Australian Baseball League: Perth Heat to host all three Championship Series games after beating Adelaide

Perth Heat will host all three games of the 2024-25 Australian Baseball League Championship Series after toppling Adelaide Giants in South Australia and gaining some revenge in the process.

After back-to-back game three losses to the Giants in the past two grand finals in Adelaide, Perth buried their demons with a 2-0 series victory with wins on Friday and Saturday night.

The Heat will now face Canberra Cavalry after the fourth-placed outfit upset Sydney Blue Sox, who finished the ABL season with the best record, 2-0 in the other semifinal.

And in an added bonus, all three games will be played at Empire Ballpark in Thornlie across Friday, Saturday and Sunday night.

The ABL, in consultation with the Cavalry, decided to schedule all three games in Perth due to travel constraints.

“Whilst we’ve been fortunate that we’ve been in a position to split the championships series in prior seasons, the travel constraints for this series have proven too difficult to overcome,” Baseball Australia chief executive Glenn Williams said.

“We are grateful for the unwavering support of the Canberra Cavalry management team in reaching a resolution that prioritises the best interests of the players, the finals series and the baseball in Australia.”

Staring down the prospect of Adelaide ending their season for the third successive year, Perth got the perfect start to their series when they triumphed 2-1 in game one.

The Heat recorded just two hits all game, both in the second innings — but they converted both into runs, with Angel Mateo’s homer driving in Tim Kennelly to give Perth a 2-0 lead.

Briley Knight’s home run at the bottom of the fifth halved Perth’s margin, and an excellent performance from pitcher Lachlan Wells kept the Heat from adding to their lead.

But Perth’s own pitching unit deprived Adelaide of opportunities, as Tucker Smith was strong throughout six innings, while Vinnie Tarantola and Steffon Moore saw out the final few innings.

And the Heat then backed up their efforts in game two, prevailing 5-3 in a see-sawing encounter.

They led 2-0 in the middle of the third as Jhon Diaz drove in Ulrich Bojarski and Alex Hall ran home after Angel Mateo ground out.

Hall went 4-5 at the plate, and saved his best for the fifth inning when he homered to give Perth a 3-0 lead — but the game flipped on its head in one single play in the sixth inning.

Former Heat star Niko Hulsizer smashed a single down the line to drive in Nick Ward and Jared Carr, before a fielding mistake allowed Rixon Wingrove to run for home and tie the game.

Fortunately for Perth, Diaz responded at the top of the seventh with a two-run homer to restore his side’s lead.

Perth twice had three runners on base in the eighth inning, but Kennelly was called out diving for home and Enderson Delgado was struck out, but ex-Detroit Tiger pitcher Warwick Saupold held his nerve to close out the game and send his side into the grand final.