Americans defeat host-Aussies, move on to medal round

SYDNEY (AP) - Not a bad way to finish, mates.

Showing the type of offense missing all tournament, the United States completed its Olympic preliminaries Sunday with a 12-1 victory over host Australia.

A day after taking its only loss against Cuba, the United States (6-1) headed into the medal round on an upbeat note. Brent Abernathy had four hits as the Americans played their most complete game of the tournament.

"We came out and did what we needed to do all week - put runs on the board," Abernathy said.

There was little drama and nothing at stake for the Americans, who knew before the final out they were headed for a medals-round matchup with South Korea (4-3) on Tuesday.

Cuba (6-1) will get a rematch with Japan (4-3) in the other game. The two winners will play for the gold medal on Wednesday.

"I think we needed this one," said first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz, whose eight-inning grand slam beat South Korea during round-robin play. "Our emotion was dropping a little bit. Tonight we got our intensity back and were focused in the right direction."

A cold, steady rain and a steady stream of mistakes by the home team left the Aussie crowd soaked and disappointed. The Americans batted around twice in the first four innings for a 10-0 lead that ended the "Aussie! Aussie! Aussie!" chants.

It was a bitter finish for Australia (2-4), which had hopes of contending for a medal with former major league All-Star Dave Nilsson behind the plate. Rather than play in the majors this year, Nilsson passed up millions of dollars and played in Japan so he would be eligible for the Olympics.

"I made it very clear from the start that the Olympics is just a two-week experience, something I wanted to be a part of," Nilsson said.

"I've been fortunate to have played some time in the majors. This is something else I wanted to do, so I'm very glad I could."

Nilsson held up his end, going 13-for-23 (.565) as the tournament's top hitter. No one else did much consistently as the Australians finished seventh in the eight-team field, managing only one more win than first-time entrant South Africa.

Nilsson signed with the New York Yankees earlier this month, but the deal was too late to make him eligible for the playoffs. Nilsson plans to take a vacation with his family and start thinking about what he'll do next year.

"That will just evolve over the next month or so," he said.

In their last chance for a warm memory, the Australians' pitchers unraveled.

Mark Hutton, who played with the Yankees and several other major league teams, gave up five hits, four walks and four runs in the first two innings before a 36-minute rain delay.

With a steady rain falling, the United States sent 10 batters to the plate for four runs in the second.

Anthony Sanders and Abernathy had RBI doubles and Ernie Young drew a bases-loaded walk.

AP PHOTO

American manager Tommy Lasorda has enjoyed an easy return to managing - his team is 6-1 in the Olympics.