The Perth Heat shook off a Game 1 loss on the road to the Canberra Cavalry in the second last series of the ABL season to outscore them 21-2 in the final three matches to take a step closer to a finals appearance.
The Cavalry won Game 1 on Thursday night 3-1 at EPC Solar Ballpark before Friday night was washed out, but across Saturday and Sunday the Heat’s bats got rolling and the defensive and pitching efforts were rock solid.
That saw the Heat win 4-1 and 9-0 on Saturday in the double-header, and then wrapped things up winning 8-1 on Sunday to claim the series and improve to an 18-18 record to sit in third position with a round to play where they remain on the road to the league-leading Sydney Blue Sox.
ABL REGULAR SEASON, SERIES 9, GAME 1
The crucial series for both teams got underway in Canberra on Thursday night and it was a three-run second inning that set up the Cavalry to beat the Heat 3-1.
To open up the series it was Tucker Smith the starting pitcher for the Heat with Jack Mahoney on the mound for the Cavalry, and it was Perth making the perfect start with a hit from Johnny Ascanio on the very first at bat of the game.
He ended up scoring after a hit also to Jhon Diaz before Alex Hall was walked and then Angel Mateo got on base, and Ascanio got home thanks to a Canberra fielding to make it 1-0 for the visitors.
It was then in the bottom of the second inning when Canberra blew the game open thanks to a triple from Armond Upshaw. That allowed Miles Simington, Cameron Tilly and George Callil to all score.
That gave the Cavalry the 3-1 lead and that’s where the score stayed the rest of the way despite the Heat having glimpses with a single from Enderson Delgado in the fifth inning, a double from Ulrich Bojarski to open the sixth, another hit from Ascanio in the eighth, and a pair of base hits from Mateo and Carlos Colmenarez in the ninth.
Canberra still prevailed 3-1 to take the series lead despite the two hits during the game for Perth from Johnny Ascanio along with one apiece from Enderson Delgado, Byron Armstrong, Carlos Colmenarez, Angel Mateo, Jhon Diaz and Ulrich Bojarski.
Tucker Smith pitched the first five innings of the game with four strikeouts from his 83 pitches with 58 strikes. Warwick Saupold then came on for 14 pitches with eight strikes, and Ji-Han Park 17 pitches with 11 strikes.
Armond Upshaw, Robbie Perkins and Miles Simington all had two hits each for the Cavalry while Jack Mahoney pitched for six innings with eight strikeouts before Ryo Kohigashi and Jon Kennedy closed things out.
PERTH HEAT 1 (Ascanio)
CANBERRA CAVALRY 3 (Callil, Tilly, Simington)
W – Jack Mahoney; L – Tucker Smith, S – Jon Kennedy
Thursday January 9, EPC Solar Ballpark
ABL REGULAR SEASON, SERIES 9, GAME 2
Game 2 on Friday night was washed out in Canberra forcing the double-header on Saturday at EPC Solar Ballpark with the Heat opening up proceedings in the first hit out with the 4-1 victory to level the series with the Cavalry.
It was Jake Bowey making the pitching start for the Heat for the first game on Saturday and Colten Davis doing the same for the Cavalry.
Perth produced a big top of the second inning starting with Angel Mateo being walked before a hit to Carlos Colmenarez, Jess Williams also worked and the game’s first run came on a sacrifice fly from Enderson Delgado.
That had the Heat leading 1-0 but it was soon 1-1 in the same inning when Canberra got on the board with Ray Zuberer driving in Robbie Perkins.
That’s where the scores stayed until the top of the fifth inning with the Heat again able to get two batters on base with Delgado walked and Johnny Ascanio getting there on a field error by the Cavalry
Jhon Diaz was able to get the ball into play for Delgado to score and the Heat were leading 2-1.
Perth extended that advantage in the top of the sixth inning firstly with a double to Alex Hall who ended up being brought home when he scored when Jess Williams was walked by pitcher Matt Beattie.
The Heat confirmed the victory with another run in the seventh after hits to Ascanio, Bojarski and Hall and the visitors prevailed 4-1 to level up the series after two games.
Alex Hall delivered two hits in the win for Perth with one each to Ulrich Bojarski, Carlos Colmenarez and Johnny Ascanio.
Jake Bowey ended up pitching for 50 throws with 34 strikes and giving up just the three hits and one run before Steffon Moore delivered 20 pitches with 14 strikes, and Tyler Beardsley earned another save with 28 pitches for 21 strikes.
Canberra managed just the three hits the entire seven innings from Ray Zuberer, Miguel Palma and Robbie Perkins while Colten Davis pitched for 84 throws with 49 strikes, Matt Beattie 16 with eight, and Elliot Johnstone 17 with 11.
