(Story by Marco Stoovelaar; Photos by Henk Seppen)
 Van Mil in Australian Final with Brisbane; Kemp eliminated with Sydney
Nederlands
  THORNLIE, Perth, Western Australia / NEWMARKET, Brisbane, Queensland (Australia) -
Brisbane Bandits and Perth Heat wil face each other in the best-of-three Australian Baseball League Championship Series, which begins coming Thursday.
On Sunday (January 27), Brisbane and Perth won their best-of-three Semi-Finals to advance to the Final.
In the third game of their Play-Off, Brisbane, the team of Dutch closer Loek van Mil, won 9-5 against Canberra Cavalry.
Van Mil threw 2 2/3 inning to become the winning pitcher.
Perth closed its best-of-three with an 11-6 win against Sydney Blue Sox, meaning the team of Dutch infielder Dwayne Kemp was eliminated.
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.
In the second game on Saturday, Canberra won 8-6 and Perth recorded a 3-1 victory to even the Semi-Finals.
...Loek van Mil was the winning pitcher for Brisbane...
(© Photo: Henk Seppen) |
At OneHub Stadium powered by Optus in Newmarket, Brisbane Bandits trailed twice.
The reigning champion faced a 2-0 deficit halfway the second inning, but then scored three runs.
In the seventh inning, Brisbane trailed 5-4, but then rallied for four runs and added two more insurance runs in the eighth to win 9-5.
Again, there were a lot of homeruns in this game.
In the opener, there were eight homeruns, on Saturday, five were recorded.
In today's game, nine (!) homeruns were hit, five of which were hit by Brisbane.
In the top of the second inning, Michael Crouse hit a 2-run homerun to put Canberra ahead off of starting pitcher Travis Blackley.
In the bottom of the second, Brisbane homered twice to give the home-team a 3-2 lead.
With one out, Mitch Nilsson singled, then Wade Dutton and Wynton Bernard followed with back-to-back homeruns.
The lead was shortlived, as Canberra came alongside in the third at bat when Cam Warner led off with a homerun.
Brisbane got two baserunners in its third inning, but they were left behind.
In the fourth inning, Canberra added another run on a homerun when Robbie Perkins hit the ball over the fence with two outs.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, Brisbane got the bases loaded with no outs, thanks to two errors and a hit batter, but the team didn't score.
After a pitching change, a force out at the plate followed, then a strikeout and flyout ended the at bat.
In the top of the sixth, Zach Wilson led off with a double for Canberra, which at that moment led, 4-3.
After the next batter struckout, a pitching change followed.
Brisbane-starter Travis Blackley was replaced by Loek van Mil, who was now used as a reliever instead of a closer.
A week ago, the Dutch righthander had made his comeback on the mound after he had suffered severe head wounds during a hike early December, which led to him being hospitalized in critical condition.
With Wilson on second base, Van Mil walked Boss Moanaroa intentionally, then got a flyout for the second out.
Van Mil closed with a strikeout.
In the seventh inning, Van Mil gave up a 2-out homerun to David Kandilas, which made it a 5-3 score in favor of Canberra.
Brisbane then struck in the bottom of the seventh inning off of J.R. Bunda, who had entered the game in the fourth inning.
With one out, T.J. Bennett reached second base on an outfield-error, then scored on a following double by Andrew Campbell.
This was the lone run in the game that wasn't scored on a homerun.
Next batter Logan Wade singled and Donald Lutz then connected for his third homerun in the Semi-Finals to put Brisbane ahead, 7-5.
As Loek van Mil was the pitcher at that moment for Brisbane, he became the pitcher-of-record and would be credited with the win.
In the top of the eighth, he retired the side, closing with a strikeout.
In the bottom of the eighth, Brisbane added two insurance runs when David Sutherland (lead-off) and Riley Unroe (with one out) both homered.
Ryan Searle took over from Van Mil in the ninth inning.
He gave up a 2-out single, but then closed the game with a stikeout.
At Perth Harley-Davidson Ballpark in Thornlie, Perth Heat decided the game early.
Trailing 2-0 halfway the first inning, Perth scored four runs in its first at bat then six in the second inning to take a comfortable 10-2 lead.
While Perth was held scoreless hereafter until the eighth inning, the lead never came into jeopardy.
Dwayne Kemp was 2-for-3 for Sydney with a walk and scored a run, but his first season in Australia ended on Sunday.
In the top of the first inning, Trent D'Antonio led off the game for Sydney with a homerun off of starting pitcher Nathan Kuchta.
Hereafter, Jacob Younis singled, advanced on a wild pitch, moved to third base on a grounder by Kemp and scored on a single by Gift Ngoepe.
The latter was able to advance to third base when a pick-off ended in an error, but the inning ended with a double play.
First, Ngoepe was eliminated in a run-down between third base and the plate on a grounder by Jason Rogers, who then was also eliminated trying to advance to second base.
...Todd Van Steensel and Craig Anderson pitching in the Dutch...
...big league for Kinheim (2012) and Neptunus (2011)...
(© Both Photos: Henk Seppen) |
Craig Anderson started for Sydney, but he ran into problems quickly.
Anderson was Kemp's teammate this season, the two were also teammates when Anderson played for Neptunus in the Dutch big league in 2011.
In the bottom of the first inning, Pete Kozma singled with one out for Perth and Tristan Gray walked.
Hereafter, Robbie Glendinning delivered a runscoring single and with two outs, Alex Hall hit a 2-run triple that put Perth ahead.
Moments later, Hall scored on a single by Chris Clare to give the home-team a 4-2 lead.
In the top of the second inning, Sydney got its first two batters on base, but a double play and grounder followed.
Perth then rallied for six runs in the bottom of the second.
Lead-off hitter Ulrich Bojarski was hit by a pitch and with one out, Pete Kozma doubled.
The bases then got loaded when Tristan Gray was walked intentionally to set up a force play.
That didn't came, as Anderson gave up a 2-run single to Robbie Glensinning.
It marked the end for the lefthander, who was replaced by Luke Wilkins, but he was greeted with runscoring single by Carl Chester, who himself was eliminated on a throw from rightfield after having rounded first base.
Next batter Alex Hall walked and Chris Clare the increased the lead to 10-2 by hitting a 3-run homerun.
Sydney got one run back in the third inning.
Trent D'Antonio led off with a walk and moved to third base on an one-out single by Dwayne Kemp.
He then scored on a single by former Major Leaguer Gift Ngoepe.
Sydney got the bases loaded when Jason Rogers walked, but a double play ended this scoring opportunity.
No runs were scored in the next four innings, but Sydney then narrowed the lead to 10-6 by scoring three runs in the top of the eighth.
Facing new pitcher Cameron Lamb, Dwayne Kemp and Gift Ngoepe led off with walks and Jason Rogers followed with a runscoring single.
A quick pitching change was made, as Lamb was replaced by Daniel Schmidt.
He began with a wild pitch, then saw a run being scored on a single by Michael Campbell.
But hereafter, Jack Murphy grounded into a double play.
That gave Sydney an additional run, but there now were two outs and a grounded ended the at bat.
In the bottom of the eighth, Perth added its eleventh run off of Todd Van Steensel, who pitched in the Dutch big league for Kinheim in 2012.
Van Steensel gave up a lead-off homerun to Ulrich Bojarski.
In the top of the ninth, Sydney got a baserunner with one out, but the game (and their season) ended when a double play followed.
(January 27)
Related Articles:
 Canberra and Perth force 3rd game in Australian Play-Offs. (January 26)
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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