The 2024–25 Australian Baseball League season was the fourteenth season of the Australian Baseball League (ABL), and began on 15 November 2024. The six-team competition is the premier English speaking winter baseball league with players affiliated with Major League Baseball, Nippon Professional Baseball, KBO League, Chinese Professional Baseball League, and various independent baseball leagues.

The Canberra Cavalry won their second championship, beating the Perth Heat two games to nil in a best-of-three Championship Series. It is Canberra's first championship since the 2011–12 Australian Baseball League season.

Teams

+ Teams in the ABL Team State/Territory Stadium Adelaide Giants South Australia Dicolor Australia Stadium Queensland Viticon Stadium Australian Capital Territory Narrabundah Ballpark Victoria Melbourne Ballpark Western Australia Empire Ballpark New South Wales Blue Sox Stadium

Regular season The regular season began on 15 November 2024 and is scheduled to end on 19 January 2025. Each team will play 40 games (20 home and 20 away) across 10 rounds and will face every other team twice (once at home and once away) in four-game series.

The round two matchup between Brisbane and Melbourne in Brisbane was reduced to three games due to rain and fourth game rescheduled to round seven between the teams in Melbourne. The round three matchup between Sydney and Melbourne in Sydney was reduced to three games due to rain and the fourth game rescheduled to round nine between the teams in Melbourne.

The regular season placings and playoff qualification came down to the final day of the season, with four teams able to lay claim to the final two spots. Perth secured their own fate by toppling Sydney, meanwhile Canberra knocked out Brisbane in their matchup, but required a loss from Melbourne against Adelaide to tie in the standings qualify on the subsequent head-to-head tiebreaker. Melbourne who only needed a win to secure the final playoff spot gave up six runs in the ninth inning to drop their final game 9–7, ending their season.

Standings + Key Secured postseason berth

Pos Team W L Pct. GB 1 Sydney Blue Sox 24 16 — 2 Adelaide Giants 23 17 1.0 3 Perth Heat 20 20 4.0 4 Canberra Cavalry 18 22 6.0 5 Melbourne Aces 18 22 6.0 6 Brisbane Bandits 17 23 7.0

Statistical leaders

+ Batting leaders Stat Player Team Total AVG Jarryd Dale Melbourne Aces .381 HR Brennon McNair Brisbane Bandits 11 RBI Greg Bird Melbourne Aces 27 R Aaron Whitefield Melbourne Aces 37 H Aaron Whitefield Melbourne Aces 49 SB Jake Mackenzie Sydney Blue Sox 15

+ Pitching leaders Stat Player Team Total W Alex Wells James Bradwell Sydney Blue Sox Adelaide Giants 6 L Carlos Calderon Canberra Cavalry 6 ERA Alex Wells Sydney Blue Sox 1.55 K Lachlan Wells Adelaide Giants 66 IP Jack Mahoney Canberra Cavalry SV Tyler Beardsley Perth Heat 10

Postseason

The postseason is scheduled to begin 24 January 2025, with four teams making the playoffs. All postseason series will use a best-of-three format, with the first-placed Sydney Blue Sox hosting the fourth-placed Canberra Cavalry and the second-placed Adelaide Giants hosting the third-placed Perth Heat. The winners of the semi-finals will compete for the Claxton Shield, beginning on 31 January 2025.

Postseason bracket

Championship Series: Canberra Cavalry v Perth Heat

Canberra Cavalry and Perth Heat played a best-of-three final, the first time the Championship Series did not feature one of the top two seeds. All three games were hosted in Perth at Empire Ballpark due to logistical reasons, but Canberra remained the home team for game one with Perth to be the home team in games two and three.

Canberra and Perth faced each other in back-to-back finals in 2013 and 2014, winning a Claxton Shield title each.

Despite being the lower seed in both the semi-final and championship series, Canberra swept the series 2-0. Indy-ball pitcher Colten Davis of the American Association won Championship MVP after pitching scoreless innings in game two.

References

External links The Australian Baseball League – Official ABL Website Official Baseball Australia Website