2010&ndash;11 Australian Baseball League regular season

2010–11 Australian Baseball League regular season

The 2010-11 Australian Baseball League regular season was held from 6 November 2010 through to 22 January 2011. All six teams competed in a double round-robin format, playing each other team in two series of four games each, totalling 40 games played each. The Cavalry, however, opted to use several pitchers, each throwing two complete innings.
Sydney left fielder Tim Auty registered the league's first hit of the season in the with a line drive single to centre field. Canberra did not register a hit until the fourth inning to see their first baserunner when third baseman Kyu-Hyun Moon singled to right field.
The game had been scoreless through the first seven innings, despite Sydney loading the bases in the bottom of the sixth against reliever Lee Jung-Min: right fielder David Kandilas walked to lead off the inning, and was followed by third baseman Trent D'Antonio with a single to left field. Auty hit a sacrifice bunt to move both runners over, leading the Cavalry to intentionally walk centre fielder Mitch Dening. The Blue Sox were unable to capitalise on the opportunity, when designated hitter Patrick Maat struck out and catcher Andrew Graham grounded out.
Sydney scored the only run of the night in the eighth inning against reliever Heo Jun-Hyeok. With two out, Auty singled to left field for his second hit of the night, then stole second base. He was then driven in by Dening, who singled to centre field. Dening also stole second, but was stranded there at the end of the inning. In the top of the ninth, relievers Matthew Williams and Koo Dae-Sung combined to close the game out, earning a hold and save respectively. Despite scoring first in the second inning through back-to-back doubles from Grant Karlsen and Itaru Hashimoto, the Aces lost the second game of the series 7-4. the Bite's starting pitcher Darren Fidge was once again the standout; he pitched 8 innings and allowed 3 runs on 3 hits and 3 walks, and struck out 7. Quincy Latimore went 4-for-8 over the two games of the doubleheader; he hit a 3-run home run in the first inning and took a catch at the left field wall in the fifth inning of game one to help Adelaide to a 13-2 win, then hit two more home runs in the second game where Adelaide won 8-3 to complete the series sweep.
Brisbane v Perth
The Brisbane Bandits and the Perth Heat opened their seasons in Brisbane. The ceremonial first pitch was thrown by Graeme Lloyd and caught by the Bandits' manager Dave Nilsson; the only all-Australian battery to appear in a Major League Baseball game and both Baseball Australia Hall of Fame inductees in their own right. Despite Robbie Widlansky's two extra base hits and his scoring two runs, Perth was unable to take the lead at any point in the game. Brisbane's Wade Dutton, Shuhei Fukuda, Alan Schoenberger, and Joel Naughton each had multi-hit games to help the Bandits to an 8-3 win. Widlansky was a key player for the Heat again in the second game, which Perth won 2-0, opening the scoring with a solo home run. Daniel Schmidt was the other key player; he was the starting pitcher and pitched 8 innings, allowing no runs on 5 hits and striking out 8 Bandits. Perth also won both games of the doubleheader—4-2 in the day game and 4-1 in the night game—to win its opening series. In the day game Brandon Dale went 3-for-4 with a double and a run batted in, and Luke Hughes went 1-for-2 scoring 2 runs, including scoring a run from his lead-off triple in the fifth inning. Heat pitchers Warwick Saupold, Tyler Anderson, Robert Sorensen, and Liam Hendriks combined to keep the Bandits to 1 run on 7 hits, striking out 11 Brisbane hitters.
Sydney v Canberra
Six days after the opening night of the season Sydney and Canberra continued their series at Blacktown Olympic Park. Three of the Blue Sox's key players from that opening night gave repeat performances to defeat the Cavalry 4-2: Chris Oxspring was the starting pitcher for Sydney and pitched 8 innings, having allowed 2 runs on 4 hits and struck out 7 to earn the win; Koo Dae-Sung retired the three Cavalry hitters he faced for a scoreless ninth inning to earn the save; Mitch Dening hit a ground rule double with the bases loaded to drive in the in the bottom of the fifth inning. In the first game of the season to be called early as a result of the league's run differential rule, Sydney comfortably beat Canberra 13-3. Though the Blue Sox combined to hit 7-for-17 with runners in scoring position and 7 runs driven in with two out, they were aided by 2 wild pitches by Cavalry pitchers, 3 passed balls by catcher Michael Collins, and 4 errors in the field, resulting in only 3 of the 13 runs scored by the Blue Sox being earned. Alex Johnson's 3-run home run in the bottom of the seventh inning was the difference in the final game of the series, helping Sydney to a 7-5 win and to sweep Canberra 4-0 in the series.
