Home runs from Alex Hall, Jhon Diaz and Angel Mateo, two saves from Warwick Saupold, and plenty of good work in between and the Perth Heat beat the Adelaide Giants to advance to another ABL Championship Series.
Nothing can make up for losing back-to-back Championship Series, but the Heat returned to Adelaide for the semi-final battle where they might have lost both Games 2 and 3 the last two years, but where they did play well for three straight wins earlier this season.
Perth arrived a team on a mission and it was Mateo's home run that secured the 2-1 Friday night win before it was another from Diaz in Game 2 on Saturday night that took the Heat to the 5-3 victory.
Not only do the Heat win the semi-final series in two games to advance to a third straight Championship Series, but they also earn home field advantage despite finishing the regular season in third place with the fourth ranked Canberra Cavalry also upsetting the Sydney Blue Sox.
ABL SEMI-FINAL SERIES, GAME 1
A two-run home run from Angel Mateo in the second inning proved enough for the Perth Heat to start the semi-final match up with the Adelaide Giants with the 2-1 Friday night victory.
Grabbing the momentum to start the series at Dicolor Australia Stadium was always going to be crucial and it was Tucker Smith making the start pitching for the Heat up against Lachlan Wells for the Giants.
Both teams were done after three batters in the first inning but the only two hits the Heat would have the whole night opposed to Wells came in the top of the second.
It started with a single base hit to Tim Kennelly before Angel Mateo stepped up to clear the left field fence to also allow Kennelly to score. It was his fourth home run of the season and gave the Heat the 2-0 advantage.
Adelaide started the second inning of theirs with a double to Rixon Wingrove but Smith got the Heat out of trouble before he did the same in the bottom of the third even after conceding a couple of singles to Nick Ward and Liam Spence.
It was in the bottom of the fifth inning where Adelaide got on the board with a home run from Briley Knight to cut the Perth lead in half at 2-1.
However, there would be no further score in the game with Wells continuing to pitch brilliantly for the Giants while Smith was relieved by Vinnie Tarantola, Steffon Moore and ultimately Warwick Saupold to complete the 2-1 victory.
The Heat only managed two hits the entire game with Wells throwing for the whole nine innings but that home run from Angel Mateo proved the match winner.
Smith ended up pitching the first six innings with 85 pitches and 53 strikes before Tarantola came in for 11 throws and six strikes, Moore 36 and 21, and Saupold seven four.
Adelaide did have eight hits for the game including two each from Briley Knight and Rixon Wingrove while Wells ended up going the whole nine innings for nine strikeouts and giving up just two hits in 91 pitches that included 72 strikes.
PERTH HEAT 2 (Mateo, Kennelly)
ADELAIDE GIANTS 1 (Knight)
W – Tucker Smith; L – Lachlan Wells, S – Warwick Saupold
Friday January 24, Dicolor Australia Stadium
ABL SEMI-FINAL SERIES, GAME 2
The last thing the Heat wanted was to go to another Game 3 with the Giants and they ensured they wouldn’t have to with the 5-3 Game 2 win on Saturday night thanks to a seventh inning home run from Jhon Diaz.
On the back of the momentum of the Game 1 win, the Heat looked to complete the job to book in a spot in another Championship Series with the second game of the semi finals on Saturday night in Adelaide.
Jong Hae-Won was making the start on the mound for Perth while Adelaide went with James Bradwell. Despite a couple of hits in the first two innings from Alex Hall and Jess Williams, the scoring didn’t start until the top of the third.
The inning began with Jhon Diaz being walked before hits to Hall and Ulrich Bojarski, with the second of those allowing Diaz to get around to score and to open the game's scoring.
Tim Kennelly was then also walked and Angel Mateo got the ball in play long enough to allow Hall to get home and to give the Heat the 2-0 advantage.
Perth were able to extend that lead when Hall backed up his earlier strong start to the game with his ninth home run of the season by clearing the right field fence in the top of the fifth inning which gave Heat the 3-0 edge.
The Giants were always going to hit back and that happened in the bottom of the sixth inning when a hit from Niko Hulsizer ended up seeing three runners all get home on the one play.
Suddenly the scores were locked together at 3-3 to set up a dramatic finish and it was in the top of the seventh inning where Diaz came up huge with a home run over right field to clear the fence for a seventh time this season.
Enderson Delgado was already on base and that brought him home and the Heat were leading 5-3. That's where the scores stayed for them to secure the two-nil series win and advance to a third consecutive Championship Series.
On top of his home run, Alex Hall had four hits in the game for the Heat while Jess Williams, Angel Mateo, Tim Kennelly and Ulrich Bojarski all had one along with Jhon Diaz with the other home run.
Jong-Hae Won pitched for the first 5.2 innings in the game with 80 pitches for 46 strikes before Vinnie Tarantola lasted just three pitches for two strikes.
Kieren Hall came on for 26 pitches with 17 strikes, Steffon Moore two pitches and two strikes, and finally Warwick Saupold with back-to-back saves with 17 pitches and 13 strikes.
Adelaide got two hits each from Niko Hulsizer and Briley Knight in the game while James Bradwell threw down 68 pitches with 40 strikes, Estibenzon Jimenez 45 with 33, Blake Townsend 22 with 14 and Daniel McGrath six with five.
PERTH HEAT 5 (Hall, Diaz 2; Delgado)
ADELAIDE GIANTS 3 (Wingrove, Carr, Ward)
W – Vinnie Tarantola; L – Estibenzon Jimenez, S – Warwick Saupold
Saturday January 25, Dicolor Australia Stadium