ABL Week 10 - vs Adelaide Bite

We didn't have much of a break between the Canberra series and this one. We played our last game in Canberra on Sunday, and we were back at it on Wednesday at home to play the Adelaide Bite. After being swept by Canberra there was a 3 way tie for 3rd place. So every game from now on til the end of the season is extremely important.
Game 1
Our woes continued to haunt us as we fell 1-0. It seems as though when you're in a losing streak and we do something really good, it feels as if the other team is doing it just better. Craig Anderson bounced back well from his previous 2 outings to go 6 1/3 innings giving up only 1 run. That was the only run that the Bite needed as we weren't able to capitalize when you got runners on base. Pat Maat's hot bat remained hot as he collected another 2 base hits to stretch his hitting streak to 11 games.

On Thursday we had day 1 of Training With The Pros. Training With The Pros is a baseball clinic run by MLB and we run the young baseball players through different sets of drills. I ran the home run derby, which is a bit of fun for the kids after they do the hitting station. I just fed them soft toss as they tried to hit the long ball on a small field. The clinic finished around 3:30pm so I had time to go back home and relax before our 5:00pm report time.

Game 2
We started off a bit shaky as Adelaide scored 3 runs in the 1st, but that lead didn't last for long as we scored 7 runs in the 4th inning to take a commanding 8-3 lead. I came into the game in the 8th inning when the score was 11-7. I struck out the first hitter then got the next hitter to pop up. Unfortunately I walked my third hitter and came out of the game as Dae-Sung Koo came in to close the game. They had the radar gun working at the game today and my velo was 90-91mph, and one person said I hit 92mph, but I'll be happy with 90-91mph for now.

We had another Training With The Pros clinic before game 3 of the series but I was lucky enough to be part of the pitching station instead of the home run derby. Safe to say I know a lot more about pitching than I know about hitting home runs.

Game 3
We fell to the Bite 6-1 in game 3. Mitch Dening gave us an early lead with a solo home run in the 1st inning but that's all the damage we could do as Adelaide starter Paul Mildren went 8 strong innings. It was also Kids Day at the ball park where dozens of kids ran the bases after the game, and a lucky few played the role as announcer for a couple of innings during the game.

Game 4
Thanks to an early onslaught and some great starting pitching we ran out winners 10-3 in this game. We scored all our runs in the first 4 innings with 2 runs in the 1st inning, 5 runs in the 2nd inning which was highlighted by two run home runs by both Andrew Graham and Boss Moanaroa and then 3 runs in the 4th inning. Brad Thomas started and threw 5 shutout innings for 1 hit and 0 runs picking up his 1st win of the season.

Game 5
Thanks to some clutch hitting and a 4 for 4 day by Pat Maat we won game 5 6-4 and won the series against Adelaide to send us into 2nd place on the ladder. Tyler Collins and Jacob Younis each helped out by getting 3 hits a piece. I came onto pitch the 6th and 7th inning getting 3 strike outs and not allowing a runner get on base. My velocity was 89-91mph again so pretty happy I have been consistently getting my velo in the 90's lately.

Since it was our last regular home game of the season, all the fans were allowed to come onto the field to get autographs and take photos after the game. Most Sundays we go out into the concourse to meet the fans but this once they were allowed on the field.

Fans on the field collecting autographs

This was a huge series for us as we now head to Perth for the final round of the regular season in 2nd place 1 game ahead of the 3 teams behind us and 2 games ahead of last place Brisbane. If you thought the end of the Major League season was exciting, better prepare yourself for the last week of the Australian Baseball League.