2022–23 Australian Baseball League season

Sports tournament

Sports season

2022–23 Australian Baseball League season
League	Australian Baseball League
Sport	Baseball
Duration	10 November 2022 – 5 February 2023
Number of teams	8
Regular season
Postseason
Champions	Adelaide Giants
Runners-up	Perth Heat
Seasons
← 2021–22 2023–24 →

The 2022–23 Australian Baseball League season was the twelfth season of the Australian Baseball League (ABL). After the COVID-19 pandemic cancelled the 2021–22 season and reduced the 2020–21 season to six teams, this season was the first in three years not to feel the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sports. The regular season began on 10 November 2022 and concluded on 22 January 2023 with the Adelaide Giants winning the Claxton Shield over the Perth Heat. This season was the last season to feature Auckland Tuatara and Geelong-Korea, with both teams folding at the conclusion of the season.^[1]^[2]

Teams

Both the Auckland Tuatara and Geelong-Korea returned to the competition for the first time since the 2019–20 Australian Baseball League season. The Tuatara purchased the National Basketball League team the Auckland Huskies, who now go by the same name.

Tuatara

Bandits

Teams in the ABL
Team	State / Territory/ Country	Stadium
Adelaide Giants	South Australia	Diamond Sports Stadium^[3]
Auckland Tuatara	New Zealand	North Harbour Stadium^[4]
Brisbane Bandits	Queensland	Holloway Field^[5]
Canberra Cavalry	Australian Capital Territory	Narrabundah Ballpark^[6]
Geelong-Korea	Victoria	Geelong Baseball Park^[7]
Melbourne Aces	Victoria	Melbourne Ballpark^[8]
Perth Heat	Western Australia	Baseball Park^[9]
Sydney Blue Sox	New South Wales	Blue Sox Stadium^[10]

Regular season

The league returned to a 10-round, 40 game schedule, with teams playing division rivals eight times and inter-division teams four times.

Auckland, Brisbane, Canberra and Sydney grouped into the "Northeast Division" with Adelaide, Geelong, Melbourne and Perth grouped into the "Southwest Division".

Scheduled doubleheaders consist of a seven inning game followed by a nine inning game. The league uses the WBSC tiebreaker rule for all games going beyond the 9th inning, or extra innings beginning less than one hour before a curfew.

Baxter Field was previously announced to be hosting the first Australian Baseball League All-Star Game since 2017, but was delayed due to the damage caused by the 2022 eastern Australia floods.^[11]

Milestones during the regular season included Tim Atherton becoming the first pitcher to 400 strikeouts. The first Canberra Cavalry player to 300 games for Robbie Perkins and the first Brisbane Bandits player to 350 games for Andrew Campbell.

The Adelaide Giants broke the win streak record with 12 games between 24 November and 10 December 2022. Trent D'Antonio broke the record for most career appearances on 8 January 2023 with 387 games. Dae-sung Koo who held the record for the oldest player to play in the ABL when he pitched an inning for Geelong-Korea at age 48 in 2018, came back out of retirement to break his own record, pitching a scoreless inning against at age 53.

T.J. Bennett broke the single-season homerun record with 17 homeruns, a record he previously held with 16 alongside Kellin Deglan and Donald Lutz.

Standings

Key
	Secured Semi-finals berth

Northeast Division
Pos	Team	W	L	Pct.	GB
1	Brisbane Bandits	30	10	.750	-
2	Auckland Tuatara	17	17	.500	10.0
3	Canberra Cavalry	18.5	19	.493	10.25
4	Sydney Blue Sox	12.5	27	.316	17.25

The game between Canberra Cavalry and Sydney Blue Sox scheduled for Sunday 23 January was rained out before play could begin. Because that was the last Sunday of the regular season, the game could not be rescheduled, and both teams were awarded a half win per the League's rules.^[12]

Southwest Division
Pos	Team	W	L	Pct.	GB
1	Adelaide Giants	25	15	.625	-
2	Perth Heat	23	17	.575	2.0
3	Melbourne Aces	15	21	.417	8.0
4	Geelong-Korea	13	27	.325	12.0

Statistical leaders

Batting leaders
Stat	Player^{[S 1]}	Team	Total
AVG	Alex Hall	Perth Heat	.360
HR	T.J. Bennett	Brisbane Bandits	17
RBI	T.J. Bennett	Brisbane Bandits	42
R	T.J. Bennett	Brisbane Bandits	36
H	Pete Kozma Erny Ordonez	Perth Heat Sydney Bluesox	41
SB	Jake Mackenzie	Canberra Cavalry	16

