The Perth Heat and Sydney Blue Sox have swept aside their opponents to take commanding leads at the top of the Australian Baseball League standings.
The dominant weekends sets up an intriguing battle for home ground advantage in the semi-finals as round nine of competition wrapped up on Sunday.
Tied with the Blue Sox at the top of the ladder on Saturday, Perth claimed outright first on Sunday in emphatic fashion by hammering the Melbourne Aces 12-2 in just seven innings after the mercy rule was brought into play, giving the Heat their eighth consecutive victory and their 22nd win of the season.
The Heat outscored the Aces 56-25 over the four games, winning 13-9, 15-6, 16-8 and 12-2, while belting 18 pitches over the home run fence in an awesome offensive display.
Perth were led at the plate in game four by centre fielder Ronnie Welty and second baseman and Minnesota Twins infielder Luke Hughes, who each connected on three hits including one home run.
The Heat’s pitching rotation backed up their batters admirably, with Cameron Lamb, Cole McCurry, Ben Moore and Matt Zachary all earning wins.
Just one win behind Perth in the standings are the Sydney Blue Sox, who swept the Adelaide Bite 4-0 at home, winning each of their first three games by just a single run before wrapping up the final match 6-2.
Sydney had entered the series against the then top-of-the-table Adelaide under a cloud after losing all four games at home to the Heat the week before.
But they snapped their losing streak in game one thanks to a ninth innings’ RBI single to centre fielder Trent Schmutter which gave his team a much needed 5-4 victory.
The Blue Sox maintained their composure under pressure in game two and three by winning by the barest of margins, 4-3 and 6-5, before a four-run fifth innings in game four helped them to a healthier winning margin.
The second-placed Blue Sox are three wins ahead of the third-placed Adelaide Bite with just one regular season round to play.
The Brisbane Bandits series against the Canberra Cavalry series was postponed due to flooding in south-east Queensland.
Nambucco Deliria
Guest
Explain?
Mark
Guest
Hey Nambucco, cricket has a mercy rule too, it is called the 20/20 game.
Nicholas R.W. Henning
Guest
Nambucco Deliria, the baseball mercy rule has its benefits. How many times have you seen in other sports where a game is clearly lost and a player gets injured when the game result is beyond recovery? I have seen it in rugby league plenty of times, i.e. a player getting injured with twenty minutes to go in a game with a thrashing score notched up. The mercy rule is about protecting player resources. I used to share your point of view when it came to watching cricket... "Fun to play it maybe, but as a spectator sport? I can't see the attraction." Well, as it turned out for me, baseball prompted my interest in cricket, which is funny to say as an Aussie. We all have our own tastes and baseball is a game I thoroughly enjoy.
Nambucco Deliria
Guest
"Perth claimed outright first on Sunday in emphatic fashion by hammering the Melbourne Aces 12-2 in just seven innings after the mercy rule was brought into play" Ah, the mercy rule. When a sport is so boring it's rulemakers bring in a rule like this to put everyone out of their misery before the game's scheduled end, you have to wonder why anyone bothers with it. Fun to play it may be, but as a spectator sport? I can't see the attraction.
Nicholas R.W. Henning
Guest
The Australian Baseball League (ABL) continues to prove that it is a solid competition with the top four teams fighting over first place for the last month. One gets the feeling that a Sydney Blue Sox versus Perth Heat Grand Final would be a fitting finish. Although, I predict an Adelaide Bite versus Sydney Blue Sox Grand Final in Sydney. Last weekend saw positive crowds at multiple ABL venues. To date the first season of the ABL has been a hit on many levels, and it seems reasonable that further progress will be made with baseball in Australia in the future. Nicholas R.W. Henning - Australian Baseball Author