Cavalry players celebrate their series win over Sydney Blue Sox Photo: Joe Vella SMP Images / ABL Media.
The Canberra Cavalry will return for their final regular-season series at Narrabundah Ballpark when they host the Brisbane Bandits tonight.
With both sides guaranteed post-season baseball, the series will primarily serve as a warm-up for the Claxton Shield showdown, although the Cavs still have a chance of leapfrogging Perth Heat into second place.
What happened last week?
The Cavalry hosted the Adelaide Bite earlier this month and swept the series in convincing fashion. The 19-2 thumping in the final game was a particular highlight.
The men in orange then made the short trip up the Hume Highway to face fierce rivals Sydney Blue Sox. what followed was an equally impressive 3-1 series win, the only blip being a 12-15 thriller going the way of the home side in the last game.
Champions again?
Brisbane meanwhile split their series against Perth Heat. The match-up between the league’s top two proved as close as you would expect with the Bandits taking two games 7-3 and 9-5 but dropping the remaining two 5-15 and 0-5.
The Bandits will head to Canberra with a 2.5 game lead over the Heat and should claim the minor premiership come Sunday afternoon. Such a feat would put them in pole position for a third consecutive ABL title.
Players to watch
Cavalry – Frank Gailey
The Canberra pitcher was in fine form during last week’s series including a shutout during Saturday’s win against the Blue Sox. Gailey leads the league for earned run average at 1.84 and will need to once again start strongly to give the Cavs any chance of halting the Bandits’ run.
Bandits – Donald Lutz
The Brisbane slugger immediately leaps out at you as the real danger man in this series. Lutz jointly leads the league for home runs with 14 and boasts an impressive RBI of 36. Gailey and co. will need to ensure they throw true otherwise this could get ugly for the home side.
Did you know?
The game against Brisbane on Australia Day also doubles as the grand final of the Cavalry Starlite Music Series! The initiative from the Cavs is aimed at giving local musicians a chance to show their talent by performing at home games.
Cavalry General Manager Dan Amodio said the club was excited to support the Canberra music scene, “Music already plays a huge role at Cavalry games and we’ve been excited to add this new element to the entertainment at MIT Ballpark. We’re also thankful to be able to give local student artists an opportunity to shine. It’s not easy to make a living in the music industry and we’re happy to be playing a small role in helping these young musicians chase their dreams.”
When and where?
- Game 1: Thursday 25 January @ 6pm
- Game 2: Friday 26 January @ 6pm
- game 3: Saturday 27 January @ 3pm
- Game 4: Saturday 28 January @ 6pm
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