2018–19 Australian Baseball League season

2018–19 Australian Baseball League season
LeagueAustralian Baseball League
SportBaseball
Duration15 November 2018 – 3 February 2019
Number of games160
Number of teams8
Regular season
Season MVPTimothy Kennelly
Marcus Solbach
Championship Series
ChampionsBrisbane Bandits (4th title)
  Runners-upPerth Heat
Seasons

The 2018–19 Australian Baseball League season was the ninth year Australian Baseball League (ABL) season, and was held from 15 November 2018 to 2 February 2019. It was the first season that it was played with eight teams, as the league expanded for the first time. The Brisbane Bandits won the championship for the fourth consecutive season.

Teams

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Teams in the ABL
Team State / Territory Stadium
Adelaide Bite South Australia Diamond Sports Stadium[1]
Auckland Tuatara New Zealand McLeod Park[2]
Brisbane Bandits Queensland Holloway Field[3]
Canberra Cavalry Australian Capital Territory Narrabundah Ballpark[4]
Geelong-Korea Victoria Geelong Baseball Park[5]
Melbourne Aces Victoria Melbourne Ballpark[6]
Perth Heat Western Australia Baseball Park[7]
Sydney Blue Sox New South Wales Blue Sox Stadium[8]

Regular season

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With the addition of the Auckland Tuatara and Geelong-Korea as expansion teams, the competition was split into a 'Northeast' and 'Southwest' division. The league retained a 10-round, 40 game schedule, with teams playing division rivals eight times and inter division teams four times.

Key
Secured Semi-finals berth
Secured Wild Card berth
Northeast Division[9]
Pos Team W L Pct. GB Home Away
1 Brisbane Bandits 25 15 .625 1.0 12–8 13–7
2 Sydney Blue Sox 25 15 .625 14–6 11–
3 Canberra Cavalry 23 17 .575 2.0 13–7 10–10
4 Auckland Tuatara 14 26 .350 11.0 8–12 6–14
Southwest Division[9]
Pos Team W L Pct. GB Home Away
1 Perth Heat 24 16 .600 12–8 12–8
2 Melbourne Aces 23 17 .575 1.0 14–6 9–11
3 Adelaide Bite 19 21 .475 5.0 10–10 9–11
4 Geelong-Korea 7 33 .175 17.0 4–16 3–17


Statistical leaders

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  1. ^ Minimum 2.7 PAs per team game.[10]
  2. ^ Minimum 0.8 IP per team game.[11]

Postseason

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A new playoff structure was announced 29 August 2018 with the addition of a single wild card game between the fourth and fifth seeds prior to two rounds of best-of-three finals series.

The top seed awarded to the team with the best regular season record, with the other division winner awarded the second seed. The third and fourth seed were awarded to the two divisional runner ups with the fifth seed being given to the team with the next best season record.[12]

Wild Card Semi-finals series Championship Series
         
1 Brisbane Bandits 2
5 Canberra Cavalry 1
4 Melbourne Aces 0
5 Canberra Cavalry 1
1 Brisbane Bandits 2
2 Perth Heat 0
2 Perth Heat 2
3 Sydney Blue Sox 1

Championship Series

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31 January 2019
19:00 (UTC+08:00)
Game 1
Perth Heat 2-3 Brisbane Bandits Western Australia Baseball Park, Perth
Attendance: 2,870
Umpires: HP: Brett Robson. 1B: Paul Latta. 2B: Ryan Harder. 3B: Tom West. LF: Peter Bowie. RF: Lou Bonomi.
LP: John Anderson (0-1) Boxscore WP: Ryan Bollinger (1-0)
Sv: Ryan Searle (1)
02 February 2019
18:00 (UTC+10:00)
Game 2
Brisbane Bandits 9-4 Perth Heat Queensland Holloway Field, Brisbane
Attendance: 2,304
Umpires: HP: Paul Latta. 1B: Ryan Harder. 2B: Tom West. 3B: Brett Robson. LF: James Shields. RF: Gavin Carson.
WP: Tim Atherton (1-0) Boxscore LP: Connor Lourey (0-1)
HR: T.J Bennett (1), Wade Dutton (1), Andrew Campbell (1) HR: Pete Kozma (1), Robbie Glendenning 2 (2), Chris Clare (1)

References

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  1. ^ "Adelaide Bite Homepage". Adelaide Bite. Australian Baseball League. Archived from the original on 11 November 2010. Retrieved 9 November 2010.
  2. ^ "Auckland Tuatara Homepage". Auckland Tuatara. Australian Baseball League. Archived from the original on 22 October 2018. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
  3. ^ "Brisbane Bandits Homepage". Brisbane Bandits. Australian Baseball League. Archived from the original on 11 November 2010. Retrieved 9 November 2010.
  4. ^ "Canberra Cavalry Homepage". Canberra Cavalry. Australian Baseball League. Archived from the original on 8 November 2010. Retrieved 9 November 2010.
  5. ^ "Geelong-Korea Homepage". Geelong-Korea. Australian Baseball League. Archived from the original on 14 October 2018. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
  6. ^ "Melbourne Aces Homepage". Melbourne Aces. Australian Baseball League. Archived from the original on 9 November 2010. Retrieved 9 November 2010.
  7. ^ "Perth Heat Homepage". Perth Heat. Australian Baseball League. Archived from the original on 9 November 2010. Retrieved 9 November 2010.
  8. ^ "Sydney Blue Sox Homepage". Sydney Blue Sox. Australian Baseball League. Archived from the original on 9 November 2010. Retrieved 9 November 2010.
  9. ^ a b "2016 Australian Baseball League Final Standings". Australian Baseball League. Retrieved 1 September 2017.
  10. ^ "League Batting Leaders". Australian Baseball League. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 27 January 2015.
  11. ^ "League Pitching Leaders". Australian Baseball League. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 27 January 2015.
  12. ^ "New-look playoff structure revealed". Archived from the original on 2019-10-19. Retrieved 2019-01-18.
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