Baseball: Warm-up win for NZers

The New Zealand baseball team last night secured an 8-5 win over the Canberra Cavalry in their fourth warm-up game on the road to the World Baseball Classic qualifiers in Taiwan next week.

Second baseman Alan Schoenberger paced the eight-run, 11-hit attack by singling in his first two at bats, with Te Wera Bishop doubling twice, and Daniel Devonshire adding a solo home run over the right-centre field scoreboard to add an insurance run in the fifth inning.

But it was the pitching of Jamie Wilson and Yong-Min (John) Lee that overshadowed the Diamondblacks' breakout game at the plate, as the two domestic right handers shut down the Cavalry's best professional hitters over the first six innings and limited their starting nine to just two hits. Canberra play in the Australian Baseball League.

"It was a really good game," Wilson said. "We were able to throw a lot of strikes and had the team picking us up. I think the nerves are gone and we're ready for Taiwan."

The two sides play again tonight (NZT) in the second of the three-game series.