While most baseball fans in the United States were sleeping, the Australian Baseball League held their Championship Series in Perth, where the Canberra Calvary swept the Perth Heat in two games to claim the Claxton Shield. They would win their first game by a 10-8 final and cruised to a 5-0 shutout victory to become the 2024-25 champions. Here are how the games played out in Perth.
THE CANBERRA CAVALRY WON THE ABL!! pic.twitter.com/HSHXEjw3m9
— World Baseball Network (@WorldBaseball_) February 1, 2025
Game 1: Calvary take Game 1, defeating Heat 10-8
Canberra would get home-field advantage to begin the Championship Series, sending Jack Mahoney to the mound to face Tucker Smith for the Heat. Perth would get the scoring started in the top of the second, with Tim Kennelly blasting a two-run home run to score Ulrich Bojarski, as the Heat would start with a 2-0 lead.
The Calvary would get three runs back in the bottom half of the second when George Callil hit a three-run home run, and they would cruise ahead to a 3-2 lead. They would add two more runs in the third innings, with an RBI single from Robbie Perkins and an RBI single from Miles Simington, seeing the Calvary’s lead increase to 5-2.
Wasting no time, the Heat would strike back in the fourth, with an RBI single from Carlos Colmenarez, and a two-run double from Jess Williams would tie things at five apiece. Ray Zuberer would add an RBI double in the bottom half to grab the lead, but Jhon Diaz would even the game back up at six, adding a solo home run in the fifth.
The bottom of the fifth is where the Calvary was able to step up when it mattered most, as Cam Warner would hit a two-run single to score Cameron Tillery and Miles Simington to go ahead 8-6. Tilly would add an RBI single in the sixth, scoring Ray Zuberer, and Miles Simington would add an RBI single to score Jason Matthews, jumping ahead 10-6.
Tim Kennelly would add his second home run of the game in the top of the eighth. Alex Hall would add an RBI single in the ninth to score Johnny Ascanio, but Jon Kennedy got Ulrich Bojarski to strike out swinging. The Calvary held onto the victory, securing Game One with a 10-8 final score.
Game 2: Calvary blank Heat to win ABL Championship 5-0
Colten Davis was tabbed with the start for the Calvary in Game 2, as he would go up against Jong-Hae Won for the Heat. Miles Simington would get the offense rolling in the top of the second, blasting a two-run home run to score Matt Halbach for the Calvary to grab the early 2-0 lead.
After a single, a walk, and a hit-by-pitch, Kieran Hall would replace Won, as the bases would be loaded for Robbie Perkins. Perkins would draw a walk as Armond Upshaw came down to score
for the Calvary to add another run. After Matt Halbach would line into a double-play, Miles Simington would line an RBI single into left field to score Ray Zuberer to go ahead 4-0.
The Calvary would tack on one more run in the fourth inning, hitting an RBI double to score George Callil, but Armond Upshaw would be thrown out at home, as Tim Kennelly and Carlos Colmenarez were able to get the ball back to prevent another run from scoring, with the Calvary increasing their lead to 5-0.
Davis was lights out on the mound for the Calvary, as he tossed 8.2 innings, allowed five hits, no runs, and walked four batters while striking out nine batters. Kennelly would lead off the inning with a single off Davis and would get two outs by getting a force out at second, and Colmenarez would fly out to center field. After Jess Williams added a single with runners on first and second, the Calvary turned to Jon Kennedy, who would get Jake Bowey to ground out, and the Calvary would secure the Claxton Shield, winning the ABL Championship in a 5-0 shutout victory.
