Sydney Blue Sox still in the game

Monday, January 30, 2012

Game 1

Sydney defeated Adelaide, 5-3, with an outstanding pitching performance by veteran left-hander Craig Anderson. Anderson was outstanding, striking out seven over 6.2 innings to earn the win, and stellar relievers Matthew Williams and Dae-Sung Koo finished off the rest, giving the Blue Sox the important early edge in this best-of-five series.



Game 2

The Bite regrouped following yesterday's tough defeat and evened the series at one win apiece behind a fantastic pitching performance by Paul Mildren. In a complete game victory, the lefty allowed just three hits and two earned runs, striking out six. Calvin Anderson was the hitting star for the home team, finishing the evening with four RBI on three hits, including a double and a home run. With the 8-3 triumph, Adelaide has given themselves a chance to take a series lead in tomorrow's pivotal game three.

Sydney started off strong behind Chris Oxspring and they jumped on Bite starter Paul Mildren in the third. After Jacob Younis walked and Andrew Graham followed with a single, Michael Lysaught put the pressure on Mildren by dropping down a sacrifice bunt. The lefty hurler came off the mound to field the ball, but threw errantly up the right field line, scoring Younis and placing runners on second and third. The next batter was yesterday's hero David Kandilas, who doubled deep to left field, scoring both runners and giving Sydney a 3-0 lead.

In the fourth, Oxspring lost his control and Adelaide was able to capitalise. The veteran right-hander walked four batters in the inning and uncorked a wild pitch, in addition to surrendering a pair of base hits, as the Bite scored three to tie it. After Jeremy Cresswell reached on a walk to lead off the frame, James Jones doubled ahead of a Calvin Anderson single, which knocked in both runners. Anderson scored the third run when he crossed the plate on a Scott Gladstone groundout.

Adelaide didn't relent in the fifth, as they scored two more to take their first lead of the series. After the first two batters were retired, Jones kept the inning alive with a two-out walk, bringing the big first baseman Anderson to the dish. On the first pitch from Oxspring, the slugger connected for a long home run to left field, his first this series after hitting 11 during the regular season.

Once his teammates gave him the lead, Mildren settled down nicely and cruised ahead. He did not allow another hit after Joseph Hage's fourth inning single, retiring 16 of the last 18 batters he faced. The consistent starter had reached eight innings in three of his previous nine starts, but this was his first complete game of the season. He earned a crucial win for his team to turn this into an even best-of-three to finish the series.

Tomorrow's important third game will place one team within a win of advancing to the next round, with the other to move within a defeat of elimination. The first pitch will be thrown at 6:30PM with expected starters Darren Fidge of the Bite and Brad Thomas of the Blue Sox set to face off.


Game 3

Saturday night's Game Three of the ConocoPhillips ABL Postseason Round One series between the Bite and Blue Sox has been postponed due to inclement weather. Play will resume Sunday with the regularly-scheduled first game beginning at 2:30PM, followed by Game Four at 6:30PM. Game Five will be played at 12:00PM Monday, if necessary.

Although the Blue Sox jumped out to an early 8-0 lead behind home runs from Tyler Collins and Michael Lysaught, Sunday's game will start from the beginning, in the first inning, with a 0-0 score. None of the statistics from Saturday's game will stand. This ruling is in accordance with guidelines that have been set in place by Major League Baseball, where any game that is postponed without reaching five innings played will be counted as a "no game." This series will still be played to its full best-of-five format until one of the teams has achieved three victories.


Game 4

In the best pitching duel of the Postseason so far, the Blue Sox shut out the Bite 1-0 in Saturday's second game, clinching the series victory three games to one. Vaughan Harris, Matthew Willliams, and Dae-Sung Koo combined for a five-hitter and Pat Maat's RBI groundout in the fourth gave them the only run they needed. Reed Brown pitched admirably in the defeat, surrendering just one run in seven innings, striking out seven. The Blue Sox now advance to face the Jet Couriers Melbourne Aces in Round Two, beginning Wednesday at 7:05PM.

Harris was on his game through his 6.1 innings on the mound, allowing just seven baserunners. He had men reach scoring position against him in four different innings, but worked out of the jam each time. Williams and Koo allowed just one hit between them in the final 2.2 innings, as Koo picked up his second save of the series.

Even in victory, Sydney managed just five hits against the duo of Reed Brown and Jason Daniels. Brown threw 63 of his 96 pitches for strikes and didn't walk a batter. The only blemish on his record was the single run scored in the fourth inning when David Kandilas scampered home on Maat's groundout to shortstop. Unfortunately for him, that was all the support Sydney's staff needed on this night.

The loss means the end of the season for the Bite, while the Blue Sox will travel to Melbourne to take on the Aces at Melbourne Showgrounds in Round Two. The first game of that series, which will determine who moves on to challenge Perth in the ConocoPhillips ABL Championship Series, will take place Wednesday, 1 February, beginning at 7:05PM.


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