2011 Australian Baseball League postseason
The 2011 Australian Baseball League postseason, known as the 2011 Delta Air Lines ABL Postseason due to naming rights sponsorship from Delta Air Lines,[1] was held from 27 January to 13 February 2011. The postseason was contested by four of the six teams participating in the regular season, with the teams with the best winning percentages qualifying.
 | |
| Postseason details | |
|---|---|
| Teams qualified | 4 |
| Dates | 27 January – 13 February 2011 |
| Games played | 10 |
| Attendance | 18,167 (1,817 per game) |
| Championship series | |
| Champions | Perth Heat |
| Defeated (game score) | Adelaide Bite (2–1) |
| Venue |  |
| Series MVP | Benjamin Moore (PER) |
| Preliminary final series | |
| Won by | Adelaide Bite |
| Defeated (game score) | Sydney Blue Sox (2–1) |
| Venue |  |
| Major semi-final series | |
| Won by | Perth Heat |
| Defeated (game score) | Sydney Blue Sox (2–0) |
| Venue | |
| Minor semi-final series | |
| Won by | Adelaide Bite |
| Defeated (game score) | Melbourne Aces (2–0) |
| Venue |  |
2012 → | |
In the semi-finals, the Melbourne Aces were the first team eliminated, defeated by the Adelaide Bite two games to nil in Adelaide in the minor semi-final series. The Perth Heat became the first team to qualify for the championship series, by sweeping the Sydney Blue Sox two games to nil in the major semi-final series, held in Sydney. The Blue Sox were then eliminated by the Bite in the preliminary final series, losing the series two games to one. The Heat became the inaugural ABL champions when they defeated Adelaide two games to nil in the championship series.
Format
At the conclusion of the regular season, the postseason involved the teams in a three-round structure. Each round consisted of a best-of-three game series between the respective teams. The first- and second-place teams played each other in the major semi-final, the winner of which proceeded directly to the grand final and the loser to the preliminary final. The winner of the minor semi-final between the third- and fourth-place teams also qualified for the preliminary final, while the loser was eliminated. Likewise, the winner of the preliminary final qualified for the championship series, the loser being eliminated.[2]
As in the finals series of previous Claxton Shield tournaments, though each series was hosted by a single team, the role of home team and away team alternated from game to game. For the second game in each series, the visiting team took the role of home team, fielding first, batting second, and wore their away uniform for the game.[3][4][5][6]
Bracket
| Semi-Final Series 27–28 January 2011 |
Premliminary Final Series 4–6 February 2011 |
Championship Series 11–13 February 2011 | |||||||||||
| 1 | Sydney Blue Sox | 0 | |||||||||||
| 2 | Perth Heat | 2 | 2 | Perth Heat | 2 | ||||||||
| 1 | Sydney Blue Sox | 1 | 3 | Adelaide Bite | 1 | ||||||||
| 3 | Adelaide Bite | 2 | |||||||||||
| 3 | Adelaide Bite | 2 | |||||||||||
| 4 | Melbourne Aces | 0 | |||||||||||
Qualification
The Perth Heat and Sydney Blue Sox both clinched positions in the top four of the league at the same time: when Perth defeated the Melbourne Aces in the final game of their series at the Melbourne Showgrounds. The Adelaide Bite were the next team to secure a position in the finals, after winning the third of an expanded six-game series against the Brisbane Bandits at Coopers Stadium in Adelaide. Like Sydney, Melbourne secured fourth position through a result that did not involve them: Brisbane's loss in their final game against Adelaide eliminated them from contention for the finals, and since the Canberra Cavalry had already been eliminated by Melbourne's win in its second-last game, Melbourne qualified.