PERTH HEAT 4 (Delgado, Mateo, Hall, Ascanio)
CANBERRA CAVALRY 1 (Perkins)
W – Steffon Moore; L – Colten Davis, S – Tyler Beardsley
Saturday January 11, EPC Solar Ballpark
ABL REGULAR SEASON, SERIES 9, GAME 3
The series was all level coming into the second game on Saturday and the Heat produced a dominant performance to win 9-0 including getting a home run from Jess Williams and limiting the Cavalry to just four hits.
Dariel Fregio was the starting pitcher in the game for the Heat while it was Carlos Calderon opening up for the Cavalry and it was only until the second inning where Perth took control.
It began with Alex Hall and Tim Kennelly both being walked before hits to Angel Mateo, Carlos Colmenarez and Jess Williams saw the first two runs scored.
A sacrifice fly to centre field from Enderson Delgado then also allowed Colmenarez and Mateo to both score, and it was a 4-0 lead.
That’s where it would stay by the end of the inning with Canberra already making the pitching change with Tyson McKee replacing Calderon.
The Heat added to that lead when Colmenarez produced another hit in the top of the third inning to bring Mateo around to score and it was a 5-0 advantage.
Perth was feeling good and kept the momentum going in the top of the fifth starting with hits from Kennelly and Armstrong before the first home run of the series courtesy of Williams. It was his second of the season and it pushed the Heat out to the 8-0 lead.
That became 9-0 in the top of the sixth inning thanks to a triple from Hall before Kennelly got the ball into play to bring him around to score, and that would prove to be the final score.
Along with the home run from Jess Williams, he had two hits in the game along with Carlos Colmenarez and Angel Mateo with one each to Jhon Diaz, Alex Hall, Tim Kennelly, Byron Armstrong and Enderson Delgado.
Dariel Fregio produced a standout pitching performance over six innings for five strikeouts to end up throwing 59 strikes from 88 pitches. Tom Bailey then closed things out in the seventh inning with 12 pitches and seven strikes.
Armond Upshaw provided two hits for the scoreless Canberra with Carlos Calderon giving up four runs, Tyson McKee four and Jeremy Atkinson the last one.
PERTH HEAT 9 (Mateo, Kennelly, Hall 2; Williams, Armstrong, Colmenarez)
CANBERRA CAVALRY 0
W – Dariel Fregio; L – Carlos Calderon
Saturday January 11, EPC Solar Ballpark
ABL REGULAR SEASON, SERIES 9, GAME 4
The Heat had the momentum on their side from Saturday night and continued that on Sunday with the 8-1 victory to claim the series win and take a big step towards locking in a finals appearance.
It was the turn of Jong-Hae Won to be the starting pitcher to close the series for the Heat with Jake Dykhoff on the mound for the Cavalry who tried to level the series to boost their top four hopes with a round to go.
Once again it was a hot start from the Heat with Johnny Ascanio delivering a double on the very first at bat of the contest.
Jhon Diaz got the ball in play next to help Ascanio get to third and then he got home as did Alex Hall when he delivered his eighth home run of the season by clearing right field’s fence.
The Heat then doubled that lead in the top of the third inning with a sixth home run of the season from Diaz which also brought Ascanio around to score and Perth were leading 4-0.
That became 5-0 in the same inning after a hit from Tim Kennelly that allowed Ulrich Bojarski to come around to home plate.
The Cavalry did get a run back in that same inning but the Heat were still leading 5-1 and that became 6-1 in the fourth on the back of hits from Diaz, Bojarski and a sacrifice fly from Hall.
That was 7-1 with a home run in the fifth inning from Jess Williams who cleared the centre field fence for the second time in the series.
The Heat completed the deal with another run in the ninth with that coming from a double by Bojarski with the 8-1 victory sealing the series victory for Perth and putting them in a strong position to finish in the top four.
Perth delivered three home runs in the win from Jess Williams, Alex Hall and Jhon Diaz while Diaz finished with three hits, Johnny Ascanio two and Bojarski two.
Jong-Hae Won delivered six innings pitching with five strikeouts and made up of 71 pitches with 52 strikes. Ji-Han Park then came in for 14 pitches and nine strikes, Warwick Saupold 14 and nine, Steffon Moore 19 and 12, and Tyler Beardsley six and four.
Jason Matthews delivered two hits for Canberra with Jake Dykhoff threw for 38 pitches with 23 strikes, Ryo Kohigashi 64 and 39, and Jon Kennedy 50 and 37.
PERTH HEAT 8 (Diaz, Ascanio 2; Delgado, Williams, Hall, Bojarski)
CANBERRA CAVALRY 1 (Upshaw)
W – Jong-Hae Won; L – Jake Dykhoff
Sunday January 12, EPC Solar Ballpark