Australia manager ready to lean into pitchers' KBO experience vs. Korea

Australia manager Dave Nilsson speaks at a press conference prior to the World Baseball Classic at Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Wednesday. Yonhap

When his Australian team takes on Korea for the countries' final Pool C game of the World Baseball Classic (WBC) in Tokyo next week, manager Dave Nilsson will feel confident in the depth and amount of knowledge his players have on their opponents.

For one, the two countries have a long history against each other in international play. And it was Australia's 8-7 win over Korea to open the 2023 WBC in Tokyo that essentially sealed Korea's fate and set up Australia for a trip to the quarterfinals.

Also, Nilsson has a few pitchers at his disposal with experience in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) and their knowledge of Korean hitters can come in handy this time around. Warwick Saupold, Lachlan Wells and Coen Wynne have all pitched in the Korean league, with Wells set for a full season with the LG Twins in 2026 after a brief stint with the Kiwoom Heroes last year.

"It will be an important game, the final game," Nilsson said at a pretournament press conference at Tokyo Dome on Wednesday. "As far as leaning into the experience of Australians who've been in the KBO, absolutely, we'll lean into that. But we have a lot of information. That'll just be a small piece of the puzzle that we'll lean into, and I'm sure it's going to be a great contest."

Australian pitcher Lachlan Wells poses for a photo after an interview with Yonhap News Agency at Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Wednesday. Yonhap

Wells pitched in four games for the Heroes as a short-term injury replacement, going 1-1 with a 3.15 ERA over 20 innings. Then he signed on as an Asian quota player for the Twins, with the KBO now allowing teams to sign a player from Asia or Australia in addition to their usual group of three foreign-born players.

Wells told Yonhap News Agency that nothing about the Korea game should surprise his team, given the familiarity between the teams.

"The boys have been coming to these tournaments for a while now and have played against Korea multiple times," the left-hander said. "So they know what to expect and the way that they go about their business. So we're just going to prepare ourselves the best we can."

Wells kept things close to the vest when asked about any Korean hitter that has stood out for him.

"I haven't really taken too much notice of their roster yet," he said. "Obviously, we've got a couple of games ahead of them. So once that time comes and the boys are in there looking at the rosters, if there's one that stands out, I'll give some advice. But we've got plenty of guys here that do scouting reports and all that type of stuff. So leave it up to them."