The Aussie Spirit lived up to their world ranking with a fourth-place finish at the women's softball world championship in Chiba, Japan.
In a dramatic penultimate day of the championship, the Australian team survived a heart-stopping game against Mexico before snatching a last-gasp 2-1 win.
That walk-off win eliminated Mexico and guaranteed the Aussie Spirit would finish no lower than fourth.
Needing to beat Canada to earn at least a bronze medal, the Aussie Spirit, ranked fourth in the world, came up short against the third-ranked Canadian team.
The championships are a potential qualifying event for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games,
Medals will be decided on Sunday between top-ranked USA, No. 2-ranked Japan and Canada.
The winner of the tournament will qualify for the 2020 Olympics.
Japan, as hosts, automatically qualify, so if they win, the runners-up will go through.
The Aussie Spirit will play in an Asia-Oceania qualifying tournament in 2019 to earn the right to compete in Tokyo.
The date and venue of the qualifying tournament are yet to be decided.
