leg side.Ashwin had another lbw appeal turned down in the next over, when aa ball spun sharply back as Williamson tried to defend it off the back foot.dddddddddddd It probably struck him outside the line, but it was no longer so easy for the batsmen to sit back against the spinners.Then came the two big moments of the session, both off Jadejas bowling. On 47, Latham swept Jadeja onto his boot. The ball popped up to short leg, where KL Rahul grabbed the ball on the juggle, but replays - initially called for to check whether the ball had hit the ground after hitting the boot - suggested it had made contact with the strap of his helmet while he took the catch, contravening Law 32.3. The relevant clause says: it is not a fair catch if at any time after having been struck by the bat and before a catch is completed the ball has touched a protective helmet worn by a fielder.Then, five overs from tea, Richard Kettleborough shook his head when Jadeja implored him to give Williamson out caught behind. Replays picked up a noise when the ball passed Williamsons bottom-edge as he went back to cut, but Ultra Edge did not show any deviation at that point.Indias only success came in the first session, via Umesh Yadav, who struck with a full, straight ball that Martin Guptill, rather than playing down the ground with a straight bat, looked to work into the leg side, across his front pad. He missed, and ball struck pad in front of middle stump.It was the end of an edgy innings from an opener still trying to find a method to succeed in Test cricket. He hit Jadeja for two fours, one a straight hit over the top that he didnt quite middle, but also looked troubled by the left-arm spinner, surviving an lbw shout thanks to an inside-edge and nearly losing his off stump while leaving one that went with the arm.In the morning, Jadeja and Umesh added 27 to Indias overnight total, stretching their last-wicket partnership to 41, before Neil Wagner brought their innings to a close at 318. Jadeja went after the bowling, particularly the left-arm spin of Mitchell Santner, which he hit for two fours and a big six over long-on in three overs, and ended unbeaten on 42 off 44. Umesh survived 15 balls before gloving a short ball from Wagner down the leg side to the wicketkeeper BJ Watling. ' ' '