Christmas is done and now the Perth Heat focus their attention on the final month of the ABL season looking to break into a finals position starting with a home series against the Adelaide Giants this weekend.
The Heat went into Christmas on the high of a series victory on the road to the Brisbane Bandits to have them knocking on the door of a top four position and now they are back at Empire Ballpark in a Championship Series rematch with the Giants.
The two teams have already played a series this season with the Heat getting the better of the Giants three games to one in Adelaide, and now they will be looking to repeat the dose at home to close 2024.
Game 1 of the series between the two teams that have contested the past two ABL Championship Series gets underway at 7pm on Friday night at Empire Ballpark.
Not only is there the natural rivalry in the ABL between Perth and Adelaide, but it’s also a significant series in the context of this current season as the race for finals positions heats up with just a month remaining.
With the Heat’s series win last week in Brisbane, they improved to an 11-13 record to be in fifth position still but knocking right on the door of the fourth placed Melbourne Aces who are 11-12.
So a series victory for the Heat at home to the Giants and they could very well end the weekend inside the top four, and from there a finals position will be theirs to lose over the last three weeks.
The Giants are also currently in second position with a 14-10 record so it’s a significant weekend for the reigning champions as well with a good week in Perth to go a long way to locking in a finals spot, but a series defeat and suddenly they are right back to the pack.
The last time the two teams met was back at the end of November in Adelaide where the Giants won the opening game of the series 4-3, but then the Heat took control over the last three games.
Perth outscored Adelaide 25 runs to eight over the final three matches of that series to now bring that confidence with them back to Empire Ballpark with them this weekend looking to make it two series victories over the Giants in response to last year’s Championship Series.
Following the opening six weeks of the ABL season, the Heat are on the improve with the bat currently hitting at an average of .245 as a team with the 102 runs and 29 home runs from the 780 at bats across the 24 matches.
That includes Jess Williams having a fine season going at .333 across his 20 appearances with 20 hits and a home run while Byron Armstrong was back last weekend and is going at .308 with 12 hits and the one home run.
Ulrich Bojarski is warming into the season nicely going at .284 with 19 hits and five home runs while Jhon Diaz also has the five home runs with 23 hits with an average of .258.
Carlos Colmenarez is also going at .247 with 18 hits and four home runs, Alex Hall .228 with 18 hits and six home runs, Angel Mateo .226 with 14 hits and three home runs, Tim Kennelly .221 with 17 hits and a home run, and Johnny Ascanio .208 with five hits from eight appearances.
The Giants are batting at an average of .263 as a team with 201 hits, 108 runs and 23 home runs with Yuto Akihiro having been batting at .321 over the season, Jordan McArdle .314, Nikau Pouaka-Grego .313, Niko Hulsizer .284, Rixon Wingrove .270 and Briley Knight .256.
Pitching wise and the Heat are throwing with an ERA of 5.10 as a team having conceded 125 runs and 32 home runs across the 24 games with 201 innings pitched.
That includes Ji-Han Park, Young Woo Shin and Tucker Smith having two wins to their credit so far for the season with Tyler Beardsley proving to be the master reliever having seven saves to his name already this season to date.
In comparison, the Giants have a team ERA of 3.55 having given up 203 hits, 93 runs and 14 home runs across 203 innings.
ABL SEASON 2024/25 – ROUND 7 (December 27-29)
PERTH HEAT v ADELAIDE GIANTS – at EMPIRE BALLPARK
GAME 1 – Friday 7pm WST
GAME 2 – Saturday 4pm WST
GAME 3 – Saturday 7pm WST
GAME 4 – Sunday 2pm WST