Adelaide Giants through to ABL Championship Series after downing Canberra Cavalry 6-3 in semi-final decider on Sunday
Adelaide Giants will look to claim their first Claxton Shield in 40 years after advancing to the Championship Series by defeating Canberra Cavalry 6-3 at West Beach on Sunday afternoon.
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Adelaide Giants are through to the Australian Baseball League Championship Series against Melbourne Aces after an impressive 6-3 victory over Canberra Cavalry on Sunday afternoon.
The South Australian team, which finished as minor premiers, will now have the chance to claim its first Claxton Shield since 1980.
The semi-final series was deadlocked entering the final game at Active Displays Stadium in West Beach, after the Cavs grabbed the first game 7-6 in an extra-inning thriller on Friday night, and the Giants hit back with a gritty 5-2 victory on Saturday night.
Curtis Mead was the hero with the bat for Adelaide with three hits and two RBIs, while Jordan McArdle managed three hits and scored one of the Giants’ six runs.
Canberra was well-held at the plate thanks to the one-two punch of pitchers Ryan Chaffee (six strikeouts, one base on balls) and Tyler Beardsley (five SOs, one BB) who conceded just four hits and two runs between them.
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It didn’t take long for Adelaide to open its account when at the bottom of the first Jeremy Hazelbaker tripled to bring Mikey Reynolds home.
The Giants then piled on the pressure three innings later when at the bottom of the fourth, Eric Peterson grabbed first on a fielder’s choice, with Logan O’Hoppe scurrying home.
A double from Curtis Mead shortly after allowed Jordan McArdle, who had advanced to third base during the previous play, to score, with Peterson rounding the bases to add a fourth run to Adelaide’s total.
The scorers weren’t bothered in the fifth innings, before Canberra stormed back into the game in the sixth with short stop Kelvin Melean, Robbie Podorsky and Cam Warner scoring by way of singles.
Melean would be ejected in the seventh after a blowup with the umpire while at-bat.
It was still anyone’s match until the top of the ninth, where Adelaide batted in two extra runs to give itself a three-run buffer, before Chaffee closed out the innings from the mound without conceding any to the Cavs.