Two of the three Dutch hoofdklasse players in the Australian Baseball League, did not have a great day. Sam Kennelly and his Perth Heat didn’t make it through the first inning due to inclement weather. Dwayne Kemp and Shogo Nakashima lost 7-4 with the Sydney Blue Sox vs the Canberra Cavalry.
The Blue Sox pitching wasn’t sharp today. Starting pitcher Alessandro Maestri kept the Cavalry in check in the first four innings but the team from Canberra jumped on him in the fifth. He was tabbed for three of the five runs, the Cavalry scored in that inning. With two outs, Maestri was replaced by Dutch hoofdklasse pitcher Shogo Nakashima, who allowed a triple to Justin Lopez that drove in three runs, of which two were given up by Nakashima himself. Nakashima retired the side in the sixth inning but by then the damage was already done.
Dwayne Kemp went 1 for 4 with an RBI single. In the bottom of the ninth, with runners on first and second and the Blue Sox trailing 7-4, he could have become the hero of the game but he grounded into a force out at third base for the final out of the game.
The game between the Perth Heat and Geelong-Korea was suspended due to rainfall. After the top of the first inning, the Heat had taken a 5-0 lead. Sam Kennelly struck out in his one at-bat.
The Adelaide Bite beat the Melbourne Aces 8-2. A three-run first and second inning, gave the Bite a commanding lead. Aces starting pitcher Luke Abels did not last long after one inning and three runs given up, he was replaced by Jack Enciondo, who also gave up three runs.
Winning pitcher for Adelaide was Kurt Heyer, who went six innings in which he gave up two runs (one earned) on nine hits and fanned five. Best hitter for the Bite was Nicholas Shumpert, who went 2 for 3 with a double and an RBI.
In Auckland, the Tuatara managed to clinch their first win in the ABL in walk off fashion. The club managed to blow what was a 4-1 lead as the Bribane Bandits scored a run in the third, two in the seventh and one in the ninth. But with one out and pinch runner Aryton Laird on second in the bottom of the ninth, Laird stole third base and advanced to home on a throwing error by catcher Ryan Battaglia, who just came out of right field to replace catcher Daniel de la Calle.
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