Australian Baseball League postseason action kicks off tonight with the Adelaide Bite and Canberra Cavalry facing off in a three-game series for the right to face the Brisbane Bandits for the Claxton shield.
Adelaide and Canberra met on twelve occasions during the regular season, with both sides winning six games. In the three series played between the two sides, both won a series three games to one and the third series was split at two games apiece.
Canberra have the most potent attack in the league, averaging 5.71 runs per outing across the 56 game season.
Despite scoring 28 runs less across the season, the Bite are no stranger to troubling the scorers, having outscored the Cavalry by a total of 35-15 when the pair met in the last week of the regular season.
The series opens at the picturesque Norwood Oval in Adelaide, where the Bite won 18 of their 28 home games this season, before shifting to Narrabundah Ballpark in Canberra on Saturday and Sunday (if required), where the home team also won 18 of their 28 games at home.
Both teams enter the series with a losing record on the road (Canberra 13-15, Adelaide 12-15) so managers Steve Mintz and Michael Collins will be looking to inspire their chargers to a series opening victory.
Canberra enter the series with four of the top ten in Runs Batted In during the regular season, with Jason Leblebijian, Boss Moanaroa, Bryan Pounds and Ryan Miller knocking in a combined 153 runs.
Not to be outdone, the Bite had two of the of the top four Home Run hitters, Kyle Petty who won the title with 14 long balls in 55 games and Texas Rangers prospect Travis Demeritte, who went yard on nine occasions.
The biggest differential between the two sides this season comes in their pitching, where the Bite are near the top of several key statistical categories, while the Cavalry are languishing at the foot of the stats page.
Where Canberra gave up the most hits this season, Adelaide gave up the second fewest. The Cavalry’s league-worst ERA of 4.69 was a clear contributor to their being the only team to give up more than 300 run in the regular season, while also leading the league in home runs allowed.
Adelaide managed to give up the second fewest amount of runs in the league, but struggled when it came to walks, allowing the second most.
If the winner of this matchup is going to come from the pitching picture it is clear that the Cavalry are going to need their aces at the top of their game. In spite of the fragilities of their teammates, Bran Grening and Steve Kent have been beacons of hope this season. Grening leads the league in complete games (3), while the pair are ranked second and third in strikeouts, punching out 162 hitters in a combined 29 starts.
While their starters may not have the individual numbers that have been put up by Kent or Grening, the Bite’s bullpen has shown reliability throughout the season. Kody Kerski leads the Bite with eleven saves and Josh Tols has been a lock, striking out 18 in 15 appearances out of the bullpen, with a season ERA of 2.23.
All of the action from this series is available through the Australian Baseball League YouTube channel.
ABL Preliminary Final fixture (all times local)
Game one: Canberra Cavalry @ Adelaide Bite – 29th January - Norwood Oval – 7.30pm
Game two: Adelaide Bite @ Canberra Cavalry – 30th January – Narrabundah Ballpark – 7.00pm
Game three (if required): Adelaide Bite @ Canberra Cavalry – 31st January – Narrabundah Ballpark – 12.00pm