Pitching leaders
Stat	Player^{[S 2]}	Team	Total
W	Tim Atherton Brock Gilliam Sam Holland	Brisbane Bandits Perth Heat Brisbane Bandits	5
L	Josh Guyer	Sydney Bluesox	6
ERA	Jordan Fowler	Adelaide Giants	1.63
K	Gunnar Kines	Perth Heat	61
IP	Gunnar Kines	Perth Heat	56+2⁄3
SV	James Meeker	Brisbane Bandits	11

^ Minimum 2.7 PAs per team game.^[13]
^ Minimum 0.8 IP per team game.^[14]

Awards

Season awards
Award	Player	Team
Helms Award (MVP)	Alex Hall	Perth Heat
Postseason MVP	Jordan McCardle	Adelaide Giants
Pitching Champion	Gunnar Kines	Perth Heat
Hitting Champion	T.J. Bennett	Brisbane Bandits
Reliever of the Year	James Meeker	Brisbane Bandits
Defensive Player of the Year	Tyler Tolbert	Brisbane Bandits
Rookie of the Year	Liam Spence	Adelaide Giants

Postseason

The playoffs will see four teams compete in two rounds. The semi-final round saw the winner of each division host the runner-up of the other division in a best-of-three series. The winners of each semi-final will compete in a best-of-three final round, with the first game being hosted by the lower seed and the remaining games hosted by the higher seed. This format is similar to that used for the 2017–18 season.

Semi-final Series			Championship Series

1	Brisbane Bandits	1

2	Perth Heat	2
			W-A	Perth Heat	1

			W-B	Adelaide Giants	2
1	Adelaide Giants	2

2	Auckland Tuatara	1

Semi-Final: Brisbane Bandits (NE1) vs Perth Heat (SW2)

Brisbane Bandits hosted Perth Heat for a best-of-three semi-final at Viticon Stadium (Holloway Field). Brisbane won the first game, but Perth won the remaining two to secure a place in the finals.

27 January 2023 18:00 (UTC+10:00) Game 1	Brisbane Bandits	3-2	Perth Heat	Holloway Field, Brisbane Attendance: 1,650 Umpires: HP: Paul Latta. 1B: Matthew Pearson. 2B: Tom West. 3B: Ben Nash.
	WP: David Huff (1-0) Sv: James Meeker (S, 1)	Boxscore	LP: Tyler Beardsley (0-1)
			HR: Ulrich Bojarski (1)

28 January 2023 18:00 (UTC+10:00) Game 2	Brisbane Bandits	4-14	Perth Heat	Holloway Field, Brisbane Attendance: 1,825 Umpires: HP: Matthew Pearson. 1B: Tom West. 2B: Ben Nash. 3B: Paul Latta.
	LP: Tim Atherton (0-1)	Boxscore	WP: Gunnar Kines (1-0)
	HR: Dai-Kang Yang (1)		HR: Ulrich Bojarski (2), Will Simoneit (1), Jake Bowey (1), Connor Owings (1)

29 January 2023 14:00 (UTC+10:00) Game 3	Brisbane Bandits	8-10	Perth Heat	Holloway Field, Brisbane Attendance: 852 Umpires: HP: Tom West. 1B: Ben Nash. 2B: Paul Latta. 3B: Matthew Pearson.
	LP: Cameron Wagoner (0-1)	Boxscore	WP: Will Sherriff (1-0) Sv: Connor Higgins (S, 1)
			HR: Ulrich Bojarski (3), Jake Bowey 2 (3), Caminero (1)

Semi-Final: Adelaide Giants (SW1) vs Auckland Tuatara (NE2)

Adelaide Giants hosted Auckland Tuatara for a best-of-three semi-final at Diamond Sports Stadium. Game 2 was postponed and moved to the next day due to rain, resulting in double-header being played. Adelaide won the first and third games to secure a place in the final against Perth.

27 January 2023 19:05 (UTC+10:30) Game 1	Adelaide Giants	5-3	Auckland Tuatara	Bennett Field, Adelaide Attendance: 1,145 Umpires: HP: Trent Thomas. 1B: Ryan Harder. 2B: Blake Halligan. 3B: Andrew Bell.
	WP: Austin Ross (1-0) Sv: Adam McKillican (S, 1)	Boxscore	LP: Chase Walter (0-1)
			HR: Jake Bowey 2 (5),

29 January 2023 14:00 (UTC+10:30) Game 2	Adelaide Giants	0-2	Auckland Tuatara	Bennett Field, Adelaide Attendance: 614 Umpires: HP: Ryan Harder. 1B: Andrew Bell. 2B: Trent Thomas. 3B: Ian Reval.
	WP: Dylan Unsworth (0-1)	Boxscore	LP: Toru Murata (1-0)
			HR: Matt Feinstein (1)

