The 2010–11 Australian Baseball League season was the inaugural

Australian Baseball League The Australian Baseball League (ABL) is a professional baseball league in Australia. The league is governed by the Australian Baseball Federation (ABF). It uses the same name as a now-defunct competition held during the 1990s, and though it s ...

(ABL) season, and was held from 6 November 2010 to 13 February 2011. It came 12 years after the old Australian Baseball League ceased and is the successor of the mostly amateur

Claxton Shield The Claxton Shield was the name of the premier baseball competition in Australia held between state-based teams, as well as the name of the trophy awarded to the champion team. From the summer of 1989–90 until 2001–02, and again since 2010� ...

competition that has been played since

1934 Events January–February * January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established. * January 15 – The 8.0 1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake, Nepal–Bihar earthquake strik ...

. The season consisted of six teams competing in a 40-game schedule, followed by a three-round finals series to determine the ABL champion. At the conclusion of the regular season, the

Sydney Blue Sox The Sydney Blue Sox are a professional baseball team, and one of six founding teams in the re-formed Australian Baseball League (ABL). The team plays their home games at Blacktown International Sportspark (BISP), one of the two venues used fo ...

Perth Heat The Perth Heat is a baseball team in the current Australian Baseball League and a founding member of the Australian Baseball League. It is the most successful team in ABL history, winning 15 Claxton Shields. Australian Baseball League (1989– ...

Adelaide Bite The Adelaide Giants are a professional baseball team that plays in the Australian Baseball League. They are one of the six foundation franchises of the league, in its first incarnation from 1989 to 1999. The team adopted the name Bite or Adelaid ...

and

Melbourne Aces The Melbourne Aces are a professional baseball team based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia that competed in the Australian Baseball League. Their home field is the Melbourne Ballpark in Altona. History On 20 August 2010 it was announced ...

progressed to the finals series, while the

Brisbane Bandits The Brisbane Bandits are a professional baseball team in Brisbane, Queensland that plays in the Australian Baseball League and is one of the six founding teams of the league. From the 2010/11 season till the 2012/13 season their home ballpark ...

and

Canberra Cavalry The Canberra Cavalry (nicknamed Cavs) were a professional baseball team from Canberra, Canberra, ACT, Australia. Established in 2010, the team was a founding member of the Australian Baseball League (ABL). The Cavs home ground was Narrabundah B ...

were only eliminated from contention on the final day of the season. Both Melbourne and Sydney were eliminated by Adelaide in the minor semi-final series and the preliminary final series, respectively. Perth became the inaugural ABL champions when they defeated Adelaide two games to one in the championship series.

Formation

In June 2009, it was announced that the rights to the

had been sold to a new

, with ownership split between

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

's 75 percent share and the 25 percent share owned by the

Australian Baseball Federation Baseball Australia, formerly the Australian Baseball Federation is the national governing body of Baseball in Australia and owns the Australian Baseball League. Baseball is played in all the mainland states and territories, but it struggles fo ...

. The

2010 Claxton Shield The 2010 Claxton Shield was the 76th Claxton Shield tournament, the premier baseball competition in Australia, and was held from 6 November 2009 to 7 February 2010. It was hailed as the precursor to the new Australian Baseball League that would ...

tournament was considered preparation for the inaugural ABL season. Although initial reports suggested that between eight and ten teams would contest the first season, including the possibility of a team based in New Zealand, six teams representing

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

and

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

were announced in November 2009 as the foundation clubs. Compared to the previous season's Claxton Shield tournament, there were few structural changes to the competition. With the expansion from five to six teams, the need for teams to have a bye was eliminated, with all teams participating in games each round. The individual rounds were expanded from three to four games per round, resulting in an increase from 24 to 40 games per team for the season. The postseason was also expanded to include the top four teams, rather than only the top three.

Teams

Rosters

During the season each team made use of a 22-man active roster, drawn from 35-man squads announced on 28 October 2010.

Venues

Four of the six teams used their existing venues from the

: the

and

all used the same grounds used in the

by the respective state teams, and the

used the same venue used by

Australia Provincial Australian Provincial compete in the Claxton Shield The Claxton Shield was the name of the premier baseball competition in Australia held between state-based teams, as well as the name of the trophy awarded to the champion team. From the s ...

when they last contested the Claxton Shield in

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

Narrabundah Ballpark Narrabundah Ballpark (also known as The Fort) is a 2,250 capacity baseball complex in the south-central Canberra suburb of Narrabundah, ACT, Australia. It was redeveloped in 2010 for use by the Canberra Cavalry of the Australian Baseball Leag ...

. The

played at the

Melbourne Showgrounds Melbourne Showgrounds is located in the inner north-western suburb of Ascot Vale, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, next door to Flemington Racecourse. The largest and most flexible indoor/outdoor venue space in Melbourne the Showground ...

