2017–18 Australian Baseball League season

The 2017–18 Australian Baseball League season was the eighth Australian Baseball League (ABL) season, and was held from 16 November 2017 to 11 February 2018. It was the last season of the ABL that was played with 6 teams, as the league expanded to eight teams for the 2018-19 season.

2017–18
Australian Baseball League

Season details
Sport	Baseball
Country	Australia
Teams	6
Dates	16 November 2017 – 11 February 2018
Defending champions	Brisbane Bandits (2016–17)
Champions	Brisbane Bandits (3rd title)
Helms Award	Jake Fraley
Final positions
Champions	Brisbane Bandits
Second place	Canberra Cavalry
Third place	Perth Heat
Fourth place	Melbourne Aces
Fifth place	Sydney Blue Sox
Sixth place	Adelaide Bite
Regular season
Games played	119
Attendance	98,397  (827 per game)
Best batting average	Jay Baum (CAN) (.439)
Most homeruns hit	T.J. Bennett (BRI) Donald Lutz (BRI) (16)
Most stolen bases	Jake Fraley (PER) (39)
Best ERA	Frank Gailey (CAN) (1.80)
Most strikeouts (as pitcher)	Ryan Bollinger (BRI) Josh Tols (MEL) (75)
← 2016–17 2018–19 →

The league also saw a large spike in offensive production with the single season home-run, run, AVG, SLG & OPS records all broken and home runs doubled, leading to a juiced ball theory.[1]

Teams

Teams in the ABL

Team	State / Territory	Stadium
Adelaide Bite	South Australia	Diamond Sports Stadium[2]
Brisbane Bandits	Queensland	Holloway Field[3]
Canberra Cavalry	Australian Capital Territory	Narrabundah Ballpark[4]
Melbourne Aces	Victoria	Melbourne Ballpark[5]
Perth Heat	Western Australia	Baseball Park[6]
Sydney Blue Sox	New South Wales	Blue Sox Stadium[7]

Regular season

Key

Clinched postseason berth

Adelaide Bite

Brisbane Bandits

Canberra Cavalry

Melbourne Aces

Perth Heat

Sydney Blue Sox

2017–18 regular season standings[8]

Pos	Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Away
1	Brisbane Bandits	28	11	.718	–	15–4	13–7
2	Perth Heat	26	14	.650	2.5	12–8	14–6
3	Canberra Cavalry	21	18	.538	4.0	14–6	10–9
4	Melbourne Aces	17	23	.425	11.5	9–11	8–12
5	Sydney Blue Sox	13	27	.325	15.5	7–13	6–14
6	Adelaide Bite	11	29	.275	17.5	7–13	4–16

Postseason

	Semifinal Series					Championship Series
	1	Brisbane Bandits	1
	4	Melbourne Aces	0
						1	Brisbane Bandits	2
						3	Canberra Cavalry	1
	2	Perth Heat	1
	3	Canberra Cavalry	2

Statistical leaders

Batting leaders Stat Player[S 1] Team Total AVG Jay Baum Canberra Cavalry .439 HR T.J. Bennett Donald Lutz Brisbane Bandits Brisbane Bandits 16 RBI David Kandilas Chiang Chih-hsien Canberra Cavalry Sydney Blue Sox 44 R Jake Fraley Perth Heat 50 H Jay Baum Jake Fraley Canberra Cavalry Perth Heat 61 SB Jake Fraley Perth Heat 39

Pitching leaders Stat Player[S 2] Team Total W 6 tied at 4 teams 5 L Mark Hamburger Greg Mosel Melbourne Aces Adelaide Bite 7 ERA Frank Gailey Canberra Cavalry 2.34 K Ryan Bollinger Josh Tols Brisbane Bandits Melbourne Aces 75 IP Mark Hamburger Melbourne Aces 67⅓ SV Cameron Lamb Perth Heat 6

1. Minimum 2.7 PAs per team game.[9]
2. Minimum 0.8 IP per team game. [10]

Championship Series

09 February 2018 18:00 (UTC+11:00) Game 1	Canberra Cavalry	5–1	Brisbane Bandits	Narrabundah Ballpark, Canberra Attendance: 2,275 Umpires: HP: Takahito Matsuda 1B: Trent Thomas 2B: Matthew Pearson 3B: Ben Nash
	WP: Brian Grening (1–0) Sv: Tyler Herr (1)	Boxscore	LP: Ryan Bollinger (0–1)
	HR: David Kandilas (1), Robbie Perkins (1)		HR: TJ Bennett (1)

10 February 2018 18:00 (UTC+10:00) Game 2	Brisbane Bandits	12–2	Canberra Cavalry	Holloway Field, Brisbane Attendance: 2,202 Umpires: HP: Tom West 1B: Mal Mackay 2B: Paul Latta 3B: Takahito Matsuda
	WP: Tim Atherton (1–0)	Boxscore	LP: Lake Bachar (0–1)
	HR: 2 Chih-Sheng Lin (2), Mitch Nilsson (1), 2 Andrew Campbell (2), David Sutherland (1), Donald Lutz (1)		HR: Travis Witherspoon (1)

11 February 2018 16:00 (UTC+10:00) Game 3	Brisbane Bandits	4–2	Canberra Cavalry	Holloway Field, Brisbane Attendance: 1,333 Umpires: HP: Mal Mackay 1B: Paul Latta 2B: Takahito Matsuda 3B: Tom West
	WP: Travis Blackley (1–0) Sv: Ryan Searle (1)	Boxscore	LP: Frank Gailey (0–1)
	HR: Mitch Nilsson (2), Adam Weisenberger (1)

References

1. The Great Australian Home-Run Spike FanGraphs 28 March, 2018
2. "Adelaide Bite Homepage". Adelaide Bite. Australian Baseball League. Archived from the original on 11 November 2010. Retrieved 9 November 2010.
3. "Brisbane Bandits Homepage". Brisbane Bandits. Australian Baseball League. Archived from the original on 11 November 2010. Retrieved 9 November 2010.
4. "Canberra Cavalry Homepage". Canberra Cavalry. Australian Baseball League. Archived from the original on 8 November 2010. Retrieved 9 November 2010.
5. "Melbourne Aces Homepage". Melbourne Aces. Australian Baseball League. Archived from the original on 9 November 2010. Retrieved 9 November 2010.
6. "Perth Heat Homepage". Perth Heat. Australian Baseball League. Archived from the original on 9 November 2010. Retrieved 9 November 2010.
7. "Sydney Blue Sox Homepage". Sydney Blue Sox. Australian Baseball League. Archived from the original on 9 November 2010. Retrieved 9 November 2010.
8. "2016 Australian Baseball League Final Standings". Australian Baseball League. Retrieved 1 September 2017.
9. "League Batting Leaders". Australian Baseball League. Retrieved 27 January 2015.
10. "League Pitching Leaders". Australian Baseball League. Retrieved 27 January 2015.

External links

• The Australian Baseball League – Official ABL Website
• Official Baseball Australia Website