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 Max 2017 . But by the time the game started, the Toronto Raptors forward felt even worse. And, for three quarters, it showed as Gay shot a woeful three-for-13 from the field. Cheap Air Max 95 . Those lessons were more than enough to overwhelm the Utah Jazz. Lou Williams scored 25 points and the Hawks continued their offensive upswing as they rolled to an easy 118-85 victory over the Jazz on Friday night, winning their third straight and for the fourth time in five games. http://www.airmaxshoescheaponline.com/ . With their top three point guards and Kobe Bryant all sidelined by injury, the Lakers signed Marshall out of the D-League on Friday before their home game against Minnesota. 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Purifoy hit a 3-pointer amid a 9-2 run and Auburn led 37-34 at halftime.The Colonels (1-2) closed to within 38-39 early in the second half on Jaylen Babb-Harrisons layup. Auburn pulled away on a 15-2 run and led 65-50 after a free throw by Heron and Eastern Kentucky got no closer.Auburns 34.5 shooting percentage in the first period became a scorching 56.7 percent in the second half as the Tigers broke the game open.Theyre a good team, and you cant give a team like that second- and third-chance opportunities, and thats what we did, Eastern Kentucky coach Dan McHale said. We allowed them to impose their will, and they made us pay.The Tigers (3-0) were by propelled by Heron, a freshman, who connected on all eight of his field goal attempts, but only made seven of his 13 free throws.Auburn outrebounded the Colonels 51-30, but made 25 of 41 free throws (61 percent), which helped Eastern Kentucky stay close for most of the game.I thought that we were obviously, our physicality -- the difference between the OVC and the SEC showed up on the boards, Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said. And obviously we took advantage of some things. I dont think that our offensive execution is not whhat it needs to be.dddddddddddd Were going to spend some time doing a better job with that.Nick Mayo led the Colonels with 22 points and five rebounds, and Dillon Avare added 14 points.THE TAKEAWAYAuburn: The Tigers finish their opening homestand 3-0 and head to Cancun, Mexico, on a roll.Eastern Kentucky: The Colonels drop the first of two games against Power 5 opponents and fall below .500 on the season.HE SAID ITInteresting. Weve struggled from the free throw line and we were shooting great in the preseason and we actually shot more free throws this week than we have in a while. I think Im not going to shoot any more free throws and just let them do it on their own because that could have been an issue in the outcome. -- Auburn coach Bruce PearlMAJOR MILESTONEAuburn guard Ronnie Johnson finished with 13 points, but it was a seemingly meaningless layup midway through the second half that mattered the most. With those two points, Johnson eclipsed 1,000 total points for his career. Johnson, a graduate transfer, scored 697 points in his first two years at Purdue and had 291 at Houston last year.STARTING HOTWith the win, Auburn moves to 3-0 for the first time since 2011-12. Its the second time in 12 years thats happened on The Plains.UP NEXTAuburn travels to Cancun to play Texas Tech on Tuesday for the Tigers first away game, and theyll look to keep Bruce Pearls best start at Auburn going.Eastern Kentucky also plays the Red Raiders in Cancun, but the Colonels take on Texas Tech on Saturday. Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys cheap jerseys Cheap Jersyes Cheap Basketball Jerseys Cheap NHL Jerseys cheap jerseys Cheap Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Cheap Jerseys From China Cheap NFL Jerseys ' ' '