, after the

Victorian state government The Victoria State Government, also referred to as the Victorian Government, is the executive government of the Australian state of Victoria. As a parliamentary constitutional monarchy, the State Government was first formed in 1851 when Vic ...

announced a A$300,000 upgrade of the grounds. Similarly the Queensland state government announced a A$300,000 upgrade of the

Brisbane Exhibition Ground The Brisbane Showgrounds (formerly known as the Brisbane Exhibition Ground) is a multi-purpose venue located in Bowen Hills, Brisbane, Australia. Established in 1875, it hosts more than 250 events each year, the largest being the Royal Queen ...

for use by the

as their home field.

Regular season

The regular season was held from 6 November 2010 through to 22 January 2011. All six teams competed in a double round-robin format, playing each other team in two series of four games each, totalling 40 games played each. The top four teams progressed to the postseason. The winner of the championship series will be awarded the

. At the end of the regular season, the

finished in first place with a 24–15

win–loss record Win–loss may refer to: * Win–loss analytics, analysis of the reasons why a visitor to a website was or wasn't persuaded to engage in a desired action * Win–loss record, also winning percentage * Win–loss record (pitching), the number of ...

. Half a game behind Sydney were the

in second place. The third place team was the

a further game behind. The

finished in fourth place six games behind the Blue Sox. The

and

, who played only 36 games due to

2010–11 Queensland floods 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

, finished in fifth and sixth place, eight and a half and ten and a half games behind the leader respectively.

Standings

Opening night

The season started on 6 November 2010, when the

hosted the

at Blacktown Olympic Park. The Blue Sox won the inaugural game of the league, defeating the Cavalry 1–0. In what was effectively a pitchers' duel, Blue Sox

starting pitcher In baseball (hardball or softball), a starting pitcher or starter is the first pitcher in the game for each team. A pitcher is credited with a game started if they throw the first pitch to the opponent's first batter of a game. Starting pit ...

Chris Oxspring Chris Andrew Oxspring (born 13 May 1977) is an Australian professional baseball pitcher who has played Major League Baseball, Nippon Professional Baseball, KBO League, and currently plays in the Australian Baseball League (ABL) for the Sydney ...

was the stand-out performer for the night, having scattered 3 hits and 1 walk over 6

innings An innings is one of the divisions of a cricket match during which one team takes its turn to bat. Innings also means the period in which an individual player bats (acts as either striker or nonstriker). In cricket and rounders, "innings" is ...

and striking out 8. The Cavalry, however, opted to use several pitchers, each throwing two complete innings. Sydney

left fielder In baseball, a left fielder, abbreviated LF, is an outfielder who plays defense in left field. Left field is the area of the outfield to the left of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the numbering system ...

Tim Auty registered the league's first hit of the season in the bottom of the first with a

line drive In the sports of baseball and softball, a batted ball is a pitch that has been contacted by the batter's bat. Batted balls are either fair or foul, and can be characterized as a fly ball, pop-up, line drive, or ground ball. In baseball, a fou ...

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

centre field A center fielder, abbreviated CF, is the outfielder in baseball who plays defense in center field – the baseball and softball fielding position between left field and right field. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the ce ...

. Canberra did not register a

hit Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from ''Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust or HIT, a fictional organization i ...

until the fourth inning to see their first baserunner when

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the Baseball scorekeep ...

Kyu-Hyun Moon singled to

right field A right fielder, abbreviated RF, is the outfielder in baseball or softball who plays defense in right field. Right field is the area of the outfield to the right of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In t ...

. The game had been scoreless through the first seven innings, despite Sydney loading the bases in the bottom of the sixth against

reliever In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who pitches in the game after the starting pitcher or another relief pitcher has been removed from the game due to fatigue (medical), fatigue, injury, ineffectiveness, ejection ...

Lee Jung-Min Lee Jung-min (; born 13 November 1990) is a South Korean Paralympic judoka. Career He represented South Korea at the 2016 Summer Paralympics held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and he won the silver medal in the men's 81kg event. In 2018, he repre ...

right fielder A right fielder, abbreviated RF, is the outfielder in baseball or softball who plays defense in right field. Right field is the area of the outfield to the right of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the ...

David Kandilas walked to lead off the inning, and was followed by third baseman

Trent D'Antonio Trent M. D'Antonio (born 14 August 1985) is an Australian professional baseball utility player for the Sydney Blue Sox of the Australian Baseball League. He has previously played for the Florida Marlins organization. He is the all-time leader fo ...

with a single to

left field In baseball, a left fielder, abbreviated LF, is an outfielder who plays defense in left field. Left field is the area of the outfield to the left of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the numbering syst ...

. Auty hit a

sacrifice bunt In baseball, a sacrifice bunt (also called a sacrifice hit) is a batter's act of deliberately bunting the ball, before there are two outs, in a manner that allows a baserunner to advance to another base. The batter is almost always put out, a ...

to move both runners over, leading the Cavalry to intentionally walk centre fielder

Mitch Dening Mitchell John Dening (born 17 August 1988) is an Australian former professional baseball player. Career Early career in Australia In Australia, he played for the Auburn Orioles and Belmont Baseball Club in the New South Wales Major League a ...

