Brisbane Bandits and Canberra Cavalry top the ABL ladder after opening round ... - ABC Online

Posted November 03, 2013 20:49:16

Brisbane has opened up the Australian Baseball League season with a 3-1 series win over the Adelaide Bite to join Canberra at the top of the ladder.

Holloway Field proved a happy hunting ground for the Bandits - despite a sketchy start.

The Bandits dropped their home opener to the Bite 10-6 but bounced back to snatch the series with three consecutive wins.

American import Tyler Goeddel was the hero of game two, driving in the game-winning run off a clutch single that give Brisbane the 3-2 walk-off win.

Lefty reliever Jacob Raffelae came up big in game three, fending off a Bite rally to preserve the 4-0 victory and in game four the Bandits clinched the series with a 4-3 win.

Defending champions Canberra delivered the same result at home.

The Cavalry won the first three games against the Melbourne Aces in a tight series where three of the four games were decided in the final inning; two in a walk-off.

Jeremy Barnes led the charge for Canberra, with three RBI in their 10-3 win in game one and the game winning hit in their 4-3 victory in game two.

He would finish the series with a total of seven hits and five RBI in a strong season debut.

Team-mate Robbie Perkins helped the Cavalry edge the Aces again in game three with another walk-off win, 6-5, the visitors avoiding a cleansweep with a 7-6 win in game four largely thanks to two big homers from Brad Harmon.

In the round's final series Sydney led Perth 2-1 with one game to be played.

The Blue Sox lost game one but their bats finally came alive near the end of the second match, pouring in five runs in the sixth inning of a seven-inning game.

Korean reliever Dae Sung Koo preserved the 5-4 victory to pick up his first save of the season.

Sydney carried the momentum into game three to defeat Perth 7-2 off a fantastic outing for Connor Whalen, who earned his first win by allowing only three hits and striking out four in five innings.

AAP

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