(Story by Marco Stoovelaar; Photo by Henk Seppen)
 Canberra and Perth force third game in Australian Play-Offs
Nederlands
  THORNLIE, Perth, Western Australia / NEWMARKET, Brisbane, Queensland (Australia) -
Canberra Cavalry and Perth Heat forced a third and deciding game in the best-of-three Semi-Finals of the Brut Australian Baseball League by winning on Saturday (January 26).
In the openers on Thursday, Canberra was handed a big 18-1 loss by reigning champion Brisbane Bandits, while Perth was shutout 7-0 by Sydney Blue Sox.
On Saturday, Canberra won 8-6 and Perth recorded a 3-1 victory.
The third game will be played on Sunday.
The winners will advance to the best-of-three Australian Baseball League Championship Series.
...Tim Kennelly was 1-for-4 for Perth...
...On the photo, he hits for Australia during...
...the 2013 World Baseball Classic...
...in Taichung (Taiwan)...
(© Photo: Henk Seppen) |
At Perth Harley-Davidson Ballpark in Thornlie, Perth Heat opened the score with two runs in the fifth inning.
The home-team led 3-0 when Sydney Blue Sox scored its lone run in the eighth inning.
Sydney recorded only four basehits.
One of them was hit by Dwayne Kemp, who was the second baseman again for Sydney and batted 1-for-4.
Sydney got a chance to open the score in the top of the first inning off of starter Conor Lourey.
Trent D'Antonio led off with a single and moved on a sarifice bunt.
Dwayne Kemp then struckout, but hereafter the bases got loaded via a walk and hit batter.
The inning ended when veteran player Jack Murphy also struckout.
After stranding two runners in the third inning, Sydney got another scoring opportunity in the fifth.
With one out, D'Antonio walked and stole second base.
Next batter Jacob Younis then reached on an error, which was followed by a pitching change.
The inning then ended when Kemp grounded into a double play.
Moments later, Perth opened the score in its fifth at bat off of starter Josh Guyer.
Alex Hall led off with a walk, then scored when Carl Chester followed with a homerun.
Perth added a run in the sixth inning when Tim Kennelly led off with a single and scored on a double by next batter Pete Kozma.
Trailing 3-0, Sydney scored its lone run in the top of the eighth.
Lead-off hitter Jacob Younis reached on an error, then moved to third base on a single by Dwayne Kemp, who himself ended up on second base on the throw to third.
Hereafter, Younis scored on a sacrifice fly by Gift Ngoepe.
This ended in a double play, as Kemp also was eliminated at second base.
In the top of the ninth, Sydney got runners on second and third base with two outs, but the game ended with a strikeout.
At OneHub Stadium powered by Optus in Newmarket, Brisbane Bandits broke a 3-3 tie in the bottom of the seventh inning, but Canberra Cavalry answered with a 5-run rally in the eighth inning.
In Saturday's game, a total of eight homeruns was hit (seven by Brisbane).
Today, five fourbaggers were recorded, three by Canberra, two by Brisbane.
Canberra opened the score with two runs in the top of the second inning off of starter Tim Atherton.
Zach Wilson led off with a walk, then scored on an one-out homerun by Boss Moanaroa, who accounted for the lone run of his team on Saturday when he also homered.
Brisbane cut the deficit in half in the fourth inning when Andrew Campbell led off with a triple and scored on a sacrifice fly by Logan Wade.
In the fifth at bat, the home-team scored twice, thanks to a 2-run double by T.J. Bennett to take a 3-2 lead.
But in the top of the sixth, Canberra came alongside when David Kandilas homered with one out.
In the seventh inning, Brisbane broke the tie when another homerun was hit.
This time, with two outs, it was Ryan Battaglia, who lined the ball over the fence in leftfield.
However, in the top of the eighth, Canberra struck with five runs.
With one out, Cam Warner and Michael Fransoso singled, which led to a pitching change.
Ryan Searle took over from Tim Atherton, but was greeted with an infield-hit by David Kandilas that loaded the bases.
Next batter Craig Massey also singled to bring in two runners, then Zach Wilson followed with a 3-run homerun to make it an 8-4 score.
In the bottom of the eighth, Brisbane narrowed the deficit to 8-6.
With one out and a runner on first base, pinch-hitter Donald Lutz homered.
He also had homered in Saturday's game.
Trailing 8-6, Brisbane got a final chance in the ninth at bat.
Ryan Battaglia led off with a double, moved to third base on a sacrifice bunt, but was left behind.
(January 26)
Related Articles:
 Kemp & Van Mil win Australian Play-Off openers. (January 25)
Canberra wins Australian Wild Card; Kemp leads in basehits. (January 23)
Loek van Mil returns to mound in Australia for Brisbane. (January 20)
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