. The Blue Sox were unable to capitalise on the opportunity, when

designated hitter The designated hitter (DH) is a baseball player who bats in place of another position player, most commonly the pitcher. Unlike other players in a team's lineup, they generally only play as an offensive player and usually do not play defense as ...

Patrick Maat Patrick may refer to: *Patrick (given name), list of people and fictional characters with this name *Patrick (surname), list of people with this name People *Saint Patrick (c. 385–c. 461), Christian saint *Gilla Pátraic (died 1084), Patrick or ...

struck out and

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catc ...

Andrew Graham grounded out. Sydney scored the only run of the night in the eighth inning against reliever

Heo Jun-Hyeok Heo is a family name in Korea. It is also often spelled as Huh or Hur, or less commonly as Her or Hue. In South Korea in 1985, out of a population of between roughly 40 and 45 million, there were approximately 264,000 people surnamed Heo. The na ...

. With two out, Auty singled to left field for his second hit of the night, then stole

second base In baseball and softball, second baseman, abbreviated 2B, is a fielding position in the infield, between second and first base. The second baseman often possesses quick hands and feet, needs the ability to get rid of the ball quickly, and must ...

. He was then driven in by Dening, who singled to centre field. Dening also stole second, but was stranded there at the end of the inning. In the top of the ninth, relievers Matthew Williams and

Koo Dae-Sung Koo Dae-sung (; born August 2, 1969) is a Korean former professional baseball pitcher. A left-handed pitcher, Koo formerly played for the Hanwha Eagles in the KBO League, as well as the New York Mets of Major League Baseball and the Orix Blue ...

combined to close the game out, earning a

hold Hold may refer to: Physical spaces * Hold (compartment), interior cargo space * Baggage hold, cargo space on an airplane * Stronghold, a castle or other fortified place Arts, entertainment, and media * Hold (musical term), a pause, also called ...

and save respectively.

Round 1

The

played the

at Coopers Stadium in

, the

played against the

at the

, and the Sydney Blue Sox and Canberra Cavalry continued their series at Blacktown Olympic Park for the first round of the season.

Adelaide v Melbourne

The Adelaide Bite won its opening game for the season, defeating the Melbourne Aces 9–1, in large part due to the

Paul Mildren Paul Frank Mildren (born 3 May 1984 in Adelaide, South Australia) is an Australian former professional baseball pitcher. He was 6' 1" tall and weighed 195 lbs. Career highlights Mildren was signed by the Florida Marlins as a non-drafted fre ...

's pitching and

Ben Wigmore Ben Wigmore (born 17 January 1982) is an Australian baseball player. He played for the Kensington Cardinals. In 2004, he was part of the Australian Olympic baseball team, and achieved a Silver Medal in the baseball tournament at the Ath ...

's hitting. Mildren pitched 7 scoreless innings, allowing 6 hits and struck out 5, while Wigmore went 4–for–5 with a

double Double, The Double or Dubble may refer to: Mathematics and computing * Multiplication by 2 * Double precision, a floating-point representation of numbers that is typically 64 bits in length * A double number of the form x+yj, where j^2=+1 * A ...

, a

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

and 5 runs batted in. Despite scoring first in the second inning through back-to-back doubles from Grant Karlsen and Itaru Hashimoto, the Aces lost the second game of the series 7–4. the Bite's starting pitcher Darren Fidge was once again the standout; he pitched 8 innings and allowed 3 runs on 3 hits and 3 walks, and struck out 7. Quincy Latimore went 4–for–8 over the two games of the doubleheader; he hit a 3-run home run in the first inning and took a catch at the left field wall in the fifth inning of game one to help Adelaide to a 13–2 win, then hit two more home runs in the second game where Adelaide won 8–3 to complete the series sweep.

Brisbane v Perth

The Brisbane Bandits and the Perth Heat opened their seasons in Brisbane. The

ceremonial first pitch The ceremonial first pitch is a longstanding ritual of baseball in which a guest of honor throws a ball to mark the end of pregame festivities and the start of the game. Originally, the guest threw a ball from their seat in the grandstand to ...

was thrown by

Graeme Lloyd Graeme John Lloyd (born 9 April 1967) is an Australian former professional baseball pitcher, who appeared with the Milwaukee Brewers, New York Yankees, Toronto Blue Jays, Montreal Expos, Florida Marlins, New York Mets, and Kansas City Royals o ...

and caught by the Bandits'

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

Dave Nilsson David Wayne Nilsson (born 14 December 1969) is an Australian former professional baseball catcher and current manager of the Australia national baseball team and the Brisbane Bandits. He played for Major League Baseball's Milwaukee Brewers fr ...

