2022-2023 Australian Baseball League

From BR Bullpen

The 2022-2023 Australian Baseball League was the twelfth season in the second incarnation of the Australian Baseball League, with the loop returning to action after the 2021-2022 ABL season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It also marked the return of the Auckland Tuatara and Geelong-Korea for the first time since the 2019-2020 ABL, pre-COVID.

In the finals, the Adelaide Giants lost the opener to the Perth Heat, 9-5, with Tim Kennelly scoring three times for Perth. They came back in Game 2 when Jordan McArdle (who would win finals MVP) homered twice and drove in four while Mitch Neunborn starred on the hill in a 9-2 victory. In the decisive contest, McArdle again homered in a 5-2 win while four relievers combined for 6 1/3 shutout innings after Jack O'Loughlin was chased; veteran Todd Van Steensel closed it out.

Adelaide's Nick Ward led the league with 54 hits. For Perth, Gunnar Kines had the most K (61) while Brock Gilliam tied for the most wins (5), Ulrich Bojarski led in triples (3) while Alex Hall won the batting title (.360), led in OPS (1066) and won the MVP.

Brisbane was the regular-season champion, led by slugger T.J. Bennett, who had the most runs (36), most homers (17), most RBI (42) and best slugging (.661) while Tim Atherton and Sam Holland tied for the win lead (5), James Meeker led in saves (11) and Darrien Miller tied for the most doubles (12). The team fell in the playoffs, though. Canberra's Jake MacKenzie had the most steals (16) and walks (28); teammate Boss Moanaroa had the best OBP (.449).

Regular Season Standings[edit]

  1. Brisbane Bandits, 30-10 Manager: Dave Nilsson
  2. Adelaide Giants, 25-15 Manager: Chris Adamson
  3. Perth Heat, 23-17 Manager: Andrew Kyle
  4. Auckland Tuatara, 17-17 Manager: Steve Mintz
  5. Canberra Cavalry, 18-19 Manager: Keith Ward
  6. Melbourne Aces, 15-21 Manager: Peter Moylan
  7. Geelong-Korea, 13-27 Manager: Byung-kyu Lee
  8. Sydney Blue Sox, 12-27 Manager: Tony Harris

Playoffs: Adelaide def. Auckland and Perth def. Brisbane. Adelaide def. Perth, 2 games to 1, in the finals