The playoffs in the Australian Baseball League started on Thursday with wins for the Perth Heat and the Adelaide Bite. The Heat used a two-run homerun by Mathew Kennelly in the top of the ninth to prevail 4-2 against the Sydney Blue Sox, taking a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three semi-final series. The winner will directly qualify for the championship series, while the loser gets a second chance against the winner of the other semi-final.
After Perth had taken a 2-0 lead in the fourth on a sac fly by Luke Hughes and a RBI single by Evan McArthur, Sydney tied the game in the seventh thanks to a two-run shot by Brendan Kingman. In the second matchup the Bite scored four runs in the third and five in the sixth to crush the Melbourne Aces 14-2. Quincy Latimore went deep twice to drive in six runs. Jeremy Cresswell and Stefan Welch also homered and scored four runs apiece. Andrew Russell hit a two-run homerun for Melbourne.
Results Semi-Final:
Thursday, January 27:
Adelaide Bite – Melbourne Aces 14-2
Sydney Blue Sox – Perth Heat 2-4
Schedule Semi-Final:
Friday, January 28:
7pm Adelaide Bite – Melbourne Aces
7.30pm Sydney Blue Sox – Perth Heat
Saturday, January 29:
7pm Adelaide Bite – Melbourne Aces*
7.30pm Sydney Blue Sox – Perth Heat*
*if necessary
Live play by play of the Australian Baseball League is available through the official website