; the only all-Australian battery to appear in a

game and both

Baseball Australia Hall of Fame The Baseball Australia Hall of Fame or Australian Baseball Federation Hall of Fame is a group of baseball :Baseball positions, players, manager (baseball), managers and coach (baseball), coaches who have been recognised by the Australian Baseball ...

inductees in their own right. Despite

Robbie Widlansky Robert Eric Widlansky (born November 6, 1984) is a former professional baseball outfielder who played internationally for the Israel national baseball team. In college, he won the Sun Belt Conference batting title his senior season, with a Flori ...

's two

extra base hit In baseball, an extra-base hit (EB, EBH or XBH), also known as a long hit, is any base hit on which the batter is able to advance past first base without the benefit of a fielder either committing an error or opting to make a throw to retire ano ...

s and his scoring two runs, Perth was unable to take the lead at any point in the game. Brisbane's

Wade Dutton Wade Dutton (born 23 September 1986) is an Australian professional baseball utility for the Brisbane Bandits of the Australian Baseball League. Career Dutton played alongside his brother Brad Dutton in the Queensland Rams, debuting in the 20 ...

Shuhei Fukuda Shuhei Fukuda (Japanese:福田秀平, born February 10, 1989) is a Japanese professional baseball player for the Kufu HAYATE Ventures Shizuoka of the Western League. He previously played for the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks and the Chiba Lotte Mar ...

, Alan Schoenberger, and Joel Naughton each had multi-hit games to help the Bandits to an 8–3 win. Widlansky was a key player for the Heat again in the second game, which Perth won 2–0, opening the scoring with a solo home run. Daniel Schmidt was the other key player; he was the starting pitcher and pitched 8 innings, allowing no runs on 5 hits and striking out 8 Bandits. Perth also won both games of the doubleheader—4–2 in the day game and 4–1 in the night game—to win its opening series. In the day game

Brandon Dale Brandon may refer to: Names and people *Brandon (given name), a male given name *Brandon (surname), a surname with several different origins Places Australia *Brandon, a farm and 19th century homestead in Seaham, New South Wales *Brandon, Qu ...

went 3–for–4 with a double and a run batted in, and Luke Hughes went 1–for–2 scoring 2 runs, including scoring a run from his lead-off

triple Triple is used in several contexts to mean "threefold" or a " treble": Sports * Triple (baseball), a three-base hit * A basketball three-point field goal * A figure skating jump with three rotations * In bowling terms, three strikes in a row * I ...

in the fifth inning. Heat pitchers Warwick Saupold, Tyler Anderson, Robert Sorensen, and

Liam Hendriks Liam Johnson Hendriks (born 10 February 1989) is an Australian professional baseball pitcher for the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Minnesota Twins, Kansas City Royals, Toronto Blue Jays, ...

combined to keep the Bandits to 1 run on 7 hits, striking out 11 Brisbane hitters.

Sydney v Canberra

Six days after the opening night of the season Sydney and Canberra continued their series at Blacktown Olympic Park. Three of the Blue Sox's key players from that opening night gave repeat performances to defeat the Cavalry 4–2: Chris Oxspring was the starting pitcher for Sydney and pitched 8 innings, having allowed 2 runs on 4 hits and struck out 7 to earn the win; Koo Dae-Sung retired the three Cavalry hitters he faced for a scoreless ninth inning to earn the save; Mitch Dening hit a

ground rule double A ground rule double is a baseball rule that awards two bases from the time of pitch to all baserunners including the batter (baseball), batter-runner, as a result of the ball leaving play after being hit fairly and leaving the field under a cond ...

with the

bases loaded This is an alphabetical list of selected unofficial and specialized terms, phrases, and other jargon used in baseball, along with their definitions, including illustrative examples for many entries. 0–9 0 :"Oh and ..." See #count, coun ...

to drive in the go-ahead run in the bottom of the fifth inning. In the first game of the season to be called early as a result of the league's run differential rule, Sydney comfortably beat Canberra 13–3. Though the Blue Sox combined to hit 7–for–17 with runners in

scoring position In the sport of baseball, a baserunner is said to be in scoring position when they are on second or third base. The distinction between being on first base and second or third base is that a runner on first can usually only score if the batter ...

and 7 runs driven in with two out, they were aided by 2

wild pitch In baseball, a wild pitch (WP) is charged against a pitcher when his pitch is too high, too short, or too wide of home plate for the catcher to control with ordinary effort, thereby allowing a baserunner, or the batter (on an uncaught third st ...

es by Cavalry pitchers, 3

passed ball In baseball, a catcher is charged with a passed ball when he fails to hold or control a legally pitched ball that, with ordinary effort, should have been maintained under his control, and, as a result of this loss of control, the batter or a run ...

s by catcher

Michael Collins Michael Collins or Mike Collins most commonly refers to: * Michael Collins (Irish leader) (1890–1922), Irish revolutionary leader, soldier, and politician * Michael Collins (astronaut) (1930–2021), American astronaut, member of Apollo 11 and Ge ...

