Tim Kennelly made another piece of history, Ulrich Bojarski cleared the fence again, Jake Bowey earned a win pitching and Tyler Beardsley earned two more saves as the Perth Heat split their ABL series with the Adelaide Giants at Empire Ballpark.
It was another Championship Series rematch to close 2024 between the two fierce rivals across the weekend at Empire Ballpark with the Heat winning the first and fourth games, 8-4 and 4-3 respectively.
Adelaide were able to win both games of the double on Saturday 5-2 and 8-0.
The results of the weekend were good news for the Heat as they improve to a 13-15 record on the season to have now improved to fourth position in the ABL standings three weeks remaining starting at home this weekend to the Melbourne Aces, before two road series to the Canberra Cavalry and Sydney Blue Sox.
ABL REGULAR SEASON, SERIES 7, GAME 1
It was a run fest on Friday night at Empire Ballpark with Perth Heat ending up prevailing 8-4 against the Adelaide Giants to make it four straight wins against their opponents from the past two Championship Series.
Both teams started with a big gun on the mound as well with Tucker Smith opening up for the Heat while it was Lachlan Wells with the ball in hand for the Giants.
The Heat got off to the perfect start opening up with Johnny Ascanio getting himself on base and then Tim Kennelly was able to bring him home with a double to left field to make it a 1-0 ball game after the first two at bats for Perth.
The Heat then doubled their lead in the bottom of the third with Byron Armstrong starting things off with a double before Kennelly repeated the dose to give him the perfect start to the game.
Perth were still leading 2-0 going into the top of the sixth inning before Tucker Smith gave up his first hit of the game and the Giants were able to score two runs thanks to Jared Carr's hit to make it a 2-2 ball game with Ji-Han Park taking over for the Heat.
The Heat immediately responded in the bottom of the fifth starting with three straight walks of Alex Hall, Ulrich Bojarski and Jhon Diaz before Angel Mateo drove in a triple allowing all three runners to score and give the home team the 5-2 advantage.
Adelaide kept things interesting with another two runs in the top of the seventh inning but Perth continued to feel good and the only home run of the game thanks to Bojarski blew the game wide open.
He also brought around Ascanio and Hall to score and the Heat were leading 8-4 which is where the final score would stand.
Along with Ulrich Bojarski's home run, Tim Kennelly and Angel Mateo had two hits apiece with Johnny Ascanio and Byron Armstrong adding one each.
Luis Caicuto had two hits for the Giants while it was Jared Carr who batted in two runs.
Tucker Smith ended up throwing 92 pitches for 53 strikes for the Heat before Ji-Han Park came on for 34 pitches with 15 strikes, Vinnie Tarantola 25 for 14, and then Tyler Beardsley got the win with seven pitches and four strikes.
Lachlan Wells threw the first five innings for the Giants with 90 pitches for 56 strikes before Darcy Longstaff and Jason Lott closed things out.
PERTH HEAT 8 (Bojarski, Hall, Ascanio 2; Armstrong, Diaz)
ADELAIDE GIANTS 4 (Pouaka-Grego, Caicuto, McArdle, Ward)
W – Ji-Han Park; L – Darcy Longstaff, S – Tyler Beardsley
Friday December 27, Empire Ballpark
ABL REGULAR SEASON, SERIES 7, GAME 2
The Heat were looking to keep their winning run going against the Giants to open the double on Saturday at Empire Ballpark but it wasn’t quite to be thanks to a three-run final inning from Adelaide.
It was Jong-Hae Won making the start for the Heat while James Bradwell was on the mound for the Giants in the seven-inning match up to start proceedings on Saturday.
The Heat got out of danger in the first inning despite a couple of hits from the Giants and it was a similar story in the top of the second when the Giants again received singles from Diego Gonzalez and Lou Albrecht.
Ulrich Bojarski got on base in the bottom of the second after being hit by a pitch but the Heat were done after the next three batters before eventually the Giants got on the board first in the top of the fourth.
Hits from Nikau Pouaka-Grego and Albrecht brought in the first two runs of the game and the Giants were leading 2-0 after four with the Heat yet to produce a hit off Bradwell.
The Heat then warmed up in the bottom of the sixth inning starting with a double to right field from Carlos Colmenarez before Jess Williams brought him home, and then later in the inning Jhon Diaz produced a hit to allow Williams to score.
It was still a 2-2 ball game coming into the seventh and final inning but the Giants delivered two hits, were walked four times and converted that into three runs to secure the 5-2 victory.
Perth managed just three games for the seven innings and they were courtesy of Carlos Colmenarez, Jess Williams and Jhon Diaz.
Jong-Hae Won pitched for the first four innings with four strikeouts from 84 pitches with 52 strikes before Zane Morrison delivered 39 pitches with 24 strikes, and Todd Hatcher 19 pitches with six strikes to finish things.
