Australian Baseball League: Perth Heat claim series win over reigning champions and rivals Adelaide Giants

Perth Heat have won their first series of the ABL season — and made a statement in the process by overcoming back-to-back reigning champions Adelaide Giants in South Australia. After dropping the first game of the series, the Heat roared to victory in the ensuing three ties to improve to 7-5 on the season and move into outright third place on the ladder. In doing so, Perth will take a great deal of confidence from the series win after heading into the home of the rivals who have beaten them in the past two championship series and claiming victory. Korean ace Young Woo Shin continued his hot start on the mount with six strike-outs in the heat’s game two win, while Tampa Bay Rays’ prospect Jhon Diaz collected six RBIs across the four game series. Adelaide had got off to the perfect start in game one as Briley Knight inspired the Giants to a 4-3 win, despite Perth having taken the lead through a Tim Kennelly double. But the Heat turned the tables on the Giants in game two, as a six-run third inning set them up to win 9-3 not just tie the series, but go onto win the next two matches as well. Adelaide led 1-0 entering the top of the third, but Fumiya Kurokawa’s grand slam gave Perth a 4-1 lead before Alex Hall’s two-run homer put Perth in the driver’s seat. Hall and Williams combined to nudge the lead to 9-1 at the bottom of the fifth before Adelaide added a couple of consolation runs late in the game. The Heat came up clutch in game three, with three runs in the eighth inning proving pivotal as they eased past Adelaide 5-2. Kennelly’s two-run homer at the top of the third got Perth off the mark first, before Rixon Wingrove hit back at the bottom of the sixth with a homer run to tie the game. But Hall continued his hot streak in the eighth inning with a two-run double, before Jhon Diaz drove in Hall for another run to seal the win. It was a similar story in game four, as Perth reeled off a seven-run fourth inning to triumph 11-3 over Adelaide. With Ulrich Bojarki’s homer meaning the scores wee locked at 1-1 entering the fourth, Bojarksi kicked off the fourth inning spree with a single to make it 2-1, before Rays prospect Carlos Colmenarez scored a grand slam to give Perth a monster lead. Diaz joined in the fun to round out the innings, but Perth were not done, adding three more runs in the fifth through Byron Armstrong, Kurokawa and Kennelly hits.