April 2003: Part One
3 April, 2003
Something special? Tasmania's Right Fielder Tye Lapthorne has quietly picked up his 25th consecutive game with a hit. He's got his sights on Bendigo's Jai Bansfield's record of 32 from earlier in the season.
5 April, 2003
The Canberra Power secure their playoff spot today with a 7-6 win over the Tasmania Tigers. Unfortunately they lose one of their starting pitchers to injury. Zachariah Delzoppo needed surgery for a bone spur in his elbow and will miss the playoffs.
6 April, 2003
No one can actually keep their hand on The Shield! The Waikato River Bandits lose it on their first defense to the Tasman Sunbirds. Waikato held it for 11 days with no successful defenses.
The Tasman Sunbirds break the bad luck that The Shield bought by sweeping the Wellington Lions in their first defense. They have a shot at keeping it over the winter with only defenses against Bendigo and Canterbury to go.
7 April, 2003
The Otago Thunderbolts decide to match the Power as one of their pitchers goes down to injury. Kazuhito van der Looij will miss 11 months with a torn elbow ligament. The Thunderbolts have had several blows to their pitching lineup. They may not be deep enough for the playoffs.
9 April, 2003
Tye Lapthorne moves his hit streak up to 30 games!
10 April, 2003
He took him until the 7th innings, but Lapthorne got a hit on the board as his side beat the Sharks 8-3. He extends his streak to 31. Only one game away from equaling the record!
Additionally, no surprise but Canterbury are the first team to be mathematically eliminated from the playoffs. A disappointment after making the playoffs last season.
11 April, 2003
Tye Lapthorne went 2-for-5 against Canterbury to equal the hit streak record.
12 April, 2003
BOOM! Tasmania's 24 year old Tye Lapthorne breaks the hit streak record with a 2-run home run in the 3rd.
Meanwhile, Wellington are mathematically eliminated from the playoffs.
13 April, 2003
Bay of Plenty secure their playoff spot with a 4-2 win over the Canberra Power. In this possible Trans Tasman Classic Preview, the Steamrollers won the series 2-1.
15 games to go for each team. Here's the playoff permutations.
It's pretty safe to see Bay of Plenty and Canberra grabbing that #1 spot. They've been there all year and that's not going to change.
For now, there are two main battles in New Zealand. Otago and Northland fighting for 2nd and 3rd plus Taranaki and Auckland fighting for the final playoff spot.
Northland have the upper hand on Otago, they have a much easier schedule with more home games and easier teams.
Taranaki have a tough schedule to finish it off. Including a road trip that covers Canberra (.627 team), Adelaide (.549), and Otago (.582). Depending on how that turns out, the final series of the season for Taranaki will be against Auckland -- that might just be an effective extra round of playoffs.
In Australia, Adelaide have a good chance of keeping that 2nd spot. As does Illawarra with that 3rd spot. The Geelong Green Sox have a 3 game lead over Tasmania and Queensland but that can easily be overcome in the the final 15 games. Tasmania in particular have a fairly easy run in the closing days.