AUSTRALIA – In front of just over 3,100 fans, the Adelaide Bite took 11 innings before eliminating the Melbourne Aces from the Australian Baseball League playoffs. In the other playoff series, Perth defeated Sydney.
Adelaide Bite 4, Melbourne Aces 3
Adelaide used a hit by pitch, a single, and an error to score the winning run in the top of the 11th inning eliminating the Melbourne Aces from the playoffs. Brandon Bantz started off the inning by being hit by a pitch. He advanced to 2nd on Tom Brice‘s single to left. After 2 strikeouts, Josh Cakebread reached on an error by Aces pitcher Jeff Jamnik scoring Bantz from second base. Adrian Burnside, who went 5 scoreless innings, finished off the Aces in the bottom of the 11th to pick up the victory.
Bite starter Brandon Maurer went 6 strong innings giving up 3 runs on 9 hits while striking out 8. Stefan Welch doubled driving in 2 runs, and Brice led the way with 2 hits on the day.
James Beresford went 3-for-6 for the Aces, while Grant Karlsen had 2 hits and an RBI.
The win eliminates Melbourne and puts the Bite up against the Sydney BlueSox with the winner getting a trip to the finals.
Perth Heat 6, Sydney BlueSox 0
Luke Hughes drove in 2 runs with a double in the 3rd inning leading the Heat to a 6-0 victory over Sydney. Trevor Caughey went 6 innings allowing only 5 hits while striking out 5 to pick up the victory for Perth.
Wayne Lundgren pitched well for Sydney going 7 innings and allowing only 3 runs on 5 hits but took the loss. Mitch Dening and David Kandilas both had 2 hits for Sydney leading the way offensively, but the team was 0-3 with runners in scoring position.
Perth moves onto the finals, and Sydney will now play Adelaide with the winner going onto face Perth in the finals.
Australian Baseball League Playoffs Round 2 Schedule:
Friday February 4th – Adelaide vs Sydney
Saturday February 5th – Sydney vs Adelaide
*Sunday February 6th – Adelaide vs Sydney
*if necessary
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This post was written by
Eric Bynum is Managing Editor here at Baseball de World and an ESL teacher in South Korea. He has played and/or written about baseball for the past 30 years and is an avid Atlanta Braves fan. Eric also writes for Braves Baseball World and for Call to the Pen.