The Giants got two hits apiece from Jared Carr, Niko Hulsizer and Lou Albrecht with Nikau Pouaka-Grego bringing in two runs off his bat.
James Bradwell threw for 5.2 innings with 74 pitches for 50 strikes with four strikeouts before Oscar Nakaoshi closed things out with 16 pitches and 10 strikes.
PERTH HEAT 2 (Williams, Colmenarez)
ADELAIDE GIANTS 5 (McArdle 2; Gonzalez, Hulsizer, Carr)
W – Oscar Nakaoshi; L – Zane Morrison
Saturday December 28, Empire Ballpark
ABL REGULAR SEASON, SERIES 7, GAME 3
The series was tied heading into the second game on Saturday night and the Giants took control late with six runs across the last three innings for the eventual 8-0 victory.
The series was delicately poised heading into the second game of Saturday at Empire Ballpark with Dariel Fregio on the mound for the Heat while it was Matt Osterberg for the Giants.
Both teams combined for three hits in the first inning but neither managed to convert it into a score but eventually Adelaide got on the board in the top of the third.
Hits from Liam Spence, Rixon Wingrove and Niko Hulsizer ended up with the first run of the game and the visitors were leading 1-0 by the end of three.
Adelaide doubled that advantage in the top of the fifth when a fielding error allowed Jordan McArdle onto base and for Jared Carr to get around to score to make it a 2-0 ball game.
That's where the score stayed going into the top of the seventh where Hulsizer opened up with a home run off Warwick Saupold over the left field fence to make it 3-0.
Adelaide stretched the lead to 6-0 in the eighth inning and then completed the job to win 8-0 with two more runs in the ninth.
Despite not being able to score, the Heat did have four hits for the game with one each from Byron Armstrong, Jess Williams, Jhon Diaz and Tim Kennelly.
Dariel Fregio threw for the first four innings with five strikeouts and giving up just two runs from 94 pitches with 58 strikes.
Warwick Saupold then came in for two innings and had three strikeouts before Jai Hewitt and Eui-Tae Seo closed things out.
Adelaide got a home run from Niko Hulsizer while Jared Carr finished with two hits.
Matt Osterberg threw five innings with seven strikeouts before Estibenzon Jimenez and Todd Van Steensel closed things out.
PERTH HEAT 0
ADELAIDE GIANTS 8 (Carr 2; Knight, Pouaka-Grego, McArdle, Hulsizer, Spence, Ward)
W – Matt Osterberg; L – Dariel Fregio
Saturday December 28, Empire Ballpark
ABL REGULAR SEASON, SERIES 7, GAME 4
The Heat needed a win on Sunday to avoid a series loss and ended up delivering the 4-3 victory with Tim Kennelly making history by reaching 250 runs batted in at Empire Ballpark.
It was a big game in the context of the season with the race for a top four spot for the Heat and it was Jake Bowey as the starting pitcher while it was Daniel McGrath starting things off for the Giants.
The Heat produced three straight flyouts off the hand off Bowey to open proceedings on Sunday afternoon before the home team produced a big second inning.
It started with a double to Alex Hall before Carlos Colmenarez and Byron Armstrong delivered hits to open the game's scoring, and then Enderson Delgado also singled which allowed both Colmenarez and Armstrong to get around to score.
That gave Perth the 3-0 lead by the end of two innings before the home team stretched that advantage to 4-0 in the bottom of the fifth when Kennelly made history as the first batter in the modern day ABL to reach 250 RBI's.
His sacrifice fly to centre field allowed Armstrong to get around to score and to keep the Heat in control of the contest.
Adelaide kept things interesting with two runs in the top of the sixth and then a third in the eighth, but the Heat held firm for the 4-3 victory to level up the series and to do enough to finish Round 7 in a top four position.
Ulrich Bojarski and Byron Armstrong produced two hits each in the win for Perth with one from Alex Hall, Carlos Colmenarez and Enderson Delgado.
Jake Bowey ended up pitching five innings without conceding a run and having three strikeouts from 60 pitches with 41 strikes.
Ji-Han Park then came in for 19 pitches and 10 strikes, Yuki Narita 10 pitches and three strikes, Vinnie Tarantola 17 pitches and 13 strikes, and finally Tyler Beardsley 29 pitches and 19 strikes.
Jared Carr produced another two hits for Adelaide with Daniel McGrath throwing 37 pitches for 26 strikes, Ky Hampton 34 and 21, and Blake Townsend 47 and 26.
PERTH HEAT 4 (Armstrong 2; Colmenarez, Hall)
ADELAIDE GIANTS 3 (Albrecht, Spence, Ward)
W – Jake Bowey; L – Daniel McGrath, S – Tyler Beardsley
Sunday December 29, Empire Ballpark