Round 2
The Perth Heat had their home opening series, hosting the Adelaide Bite at Baseball Park as did Canberra Cavalry in facing the Melbourne Aces at Narrabundah Ballpark. The Brisbane Bandits continued their homestand, playing the Sydney Blue Sox at the Brisbane Exhibition Ground. Despite home runs from Evan McArthur and Ronnie Welty, Adelaide were able to square the series by winning 7-3 in the second game; James McOwen homered as part of the Bite's 6-run sixth inning, while Quincy Latimore hit his 4th home run of the season in the seventh. Tied at 4-4 at the end of nine innings, game three went into extra innings. Ronnie Welty produced a walk-off home run in the bottom of the twelfth inning; his second home run in as many days to give the Heat a 6-4 win. The final game of the series was won by Adelaide 4-3. Quincy Latimore hit an RBI-double in the top of the ninth inning to put the Bite in front. In trying to score the tying run, Matt Kennelly was thrown out at home plate by James McOwen in center field for the final out of the game.
Canberra v Melbourne
Brisbane v Sydney
Round 3
The third round of the season had the same match-ups of teams from the previous round, but with a switch of home and away teams: the Adelaide Bite hosted the Perth Heat at Coopers Stadium, the Melbourne Aces had their home opener against the Canberra Cavalry at the Melbourne Showgrounds, and the Sydney Blue Sox faced the Brisbane Bandits at Blacktown Olympic Park. In the first game the Aces scored all their runs from four home runs, including 2-run shots from Scott Wearne (2-for-3) in the first inning and Grant Karlsen (2-for-3 with a double) in the fourth, allowing Melbourne to win 6-2. Wearne hit another first-inning home run in the second game, but the highlight—also in the first inning—of the game was a grand slam from Takahiro Ijyuin. Both home runs helped to set up a comfortable 10-2 win for the Aces to complete a sweep of the shortened series.
Sydney v Brisbane
Round 4
The Canberra Cavalry returned to the Narrabundah Ballpark to host the Adelaide Bite. The Perth Heat also returned to their home ground at Baseball Park to face the Brisbane Bandits, completing their season series. The Sydney Blue Sox completed their homestand against the Melbourne Aces at Blacktown Olympic Park.
Perth v Brisbane
Brisbane dominated Perth in the first game of the series to win in 8-1. Alan Schoenberger led the offence for the Bandits, hitting 3-for-4 with a double and a run batted in, as did Shuhei Fukuda with a home run in the first at bat of the game. Hiroki Yamada was credited with the win on the mound, pitching for 7 innings, allowing 1 run on 5 hits, striking out 8.
Sydney v Melbourne
Round 5
The Adelaide Bite completed their road trip, facing the Brisbane Bandits at the Brisbane Exhibition Ground. The Perth Heat completed their homestand, playing the Canberra Cavalry at Baseball Park in Perth.
Brisbane v Adelaide
Perth v Canberra
Melbourne v Sydney
Round 6
The Canberra Cavalry hosted the Perth Heat at Narrabundah Ballpark to complete their season series. The Sydney Blue Sox continued their road trip, facing the Adelaide Bite at Coopers Stadium. The Melbourne Aces completed their homestand with two back-to-back series at the Melbourne Showgrounds; two games against the Cavalry to make up for the games washed out in round 3, and four against the Brisbane Bandits as was originally scheduled. at Coopers Stadium, Adelaide. The Brisbane Bandits returned home to complete their season series against the Melbourne Aces at the Brisbane Exhibition Ground. The Perth Heat faced the Sydney Blue Sox for the first time in the season, playing at Baseball Park, Perth. In a reversal of form, Adelaide won the second game 6-3: two plays in the eighth inning that would otherwise have resulted in the third out were missed, each allowing the Bite to score an additional run to take the lead. For the third game in a row, the first team to score actually lost with Adelaide winning 9-2. Also continuing a trend in the series of runs scored from mistakes; both Bite runs scored in the sixth inning came when Melbourne's Shane Lindsay hit two consecutive hitters with bases loaded. Adelaide sealed the series win in the final game of the series, defeating Melbourne 10-7. The bite scored 5 runs without an out being recorded, including the first of two home runs from both Brandon Bantz and Tom Brice.
