ABL Weekly Roundup: Week 7

Over the winter, we aim to meet your baseball fix here at Beyond the Box Score. To do so, we’ll be covering the Australian Baseball League for each week that the competition is running. We also would like to remind you that many of the games are streamed and recorded on the league’s YouTube channel.

Canberra wins their series over Adelaide (3-1)

Game 1: CAN 1 - 4 ADE

Game 2: CAN 5 - 2 ADE (7)

Game 3: CAN 5 - 3 ADE

Game 4: CAN 6 - 1 ADE

Canberra went south to Adelaide and stole the show with three straight wins to take the series. The Canberra offense could not figure out Jack O’Loughlin in the first game. The 16-year-old, despite striking out only one batter, held the Cavalry to two runs over six innings. With multi-hit days from Mitch Dening, Marcus Greene Jr., and Angus Roeger, the Adelaide offense was able to squeak out enough run support for the youngster. Roeger’s two doubles and two RBIs proved to be incredibly important and also proved to be the most impressive offensive game of the series for the Bite. Canberra’s bullpen was their hallmark this series. After a rocky first game, the pen held down the Bite offense and didn’t allow a run in the next three contests where the starters went 4¹⁄₃, 6, and 5 innings respectively.

Offensively, the Cavs had some bright spots. DJ Davis provided the only run support in the first game with his solo shot. River Stevens went 7-for-13 while crossing the plate four times and knocking in three. Finally, David Kandilas had himself a three-hit night with two runs scored and a RBI.

Melbourne wins their series over Brisbane (3-1)

Game 1: BRS 3 - 4 MEL

Game 2: BRS 3 - 5 MEL

Game 3: BRS 19 - 4 MEL

Game 4: BRS 1 - 5 MEL

Melbourne continues to roll over the competition as they take down the Bandits. The first two outings provided some impressive pitching performances for the Aces. Mark Hamburger and Peter Moylan teamed up in the first game. Hamburger went 8 innings fanning 13, but allowing 10 hits and giving up the three runs. Moylan then came in and shut the door with two strikeouts and earning the save. The ball was then passed to Jeremy Guthrie, who turned in his first quality start in the ABL. Guthrie gave up two runs over six innings with seven strikeouts.

Offensively, Jared Cruz was a big standout for Melbourne. He finished the series going 7-for-10 with four RBIs and a stolen base. For Brisbane, Aaron Whitehead continued to dominate at the top of the order. Whitehead went 8-for-20 with four runs scored in the series. Behind him, Logan Wade added a bit of power with a home run, five RBIs, and a 6-for-19 series. Most of his production came from the third game when many Bandits broke out. Trent Oeltjen, in his first series with the Bandits, and David Rodriguez each cranked out two home runs that day. On top of that, Connor MacDonald put up an impressive five-hit day.

Perth wins their series over Sydney (3-1)

Game 1: SYD 3 - 0 PER

Game 2: SYD 7 - 8 PER

Game 3: SYD 8 - 10 PER

Game 4: SYD 6 - 7 PER

The Blue Sox flew out to Western Australia, but returned a little light as they fell to the Heat in the series. The only Sydney win of the series was led by Trevor Foss. He toed the rubber in the first game and allowed no runs on five hits and struck out seven.

Sydney also got big weekends from two of their bats. Trent D’Antonio went 7-for-17, crossed the plate five times, knocked in two, and walked twice. Meanwhile, Stone Garrett didn’t exactly get on base a ton. However, he did hit two home runs in the series and tallied six RBIs.

Despite having a lackluster season, Joey Wong reached base seven times for Perth in this series. Wong, formerly a star for the Heat, ended the series with a .187 batting average, which was up from .179. Luke Hughes was the driving force in Perth’s comeback win in game two, which ended in the bottom of the ninth. His day included a hit, a big ninth-inning walk, three RBIs, and two runs. Ulrich Bojarski was another mainstay for the Heat at home plate. Bojarski scored five times in on his way to a 5-for-16 series.

Matchups for Next Week

Melbourne (21-7) @ Canberra (16-12)

Perth (11-17) @ Adelaide (13-15)

Sydney (11-17) @ Brisbane (12-16)

Anthony Rescan is a Contributing Writer at Beyond the Box Score. You can follow him on Twitter at @AnthonyRescan. Anthony also explained his time in the Australian Baseball League at Baseball Prospectus and on Effectively Wild.