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(Story by Marco Stoovelaar; Photo by Henk Seppen)
 Loek van Mil in Australian Final with Adelaide
Nederlands
 NARRABUNDAH, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory (Australia) -
SA Power Networks Adelaide Bite has reached the final of the professional Australian Baseball League.
The team of Dutch pitcher Loek van Mil won Game 3 of the best-of-three Preliminary Final on Sunday (January 31) vs. Canberra Elite Cavalry with 9-2 to reach the final series.
It was the second game of a double-header today at Narrabundah Ballpark (also named The Fort at MIT Ballpark) is located in Narrabundah, a suburb in the south of Australian capital Canberra.
First, the two teams esumed Game 2, which was halted on Friday.
That game was initially started on Saturday, despite heavy rain, but stopped quickly, just after John Schultz had led off for Canberra in the top of the first inning, then halted definitively after a two hours delay.
Today, the game resumed with a runner on second base.
This time, it could be played completely, thanks to a lot of work by the groundscrew on both Saturday and Sunday to make the field playable again.
While it was dry today, it was cloudy, very windy and sometimes chilly with temperatures of 19 degrees Celsius (66 Fahrenheit).
Adelaide took an early 2-0 lead, but Canberra turned the game around, won 3-2 and forced a third game.
Adelaide had won the first game at home on Friday with a 6-4 victory.
In that game, Dutch pitcher Loek van Mil threw the final 2 1/3 inning for Adelaide to earn a save.
Van Mil plays for the team since early December and was 3-2 with five saves in the regular season.
The righthander didn't pitch in both games today.
Adelaide now will meet Brisbane Bandits in the Championship Final, that opens on February 5 and will be played in Brisbane.
The Bandits automatically qualified for the final by finishing in first place in the regular season.
With that, they also earned home advantage and the hosting of the final.
(January 31)
Related Articles:
 Game 2 Australian Play-Off rains out. (January 30)
Loek van Mil earns save in Australian Play-Off Opener. (January 29)
Loek van Mil in Australian Play-Off. (January 28, 2016)
Loek van Mil makes comeback in professional baseball. (September 6, 2015)
Loek van Mil will pitch for Neptunus this season. (March 3, 2015)
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Game 2 - Canberra Cavalry vs. Adelaide Bite
When the game went underway, John Schultz returned to second base for Adelaide, as he had led off the game when it initially went underway with a double on Saturday.
Travis Demeritte, who had homered twice in the opener on Friday, then became the first batter when the game resumed.
He grounded out, bringing Schultz to third base.
Hereafter Kyle Petty homered to give Adelaide an early 2-0 lead.
With two outs, Tom Brice doubled, but he was left behind.
In the bottom of the first inning, with one out, River Stevens singled and Jason Leblebijian walked for Canberra, but both stranded.
After both teams were retired in order in the second inning, they reached base again in the third.
For Adelaide, John Schultz led off with a single and Stefan Welch singled with two outs, but they stranded.
For Canberra, a same kind of situation.
Aaron Sayers led off with a single and with two outs, Jason Leblebijian walked, but they also were left behind.
Adelaide got into scoring position for the third time in the top of the fourth.
With two outs, Wilson Lee walked and Connar O'Gorman singled, but this time powerhitter John Schultz struckout to end the inning.
Adelaide was then retired in order in the top of the fifth and this time, Canberra was productive in its fifth at bat, scoring twice to come alongside.
With two outs, David Harris, one of the best hitters in the league, was hit by a pitch.
Hereafter River Stevens and Jason Leblebijian connected for back-to-back RBI-doubles to make it a 2-2 score.
In the bottom of the sixth, Canberra took a 3-2 lead off of Takuro Ito, who replaced starter Steven Chambers.
With one out, Bryan Pounds homered to put the home team ahead for the first time.
In the next at bat, Canberra got a chance to add another run.
David Harris led off with a single, then Jason Sloan walked with two outs, which led to a pitching change.
Dallas Gallant took over for Ito, then a grounder ended the inning.
After scoring its two runs in the first inning, Adelaide was held scoreless by Canberra-starter Steven Kent.
The team was retired in order in the sixth by Kent, then left a runner on first base in the seventh off of his reliever Colton Turner.
In the top of the 8th, Kyle Petty led off with a single and stole second base with two outs, but was left behind.
In the top of the ninth, with a 3-2 lead, closer Michael Click took over the pitching for Canberra.
In the regular season, he led the squad with ten saves and walked only four batters, but also gave up 39 hits in 26 1/3 innings, while striking out 32.
He gave up a lead-off single to Marc Wilk, who advanced on a sacrifice bunt.
Pinch-hitter Davis Page followed with a single to put runners on first and third base, but then Click struckout John Schultz.
Travis Demeritte was the next batter and during his at bat Adelaide 3B Coach Andrew Scott was ejected by Home Plate Umpire Takahito Matsuda for making a remark.
When the game resumed, Demeritte was called out strikes moments later on a low outside pitch.
That ended the game.
And with that, Canberra won 3-2 and forced a third and deciding game.
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Game 3 - Canberra Cavalry vs. Adelaide Bite
In the second game today and the decisive one of the series, Canberra initially led 2-1 after two innings, but Adelaide then staged a deciding 4-run rally in the third at bat.
In the top of the first inning, with one out, Travis Demeritte hit his third homerun of the series to give Adelaide an early lead.
In the bottom of the first, as the short stop, Demeritte committed a throwing error on a grounder by Canberra's lead-off hitter David Harris.
He moved on a bunt-single by River Stevens, then sored the tying run on a single by Jason Leblebijian.
A sacrifice bunt moved the runners to second and third base, then an intentional walk loaded the bases to set-up a force play.
The inning ended when Demeritte made an unassisted double play on a line drive by Bryan Pounds.
Canberra took a 2-1 lead in the second inning.
Veteran Boss Moanaroa led off with a double, moved on a single by Ryan Miller and scored when Aaron Sayers grounded into a double play.
...Loek van Mil didn't pitch today...
...but he is in the final...
(© Photo: Henk Seppen) |
Adelaide then struck with a 4-run rally with two outs in the top of the third inning.
With two outs, Travis Demeritte walked and Kyle Petty singled.
Both scored when Stefan Welch followed with a double.
Welch then scored then next run on a single by Tom Brice, who later reached third base on a throwing error and scored on a single by Marc Wilk.
A walk then loaded the bases and that led to a change of both the pitcher and catcher of Canberra.
Louis Cohen took over for starter Scott Cone and he closed with a strikeout, but Adelaide now led 5-2.
Adelaide added another run in the fourth when John Schultz led off with a double, moved on a wild pitch and scored on a single by Kyle Petty.
In the seventh, Adelaide increased its lead by scoring two more runs.
This time, Kyle Petty led off with a homerun.
Stefan Welch followed with a double and, after a pitching change, went on to score on a sacrifice fly by Angus Roeger to make it 8-2.
Adelaide scored its final run in the ninth and it was only fittingly that it was done by Travis Demeritte.
The American already had homered twice in the first game, then homered again in the first inning of this game.
In the ninth, James Kennedy became the new pitcher for Canberra and he faced Demeritte, who then homered again to make it a 9-2 score.
After scoring its second run in the second inning, Canberra got only two more runners in scoring position in the remainder of the game.
Adelaide finished the Play-Off with a convincing win and now will travel to Brisbane for the final series of the season that begins next Friday.
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Copyright © 1997-2016 Marco Stoovelaar / Grand Slam * Stats & News.
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