Canberra v Brisbane
The first game of the series was tied after the ninth inning, with both sides having had the lead at different points in the game. In the twelfth inning, Rory Rhodes for Brisbane and Donald Lutz for Canberra each hit solo home runs to keep the game tied. Alan Schoenberger scored the winning run in the thirteenth inning for the Bandits to win 7-6; Schoenberger doubled to centre field, was advanced by Wade Dutton's sacrifice bunt, and scored on Trent Baker's sacrifice fly. Alan Schoenberger opened the scoring in the second game with a grand slam in the second inning, while Michael Collins likewise ended the scoring with a grand slam in the eighth inning to give the win to Canberra 9-7. Despite Donald Lutz's third home run in as many games, Brisbane won the third game 16-9, after converting 7 hits and 5 walks in the first two innings into 11 runs. After the fourth game was tied in the bottom of the ninth inning through Tylor Prudhome's RBI-single broke the tie immediately in the tenth inning with an RBI-single from Trent Baker and a 3-run double from Josh Roberts to give Brisbane the win 8-4 and Canberra its first series loss at home.
Sydney v Perth
Despite having been swept at home by Sydney the previous weekend, and the addition of two Major Leaguers to the Blue Sox roster, Perth opened the series with a 3-1 win. A two-run single from Robbie Widlansky in the sixth inning proved the difference between the two teams. Allan de San Miguel's two 2-run home runs gave the Heat the lead in the second game and then provided insurance against a late Blue Sox rally, allowing Perth an 11-7 win. In his longest start of the season, Cole McCurry pitched 7 innings, allowing 3 earned runs on 6 hits, striking out 7 to get his first win in Perth's 4-3 victory, ensuring a Heat series win. Blue Sox manager Glenn Williams was ejected in the bottom of the sixth inning of the final game of the series, for arguing against two consecutive calls that according to him were "questionable". Had either call been made the other way, Sydney would likely have scored the first run of the game. Perth scored in each of the remaining innings to win the game 4-1, and complete the sweep of the series locking the season series at 4-4.
Round 9
The Sydney Blue Sox hosted their final home series of the season, against the Adelaide Bite at Blacktown Olympic Park, Sydney. The Melbourne Aces and Perth Heat started their season series at the Melbourne Showgrounds. however it was announced approximately one week later that the games would be rescheduled to the Monday and Tuesday immediately following round 10 in the form of two doubleheaders, but only if either team had a chance of making the playoffs, and only the games required for one of the teams to qualify.
Sydney v Adelaide
For the third game in a row, Sydney allowed their opponents to get a 4-run lead before scoring themselves. However, in the first game of the series against Adelaide, the Blue Sox were able to snap a season-long 4-game losing streak through a walk off single from Trent Schmutter that drove in Mark Holland to win 5-4. Sydney regained first place in the league with a second consecutive win over the Bite 4-3. David Welch was credited with his 5th win of the season (6 innings pitched, 1 unearned run, 5 hits, 8 strikeouts), and Koo Dae-Sung earned his league leading 10th save (2  innings pitched, 1 unearned run, 2 hits, 3 strikeouts). For the second time in three games, Sydney recorded a walk-off win, beating Adelaide 6-5 in extra innings. Mark Holland's 2-run home run tied the game in the eighth inning, while in the tenth Alex Johnson doubled, then Michael Lysaught—pinch running for Johnson—scored on catcher Brandon Bantz's wild throw to third base to score the winning run. The Blue Sox secured the series sweep by beating the Bite 6-2 in their final home game of the regular season. The four runs driven in by Andrew Graham, Trent Schmutter and Alex Johnson in the fifth inning gave Sydney the lead for the rest of the game.
Melbourne v Perth
Round 10
Adelaide v Brisbane
Canberra v Sydney
Perth v Melbourne

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