The Brisbane Bandits have won the championship in the Australian Baseball League and captured the Claxton Shield trophy. They swept the best-of-three final series 2-0 against the Adelaide Bite, winning 7-4 on Friday and 7-1 on Saturday.
German designated hitter Donald Lutz, who re-signed with the Cincinnati Reds recently, set the highlights for the Bandits. On Friday he tripled during a decisive four-run third innings. On Saturday he hit a three-run go-ahead home run in the bottom of the third. Lutz celebrated his 27th birthday on Saturday and he was named Finals MVP.
Dutch right-hander Loek van Mil gave up two runs on three hits in one inning of work on Saturday.
For Brisbane it’s their first title in the Australian Baseball League and the first Claxton Shield for a team from Queensland since 2006. They had reached the finals as number one seed in the regular season thanks to a 37-19 record. The Adelaide Bite had defeated the Canberra Cavalry in the semi-finals last weekend.
For Australian Baseball the next highlight is around the corner with the World Baseball Classic Qualifier coming up later this week in Sydney.