, and 4

errors An error (from the Latin , meaning 'to wander'Oxford English Dictionary, s.v. “error (n.), Etymology,” September 2023, .) is an inaccurate or incorrect action, thought, or judgement. In statistics, "error" refers to the difference between t ...

in the field, resulting in only 3 of the 13 runs scored by the Blue Sox being earned. Alex Johnson's 3-run home run in the bottom of the seventh inning was the difference in the final game of the series, helping Sydney to a 7–5 win and to sweep Canberra 4–0 in the series.

Round 2

The

had their home opening series, hosting the

Baseball Park A ballpark, or baseball park, is a type of sports venue where baseball is played. The playing field is divided into two field sections called the infield and the outfield. The infield is an area whose dimensions are rigidly defined in part ba ...

as did

in facing the

. The

continued their homestand, playing the

at the

Perth v Adelaide

In their first game at home for the season, Perth defeated Adelaide 4–2.

Matt Kennelly Mathew Luke Kennelly (born 21 March 1989) is an Australian professional baseball catcher. He is the younger brother of Timothy Kennelly. International competition Kennelly appeared for Australia in both the 2009 Baseball World Cup and the 201 ...

and Luke Hughes each hit

s in the fourth and fifth innings respectively to lead the Heat offence. Despite home runs from

Evan McArthur Evan is a Welsh masculine given name, derived from ''Iefan'', a Welsh form of the name John. Similar names that share this origin include Euan, Ivan, Ian, and Juan. "John" itself is derived from the ancient Hebrew name (romanised: Yəhôḥān ...

and

Ronnie Welty Ronnie may refer to: *Ronnie (name), a unisex pet name and given name *Ronnie (Four Seasons song), "Ronnie" (Four Seasons song), a song by FreakBob Gaudio and Bob Crewe *Ronnie (Metallica song), "Ronnie" (Metallica song), a song from the Metallica ...

, Adelaide were able to square the series by winning 7–3 in the second game; James McOwen homered as part of the Bite's 6-run sixth inning, while Quincy Latimore hit his 4th home run of the season in the seventh. Tied at 4–4 at the end of nine innings, game three went into

extra innings Extra innings is the extension of a baseball or softball game in order to break a tie. Ordinarily, a baseball game consists of nine regulation innings (in softball and high school baseball games there are typically seven innings; in Little Lea ...

. Ronnie Welty produced a

walk-off home run In baseball, a walk-off home run is a home run that ends the game. For a home run to end the game, it must be hit in the bottom of the final inning and generate enough runs to exceed the opponent's score. Because the opponent will not have an opp ...

in the bottom of the twelfth inning; his second home run in as many days to give the Heat a 6–4 win. The final game of the series was won by Adelaide 4–3. Quincy Latimore hit an RBI-

in the top of the ninth inning to put the Bite in front. In trying to score the tying run, Matt Kennelly was thrown out at

home plate A baseball field, also called a ball field or baseball diamond, is the field upon which the game of baseball is played. The term can also be used as a metonym for a baseball park. The term sandlot is sometimes used, although this usually refers ...

by James McOwen in

center field A center fielder, abbreviated CF, is the outfielder in baseball who plays defense in center field – the baseball and softball fielding position between left field and right field. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the cen ...

for the final out of the game.

Canberra v Melbourne

Brisbane v Sydney

Round 3

The third round of the season had the same match-ups of teams from the previous round, but with a switch of home and away teams: the

hosted the

at Coopers Stadium, the

had their home opener against the

at the

, and the

faced the

at Blacktown Olympic Park.

Adelaide v Perth

Melbourne v Canberra

The Melbourne Aces were scheduled to open their first home series of the season on Friday, 26 November but had to wait for two days and three games to be

rained out Rainout, washout, rain delay, and rain stopped play are terms regarding an outdoor event, generally a sporting event, delayed or canceled due to rain, or the threat of rain. It is not to be confused with a type of out in baseball, though a basebal ...

. As a result, the series was shortened to two 7 inning games played on Sunday, 28 November. In the first game the Aces scored all their runs from four home runs, including 2-run shots from

Scott Wearne Scott may refer to: Places Canada * Scott, Quebec, municipality in the Nouvelle-Beauce regional municipality in Quebec * Scott, Saskatchewan, a town in the Rural Municipality of Tramping Lake No. 380 * Rural Municipality of Scott No. 98, Sas ...

(2–for–3) in the first inning and Grant Karlsen (2–for–3 with a double) in the fourth, allowing Melbourne to win 6–2. Wearne hit another first-inning home run in the second game, but the highlight—also in the first inning—of the game was a grand slam from Takahiro Ijyuin. Both home runs helped to set up a comfortable 10–2 win for the Aces to complete a sweep of the shortened series.

