The Adelaide Giants defeated the Sydney Blue Sox on Saturday to win the Australian Baseball League championship for the 2025–26 season, taking a winner-take-all Game 3 of the best-of-three series.
Adelaide struck first in the second inning with a squeeze play to take a 1-0 lead. Sydney responded in the third when Reds prospect Pablo Núñez drew a bases-loaded walk to tie the game.
The Giants quickly regained control in the bottom of the inning. Mitchell Edwards delivered an RBI single to restore the one-run advantage, Philadelphia Phillies prospect José Colmenares followed with an infield RBI single, and Ben Fierenzi added another run with an RBI single to make it 4-1.
Adelaide extended the lead in the sixth inning. An RBI groundout brought in one run before Robbie Glendinning doubled in another to push the advantage to 6-1.
The Blue Sox got one run back on Briley Knight’s sacrifice fly, but that was as close as they would get. Adelaide’s bullpen of Ky Hampton, Todd van Steensel and Phillies prospect Danyony Pulido combined for 3 1/3 scoreless innings to close out the championship.
Australian right-hander Josh Hendrickson earned the win for the Giants, allowing two runs over 5 2/3 innings while striking out seven.
The title was Adelaide’s third in the past four seasons, further establishing the Giants as the Australian Baseball League’s most dominant club of the current era.
Phillies prospect Devin Saltiban was named Championship Series MVP. The center fielder posted a .930 OPS with a home run and provided standout defense throughout the series.
