The relaunched Australian Baseball League reaches its climax this weekend when the Perth Heat host the Adelaide Bite in a best of three game series to decide the 2010/11 champions.
A season that began early last November concludes this coming Friday, Saturday and Sunday (if needed) at Barbagallo Ballpark.
Perth won hosting rights after sweeping Sydney at Blacktown Olympic Park in round one of the playoffs. Adelaide had a tougher ride to the championship series, having to overcome Melbourne at home before travelling to Sydney and beating the Blue Sox 2-1.
Sunday’s clinching game was an exhausting 15-inning affair that went almost five hours and capped off a gruelling schedule for the South Australians. It remains to be seen how much of a toll their effort has taken with the fresher Heat likely to start favourites.
Pitching will be crucial for both sides with Perth relying on the likes of Daniel Schmidt, Cole McCurry, Liam Baron and Warrick Saupold to get deep into games. For its part, Adelaide will look to Paul Mildren, Dushan Ruzic, Brandon Maurer and Mark Brackman to keep the Perth offense quiet. Both teams have strong bullpens intent on doing everything possible to gain the edge for their club.
For offense the Heat will be hoping that Luke Hughes, Robbie Widlansky, Ronnie Welty and Matthew Kennelly will carry over their regular season form where all were batting over 300. They can also count on first baseman Lachlan Dale, a late season call up who averaged 412. The Bite are not short of their own hot hitters in Scott Gladstone, James McOwen, Tom Brice, Quincy Latimore, Brendon Pett, Jeremy Creswell and Stefan Welch.
There was little between the teams during their regular season clashes which they split 4-4. Perth finished second on the table with a 24-16 record just in front of Adelaide’s 23-17. The Bite reversed this order in the runs scored category with 229 against the Heat’s 215.
Perth just shaded Adelaide when it came to pitching, posting an ERA of 3.79 compared to their opponent’s 3.83. Both have experienced managers in Tony Harris (Adelaide) and Brooke Knight (Perth), skippers who know how to get the best from their rosters.
The inaugural ABL champions will be awarded the Claxton Shield thus maintaining a link with the tradition and history of baseball in Australia. The series will be televised by Fox Sports commencing Friday 4.00pm Perth time. If the season to date is anything to go by we are in for a captivating weekend.
What’s your best bet? For great odds on all your favourite sports check out PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.
It’s a pretty good time to be a Tasmanian sports fan right now. After years in the sporting wilderness with not much to celebrate,…
Olympic swimming legend and Australian Sports Commission boss Kieren Perkins has warned that "someone will die" if a multi-sport event that allows athletes to…
In 2015 when heavyweight boxer Tyson Fury beat Wladimir Klitschko, the fighter regarded by many as the ‘Greatest of all time’ in the sport,…
Join Australia's most vibrant online sports community and you have the chance to win $1000. The Roar is the perfect blend of sports reporting,…
Here is a review of our boxers who made a splash in the world rankings over the past year.
After intense debate at Roar HQ, we’ve selected the 23 most controversial moments for 2023.
