Melbourne Sting vs Adelaide Zips
These two teams have the last three Australian titles to their name so we should be in for a good battle here.
Some players to watch include Koi-Sho Chu, a rookie outfielder from Melbourne who's gone .304/.354/.529 with 107 RBIs and 29 home runs to his name and a 4.7 WAR. He's a lock for rookie of the year.
For Adelaide, keep an eye on Rex Dulihanty. The 34 year old might be on the opposite end of the spectrum to Chu but he's still producing the goods. Going .313/.373/.554 with 119 RBIs and 38 home runs for a 8.0 WAR.
It's a hitting extravagansa to kick off proceedings as the Sting roared to a 11-7 win in game one. Plenty of home runs but Zachariah Layland's in the 6th is the only way to entertain the crowd. The other three came from the Adelaide hitters. Sting up 1-0.
A fielding disaster in the 1st innings from the Adelaide Zips dooms their hopes in game two. Two errors ultimately leads to four unearned runs. It's all the Sting need to take the game out. They're up 2-0.
The Zips keep their hopes alive in game three with a slim 2-1 win. Big game from Adelaide's Jai Waymouth whose solo home run in the 7th turns out to be the game winner.
Echoes of game one here, as both teams score a mountain of runs. Both teams kick off with 3-run home runs in the 1st. Zachariah Layland from Melbourne and Seb Atteridge from Adelaide providing the dingers. The Sting kept the runs rolling but a big 7th from the Zips saw them squeeze in front 7-6.
Melbourne stayed calm though, and racked up another 4 runs over the 8th and 9th including another home run from Zachariah Layland to seal the deal.
The Sting move on to the Australian Finals.
