One week after throwing the first no-hitter in the Australian Baseball League, David Welch of the Sydney Blue Sox got named best pitcher in the 2010/2011 season. He received 88 votes, edging out Detroit Tigers signee Chris Oxspring (58 votes, Sydney Blue Sox) and Daniel Schmidt (25 votes, Perth Heat). Welch went 5-0 with a league-leading ERA of 1.44 in eleven games (ten starts) during the regular season. He struck out 59 batters in 62 1/3 innings, walking nine.
In game one of the second round in the playoffs Welch threw nine no-hit innings in a shutout over Adelaide. But the Bite came back to win the best-of-three series, eliminating Sydney and reaching the championship series, where they lost in three games. Benjamin Moore (Finals MVP), Trent Schmutter (Rookie), Dae-Sung Koo (Reliever) and Mariekson Gregorius (Golden Glove) already received awards in the Australian Baseball League so far. The winner of the MVP trophy is still unknown.