29 January 2023 18:00 (UTC+10:30) Game 3	Adelaide Giants	4-2	Auckland Tuatara	Bennett Field, Adelaide Attendance: 811 Umpires: HP: Trent Thomas. 1B: Blake Halligan. 2B: Andrew Bell. 3B: Ryan Harder.
	WP: Luke Wilkins (1-0) Sv: Adam McKillican (S, 2)	Boxscore	LP: Ryo Kohigashi (0-1)

Final: Adelaide Giants (SW1) vs Perth Heat (SW2)

Adelaide Giants and Perth Heat played a best-of-three final. The first game was hosted by Perth at Empire Ballpark, and the remaining games were hosted by Adelaide at Diamond Sports Stadium.

Adelaide and Perth last faced each other in the final of the 2014–15 Australian Baseball League season, when Perth won the Claxton Shield. Despite Adelaide making the final four times since the ABL's inaugural season in 2010–11, a team from South Australia has not won the Claxton Shield since 1980.

Perth won the first game, but Adelaide won the second and third games and consequently the final, ending South Australia's 43-year Claxton Shield drought.

Adelaide-born Jordan McArdle was named the Postseason MVP, hitting three home runs across in both of the Giants' Championship Series wins.

03 February 2023 19:00 (UTC+08:00) Game 1	Perth Heat	9-5	Adelaide Giants	Empire Ballpark, Perth Attendance: 3,426 Umpires: HP: Paul Latta. 1B: Trent Thomas. 2B: Tom West. 3B: Matthew Pearson.
	WP: Tyler Beardsley (1-1)	Boxscore	LP: Jordan Fowler (0-1)

04 February 2023 19:00 (UTC+10:30) Game 2	Adelaide Giants	9-5	Perth Heat	Bennett Field, Adelaide Attendance: 2,540 Umpires: HP: Trent Thomas. 1B: Tom West. 2B: Matthew Pearson. 3B: Paul Latta
	WP: Mitch Neunborn (1-0)	Boxscore	LP: Gunnar Kines (1-1)
	HR: Jordan McArdle 2 (2), Quincy Latimore (1), Jared Carr (1), Jarryd Rogers (1)		HR: Jake Bowey 2 (5),

05 February 2023 18:00 (UTC+10:30) Game 3	Adelaide Giants	5-2	Perth Heat	Bennett Field, Adelaide Attendance: 2,036 Umpires: HP: Tom West. 1B: Matthew Pearson. 2B: Paul Latta. 3B: Trent Thomas.
	WP: Adam McKillican (1-0) Sv: Todd Van Steensel (S, 1)	Boxscore	LP: Brock Gilliam (0-1)
	HR: Jordan McArdle (3)

References

^ "Trans-Tasman Divide as Auckland Tuatara Depart the Australian Baseball League". The Australian Baseball League. 21 April 2023. Retrieved 24 September 2023.
^ "Geelong-Korea Exits the Australian Baseball League ahead of the 2023/24 Season". The Australian Baseball League. 15 August 2023. Retrieved 24 September 2023.
^ "Adelaide Giants Homepage". Adelaide Giants. Australian Baseball League. Archived from the original on 11 November 2010. Retrieved 9 November 2010.
^ "Auckland Tuatara Homepage". Auckland Tuatara. Australian Baseball League. Archived from the original on 22 October 2018. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
^ "Brisbane Bandits Homepage". Brisbane Bandits. Australian Baseball League. Archived from the original on 11 November 2010. Retrieved 9 November 2010.
^ "Canberra Cavalry Homepage". Canberra Cavalry. Australian Baseball League. Archived from the original on 8 November 2010. Retrieved 9 November 2010.
^ "Geelong-Korea Homepage". Geelong-Korea. Australian Baseball League. Archived from the original on 14 October 2018. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
^ "Melbourne Aces Homepage". Melbourne Aces. Australian Baseball League. Archived from the original on 9 November 2010. Retrieved 9 November 2010.
^ "Perth Heat Homepage". Perth Heat. Australian Baseball League. Archived from the original on 9 November 2010. Retrieved 9 November 2010.
^ "Sydney Blue Sox Homepage". Sydney Blue Sox. Australian Baseball League. Archived from the original on 9 November 2010. Retrieved 9 November 2010.
^ Swanton, Will (18 January 2021). "Lismore plays ball". The Australian. Retrieved 20 January 2021.
^ "ABL Round 10 Update". Australian Baseball League. Retrieved 23 January 2023.
^ "League Batting Leaders". Australian Baseball League. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 27 January 2015.
^ "League Pitching Leaders". Australian Baseball League. Retrieved 8 February 2021.