Sydney v Brisbane

Round 4

The

returned to the

to host the

. The

also returned to their home ground at

to face the

, completing their season series. The

completed their homestand against the

at Blacktown Olympic Park.

Canberra v Adelaide

As was the case for Canberra's previous series in Melbourne, the opening game of the series was called off because of the rain before a pitch was thrown. The game was rescheduled for the following day as part of a doubleheader.

Perth v Brisbane

Brisbane dominated Perth in the first game of the series to win in 8–1. Alan Schoenberger led the offence for the Bandits, hitting 3–for–4 with a

and a

run batted in A run batted in or runs batted in (RBI) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if th ...

, as did

with a

in the first

at bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens upon completion of his turn at bat, ...

of the game. Hiroki Yamada was credited with the

win Win or WIN most likely refers to: * A victory Win, Winning, WIN or Winner may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film * '' Win!'', a 2016 American film Literature * ''Win'' (Coben novel), 2021 * WIN (pacifist magazine) * WIN (wrestling ma ...

on the mound, pitching for 7

, allowing 1

run Run(s) or RUN may refer to: Places * Run (island), one of the Banda Islands in Indonesia * Run (stream), a stream in the Dutch province of North Brabant People * Run (rapper), Joseph Simmons, now known as "Reverend Run", from the hip-hop group ...

on 5

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * '' H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014, a British compilation album s ...

striking out ''Striking Out'' is an Television in the Republic of Ireland, Irish television legal drama television series, broadcast on RTÉ, that first aired on 1 January 2017, based on ''The Good Wife'' by Robert King (writer), Robert and Michelle King. Prod ...

Sydney v Melbourne

Round 5

The

completed their road trip, facing the

at the

. The

completed their homestand, playing the

. The

hosted the

for the final games of their season series, including a makeup game from the previous round in Sydney.

Brisbane v Adelaide

Perth v Canberra

Melbourne v Sydney

Round 6

The

hosted the

to complete their season series. The

continued their road trip, facing the

at Coopers Stadium. The

completed their homestand with two back–to–back series at the

; two games against the Cavalry to make up for the games washed out in round 3, and four against the

as was originally scheduled.

Canberra v Perth

Adelaide v Sydney

Melbourne v Canberra

Melbourne v Brisbane

Round 7

The

completed their homestand by hosting the

for a five–game series, including a game postponed from round 4 due to wet weather, at Coopers Stadium,

. The

returned home to complete their season series against the

at the

. The

faced the

for the first time in the season, playing at

Adelaide v Canberra

Brisbane v Melbourne

Perth v Sydney

Round 8

The

started their final homestand of the season at the

, facing the

to complete their season series. The

and the

met for the first time, at

. The

and

completed their season series in back–to–back rounds, at Blacktown Olympic Park.

Melbourne v Adelaide

Though Adelaide were able to put together an early 6-run lead through 3

s—including a

grand slam Grand Slam or Grand slam may refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category terminology originating in contract bridge and other whist card games Athletics * Grand Slam Track, professional track and field league Auto racing * ...

from

Tom Brice Thomas Robert Brice (born 24 August 1981) in Woodville, South Australia is an Australian baseballer. Career A left-handed power hitter, he was drafted to the Chicago White Sox in the 2002 Major League Baseball Draft in the 24th round after being ...

—Melbourne built their score throughout the game to win the opening game of the series 11–8. Of the Aces' 11 runs, 6 were unearned resulting from the Bite's 7

. In a reversal of form, Adelaide won the second game 6–3: two plays in the eighth inning that would otherwise have resulted in the third out were missed, each allowing the Bite to score an additional run to take the lead. For the third game in a row, the first team to score actually lost with Adelaide winning 9–2. Also continuing a trend in the series of runs scored from mistakes; both Bite runs scored in the sixth inning came when Melbourne's Shane Lindsay hit two consecutive hitters with

. Adelaide sealed the series win in the final game of the series, defeating Melbourne 10–7. The bite scored 5 runs without an out being recorded, including the first of two home runs from both Brandon Bantz and

Canberra v Brisbane

The first game of the series was tied after the ninth inning, with both sides having had the lead at different points in the game. In the twelfth inning, Rory Rhodes for Brisbane and Donald Lutz for Canberra each hit solo home runs to keep the game tied. Alan Schoenberger scored the winning run in the thirteenth inning for the Bandits to win 7–6; Schoenberger doubled to

, was advanced by

, and scored on Trent Baker's

sacrifice fly In baseball, a sacrifice fly (sometimes abbreviated to sac fly) is defined by Rule 9.08(d): "Score a sacrifice fly when, before two are out, the batter hits a ball in flight handled by an outfielder or an infielder running in the outfield in fair o ...

