The Sydney Blue Sox, Perth Heat and Melbourne Aces opened the 2018/2019 season in the Brut Australian Baseball League with four-game sweep each. Sydney defeated newcomers Geelong Korea 8-1, 7-2, 4-1 and 5-0. Melbourne beat Canberra Cavalry 2-1, 4-1, 11-3 and 4-0. Perth downed the second new team in the league, Auckland Tuatara 8-4, 5-4, 11-3 and 8-2. In the fourth opening week series the Brisbane Bandits prevailed in three of the four games against the Adelaide Bite (5-3, 3-5, 7-1, 7-1).
Europe’s players in the competition put their mark on the league in week one. Especially on pitching. Germany’s Markus Solbach guided Adelaide to the win, allowing just one run on three hits and two walks in eight innings, while striking out 11. Italy’s Alessandro Maestri also collected 11 Ks for the Sydney Blue Sox, conceding one run on four hits and two walks in five frames. Dutch reliever Loek van Mil allowed one run on two hits in an inning for the Brisbane Bandits, picking up the save. On offense Germany’s Donald Lutz went 3-for-11 with two RBI for Brisbane. Netherlands’s Dwayne Kemp collected four hits in 19 at-bats and a run, batting leadoff for Sydney.