A weekend to remember

It will be a weekend to remember in the Australian Baseball League.

Major League Baseball saw an epic finish to its regular season, as four franchises fought right to the last minute of the final night. Only two teams emerged, both battling back from huge deficits in the Wild Card race at the beginning of September to prevail at the end of the month.

Five teams are vying for three playoff spots in the ABL as the dying moments of the regular season count down in Round 11. The finish to the summer season is shaping up to be as memorable for Aussie baseball as the race to the end in the major leagues.

The St. Louis Cardinals were eight-and-a-half games back of the Atlanta Braves to start September. The Braves suffered an infamous collapse, which led to the eventual winning of the World Series Championship for the Cards.

Looking to climb out of the bottom of the ABL standings and emerge victorious as an underdog are the Brisbane Bandits. Though the Bandits (17-23) sit in the sixth spot on the ladder, they are only two games out of second place. Brisbane won only nine of its first 25 games of the season but has come out strong as of late, taking eight of its last 15 and three straight to end the series against Melbourne in Round 10.

The Bandits take on the Bite in Adelaide in their last regular season matchup. Adelaide (18-22) has lost 12 of its last 16 games and sits in a tie for third position in the standings with Melbourne and the Cavalry. The Aces host Canberra at the Melbourne Showgrounds as the second-place Blue Sox (19-21) head to Perth to take on the leader in the standings.

Because of the tight race heading into the final weekend before the post-season there remain such possibilities in the standings as a four-way tie, seven three-way ties and numerous two-way ties.

In the event of this happening, the tie-breaker first goes to the team with the higher winning percentage in head-to-head competition. This would likely lead to a conclusive determination as teams have played nine games against each other, but if it didn’t resolve the discrepancy the tie-break would be determined by each team’s winning percentage against the first-place team, the Perth Heat.

The team who emerges in the second spot will head to Perth for their first playoff series. The third-place team will host a post-season series against whichever squad lands in fourth. Realistically, every team in the race currently has a chance to host a five-game series next weekend.

It all comes down to the final series and the last five games that each team will play within it. The hunt for February baseball is on and no team will go down without a fight. Be prepared for a photo finish to the end as the ABL standings are far from being determined.