. Alan Schoenberger opened the scoring in the second game with a

in the second inning, while

likewise ended the scoring with a grand slam in the eighth inning to give the win to Canberra 9–7. Despite Donald Lutz's third home run in as many games, Brisbane won the third game 16–9, after converting 7

and 5 walks in the first two innings into 11 runs. After the fourth game was tied in the bottom of the ninth inning through

Tylor Prudhome Tylor is an English surname and given name meaning “tiler”. Surname *Charles Tylor (1816–1902), British minister and author *Edward Burnett Tylor (1832–1917), British anthropologist *Jud Tylor (born 1979), Canadian actress *Theodore Tylor ( ...

's RBI-

broke the tie immediately in the tenth inning with an RBI-single from Trent Baker and a 3-run double from Josh Roberts to give Brisbane the win 8–4 and Canberra its first series loss at home.

Sydney v Perth

Despite having been swept at home by Sydney the previous weekend, and the addition of two Major Leaguers to the Blue Sox roster, Perth opened the series with a 3–1 win. A two-run single from

in the sixth inning proved the difference between the two teams.

Allan de San Miguel Allan Murray de San Miguel (born 1 February 1988) is an Australian former professional baseball catcher. He is currently a coach with the Kansas City Royals. De San Miguel was previously a manager for the Melbourne Aces of the Australian Basebal ...

's two 2-run home runs gave the Heat the lead in the second game and then provided insurance against a late Blue Sox rally, allowing Perth an 11–7 win. In his longest start of the season,

Cole McCurry Cole may refer to: People and fictional characters * Cole (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Cole (surname), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname * Cole tribe, ...

pitched 7

, allowing 3

earned run In baseball, an earned run is any run that was fully enabled by the offensive team's production in the face of competent play from the defensive team. Conversely, an unearned run is a run that would not have been scored without the aid of an erro ...

s on 6

7 to get his first

in Perth's 4–3 victory, ensuring a Heat series win. Blue Sox

Glenn Williams was ejected in the bottom of the sixth inning of the final game of the series, for arguing against two consecutive calls that according to him were "questionable". Had either call been made the other way, Sydney would likely have scored the first run of the game. Perth scored in each of the remaining innings to win the game 4–1, and complete the sweep of the series locking the season series at 4–4.

Round 9

The

hosted their final home series of the season, against the

at Blacktown Olympic Park,

. The

and

started their season series at the

. The

were scheduled to host the

at the

, however the ABL postponed the series as a result of widespread flooding in South East Queensland. At the time, a decision had not been made as to whether the games would be rescheduled, however it was announced approximately one week later that the games would be rescheduled to the Monday and Tuesday immediately following round 10 in the form of two doubleheaders, but only if either team had a chance of making the playoffs, and only the games required for one of the teams to qualify.

Sydney v Adelaide

For the third game in a row, Sydney allowed their opponents to get a 4-run lead before scoring themselves. However, in the first game of the series against Adelaide, the Blue Sox were able to snap a season-long 4-game losing streak through a walk off

from

Trent Schmutter Trent Schmutter (born 27 August 1987 in Sydney) is an Australian former professional outfielder who had played for Sydney Blue Sox The Sydney Blue Sox are a professional baseball team, and one of six founding teams in the re-formed Austra ...

that drove in

Mark Holland Mark Holland (born October 16, 1974) is a Canadian politician who served as Minister of Health (Canada), Minister of Health from July 26, 2023 to March 14, 2025. A member of the Liberal Party of Canada, Liberal Party, Holland represented Ajax ...

to win 5–4. Sydney regained first place in the league with a second consecutive win over the Bite 4–3. David Welch was credited with his 5th

of the season (6

innings pitched In baseball, the statistic innings pitched (IP) is the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of Batter (baseball), batters and baserunners that have been put out while the pitcher is on the Baseball field#Pitcher's mou ...

, 1

unearned run In baseball, an earned run is any run that was fully enabled by the offensive team's production in the face of competent play from the defensive team. Conversely, an unearned run is a run that would not have been scored without the aid of an erro ...

, 5

, 8

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It means the batter is out, unless the third strike is not caught by the catcher and the batter reaches first base safe ...

s), and

earned his league leading 10th save (2 innings pitched, 1 unearned run, 2 hits, 3 strikeouts). For the second time in three games, Sydney recorded a walk-off win, beating Adelaide 6–5 in

. Mark Holland's 2-run

tied the game in the eighth inning, while in the tenth Alex Johnson doubled, then Michael Lysaught— pinch running for Johnson—scored on

Brandon Bantz's wild throw to

third base A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...

to score the winning run. The Blue Sox secured the series sweep by beating the Bite 6–2 in their final home game of the regular season. The four runs driven in by Andrew Graham,

and Alex Johnson in the fifth inning gave Sydney the lead for the rest of the game.