Major semi-final series
The Sydney Blue Sox hosted the Perth Heat in the major semi-final series at Blacktown Olympic Park. The Blue Sox and Heat split their season series 4–4. This included back-to-back sweeps for each team, with Perth winning the second of the two series, played in Sydney.[7]
Game 1
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Perth Heat | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 0 | |||||||||||
| Sydney Blue Sox | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 1 | |||||||||||
| WP: Benn Grice (1–0) LP: Chris Oxspring (0–1) Sv: Brendan Wise (1) Home runs: PER: Matt Kennelly (1) SYD: Brendan Kingman (1) Attendance: 1,002 Boxscore | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Game 2
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sydney Blue Sox | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 1 | |||||||||||
| Perth Heat | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | X | 6 | 6 | 0 | |||||||||||
| WP: Trevor Caughey (1–0) LP: Wayne Lundgren (0–1) Attendance: 1,350 Boxscore | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Minor semi-final series
The Adelaide Bite hosted the Melbourne Aces in the minor semi-final series at Coopers Stadium. The Bite won their season series against the Aces 7–1. Adelaide swept Melbourne 4–0 in the season opening series in Adelaide.[7]
Game 1
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Melbourne Aces | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 0 | |||||||||||
| Adelaide Bite | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 2 | X | 14 | 19 | 0 | |||||||||||
| WP: Mark Brackman (1–0) LP: Tetsu Nishikawa (0–1) Home runs: MEL: Andrew Russell (1) ADE: Quincy Latimore 2 (2), Jeremy Cresswell (1), Stefan Welch (1) Attendance: 1,642 Boxscore | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Preliminary final series
Game 1
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adelaide Bite | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||||||||
| Sydney Blue Sox | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | X | 8 | 12 | 3 | |||||||||||
| WP: David Welch (1–0) LP: Mark Brackman (1–1) Home runs: ADE: None SYD: Trent D'Antonio (1) Attendance: 1,162 Boxscore | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Game 2
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sydney Blue Sox | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 3 | |||||||||||
| Adelaide Bite | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | X | 4 | 13 | 0 | |||||||||||
| WP: Brandon Maurer (1–0) LP: Wayne Lundgren (0–2) Attendance: 1,515 Boxscore | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Championship series
Game 1
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adelaide Bite | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 11 | 1 | |||||||||||
| Perth Heat | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 14 | 0 | |||||||||||
| WP: Mark Brackman (3–1) LP: Daniel Schmidt (0–1) Sv: Tom Becker (1) Attendance: 2,680 Boxscore | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Game 2
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Perth Heat | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 13 | 0 | |||||||||||
| Adelaide Bite | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 1 | |||||||||||
| WP: Trevor Caughey (2–0) LP: Brandon Maurer (1–1) Home runs: PER: Ronnie Welty 2 (2) ADE: None Attendance: 3,074 Boxscore | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Game 3
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adelaide Bite | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 | |||||||||||
| Perth Heat | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 7 | 8 | 1 | |||||||||||
| WP: Benjamin Moore (1–0) LP: Paul Mildren (0–1) Home runs: ADE: Stefan Welch (2) PER: Robbie Widlansky (1) Attendance: 1,876 Boxscore | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Broadcasting
On 25 January 2011, it was announced that Fox Sports would broadcast live coverage of the championship series.[1] Warren Smith provided the play-by-play commentary, and was joined by Jon Deeble, manager of the Australia national baseball team, for colour commentary.[8]
References
- Schroder, Mark (25 January 2011). "Delta Partners with ABL for Post-Season". Australian Baseball League. Archived from the original on 1 March 2011. Retrieved 25 January 2011.
- Morton, Jim (5 August 2010). "ABL takes a healthy bite". Brisbane Times. Fairfax Media. Archived from the original on 7 August 2010. Retrieved 31 August 2010.
- "Major semi-final series, game 2 boxscore". Australian Baseball League. 28 January 2011. Retrieved 15 February 2011.
- "Minor semi-final series, game 2 boxscore". Australian Baseball League. 28 January 2011. Retrieved 15 February 2011.
- "Preliminary final series, game 2 boxscore". Australian Baseball League. 5 February 2011. Retrieved 15 February 2011.
- "Championship series, game 2 boxscore". Australian Baseball League. 12 February 2011. Retrieved 15 February 2011.
- "ABL'S Top Four Teams Locked in For Post Season". Boxscore News. 22 January 2011. Archived from the original on 8 July 2011. Retrieved 28 January 2011.
- Australian Associated Press (13 February 2011). "Perth Heat run away with inaugural Australian Baseball League title, beating Adelaide 7-1 in game three". Fox Sports. Retrieved 15 February 2011.