Melbourne v Perth

Round 10

Adelaide v Brisbane

Canberra v Sydney

Perth v Melbourne

The season length was similar to the 2010 Claxton Shield by spreading ten rounds over twelve weeks, playing only the season's first game in the first week and taking a week off for

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

and

Boxing Day Boxing Day, also called as Offering Day is a holiday celebrated after Christmas Day, occurring on the second day of Christmastide (26 December). Boxing Day was once a day to donate gifts to those in need, but it has evolved to become a part ...

. Six teams were involved, playing a four-game series every week totaling two series against each team, one at

home A home, or domicile, is a space used as a permanent or semi-permanent residence for one or more human occupants, and sometimes various companion animals. Homes provide sheltered spaces, for instance rooms, where domestic activity can be p ...

and one

away Away may refer to: Film and television * ''Away'' (2016 film), a British film directed by David Blair * ''Away'' (2019 film), a Latvian animated silent film by Gints Zilbalodis * Away (2025 film), a drama film by Gerard Oms * ''Away'' (TV series ...

. In total, the schedule allowed for 40 regular season games per team before a four-team

finals series Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

. During the regular season, games were played Thursday to Sunday, varying depending on the series and team, with 18 games scheduled as doubleheaders on a Saturday. Doubleheaders were scheduled to have the first of the two games shortened to seven innings, with the second game using the full nine innings. One of the regular season games resulted in a

tie Tie has two principal meanings: * Tie (draw), a finish to a competition with identical results, particularly sports * Necktie, a long piece of cloth worn around the neck or shoulders Tie or TIE may also refer to: Engineering and technology * T ...

, which is unusual in baseball given the provision in the rules of the game to play

to determine a winner. The game between the

and the

at Blacktown Olympic Park was the second game of a makeup doubleheader as a result of rain earlier that weekend washing out two games, and so had been shortened to seven innings. A rain delay during the first game of the day forced the second game to a later start. Under a provision in the ABL rules that is modeled on the

International Baseball Federation The International Baseball Federation (IBAF) is the former international governing body of baseball. It has since been superseded by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC), and continues to exist as the WBSC's baseball division. Betwee ...

's tiebreaker rule, in any extra inning that starts within an hour of the curfew time for the game—a time set to allow the visiting team time to meet travel schedules to return home at the end of a series—each team starts with runners at first and second base with nobody out. In addition, no new inning may start within 15 minutes of the curfew time. The game was scoreless at the end of the regulation seven innings, and was tied at 1–1 at the end of the eighth inning, which ended at the curfew time. Though the game was an official game, the result did not count towards the season standings. All but 4 of the scheduled 120 games were played. The four games that were not played were the series scheduled between the

and the

at the

for the ninth round. Flooding in Brisbane had resulted in the Exhibition Ground being used as an evacuation centre for affected residents. Initially the ABL postponed the series, leaving a decision as to whether the games would be rescheduled to a later time. Just prior to the final round of scheduled games, it was announced that the games would go ahead in the form of two doubleheaders, but that only games that would affect the playoffs would be played. When Brisbane lost the final game of their series against the

, both they and Canberra were eliminated from contention for the playoffs; hence, the makeup games were not played. The

and Sydney Blue Sox were the first teams to clinch positions in the finals series when Perth defeated the Melbourne Aces in the final game of their series in round 9. The Adelaide Bite were the next team to secure a place in the top four, after winning the third of an expanded six-game series against Brisbane. It was only on the final day of the regular season that Melbourne was able to claim the fourth finals position, and that the makeup of the semi-final series was decided: Sydney hosting Perth in the major semi-final series, and Adelaide hosting Melbourne in the minor semi-final series.

Statistical leaders

Postseason

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. As in the finals series of previous

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.

Bracket

Qualification

The

and

both clinched positions in the top four of the league at the same time: when Perth defeated the

in the final game of their series at the

. The

were the next team to secure a position in the finals, after winning the third of an expanded six-game series against the

at Coopers Stadium in

. 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

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.

Game 1

Game 2

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.

Game 1

Game 2

Preliminary final series

Game 1

Game 2

Game 3

Championship series

Game 1

Game 2

Game 3

Broadcasting

On 25 January 2011, it was announced that

Fox Sports Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world. The name originates from Fox Broadcasting Company in the United States, which in turn derives its name from Fox Fi ...

would broadcast live coverage of the championship series. Warren Smith provided the play-by-play commentary, and was joined by Jon Deeble, manager of the

Australia national baseball team The Australian national baseball team represents Australia in international baseball tournaments and competitions. It is ranked as the top team in Oceania, and is the Oceanian Champion, having been awarded the title in 2007 when New Zealand na ...

, for

colour commentary A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main (play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The person may also be referred to as a summariser (outside North America) ...

Awards

References

External links

The Australian Baseball League
– Official ABL Website
Official Baseball Australia Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:2010-11 Australian Baseball League season 2010 in Australian sport Australian Baseball League season 2011 in Australian sport Australian Baseball League season Australian Baseball League seasons