2010 Claxton Shield regular season

A graphic of a baseball with the text "Claxton Shield 2010 Est. 1934" superimposed.
The Claxton Shield logo for 2010.

The 2010 Claxton Shield regular season was held from 6 November 2009 through to 23 January 2010. All five teams competed in a double round-robin format; playing each other team in two series of three games each, totaling 24 games played each. The top three teams progressed to the finals series. The top team automatically qualified for the championship series, to face the winner of the semi final series between the second and third placed teams.[1]

Standings

Clinched championship series berth
Clinched semi final series berth
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
Victoria Aces 17 7 .708 – 8–4‡ 9–3†
South Australia 14 10 .583 3 8–4 6–6‡
New South Wales Patriots 14 10 .583 3 8–4 6–6
Perth Heat 12 12 .500 5 7–5 5–7
Queensland Rams 3 21 .125 14 2–10† 1–11
†—A game postponed from Round 7, held in Round 8, was played with Victoria Aces as the away team and Queensland Rams as the home team, despite being played at Geelong Baseball Park, Geelong, Victoria.
‡—A game postponed from Round 3, held in Round 9, was played with South Australia as the away team and Victoria Aces as the home team, despite being played at Norwood Oval, Adelaide, South Australia.

Round 1

The New South Wales Patriots and the Victoria Aces hosted the opening round of the 2010 Claxton Shield, against the Queensland Rams and the Perth Heat respectively. New South Wales overcame a loss in their first game to take both games in the doubleheader, while Victoria had a first up win, then split their double header with Perth.

Round 2

The Perth Heat hosted their first series of the competition, winning their series against the New South Wales Patriots two games to one. South Australia had their first games of the season, hosting and sweeping the Queensland Rams three–nil. The second game of both series featured the first extra innings games of the season, with the respective home teams winning both matches.

As a result of their sweep, South Australia (3–0) took the outright lead of the competition, leaving Victoria (2–1) in second, New South Wales and Perth (3–3) tied, and Queensland (1–5) in last position.

Round 3

The Queensland Rams hosted the Perth Heat, while South Australia travelled to Geelong to face the Victoria Aces. After winning the opening game, Queensland (2–7) dropped both games of the doubleheader to fall further behind the rest of the field. With Perth's (5–4) series win, they moved ahead of New South Wales (3–3) into outright third.

South Australia (4–1) and Victoria (3–2) split their series. The final game of their doubleheader suspended in the bottom of the second inning due to rain with South Australia leading 2–0. At the time the game administrators considered continuing the game from the point of suspension when the teams next met in Round 9, though the game was actually restarted and eventually won by South Australia.[2]

Round 4

South Australia, closely followed by New South Wales, had the first games called prior to their scheduled end due to a mercy rule. South Australia's 10–run win helped to set up their series win against Queensland in Brisbane, while the Patriot's 13–run win over Victoria snapped a 3–game losing streak and was the significant part of the 20 runs they scored in the two games for the day.

South Australia (6–2) extended their tournament lead to a game and a half over New South Wales and Perth (5–4), once again tied. Victoria (4–4) fell to fourth, while Queensland (3–9) remained in last.

Round 5

As a result of poor attendance at Geelong Baseball Park, game one of the fifth round series between New South Wales and the Victoria was moved to La Trobe University, Melbourne.[3] Having previously attracted crowds of no more than 500,[4] the moved game had an attendance of 2,200, which the home team won 3–2.[5] The series concluded in a doubleheader at Geelong, split between the two teams, giving the Aces the series win. Despite winning the series at Norwood Oval, South Australia suffered their first defeat at home, losing to Perth in the second game of the series.

At the end of the round, South Australia (8–3) held a two game lead over Victoria (6–5). New South Wales and Perth (6–6) remained tied, having dropped to third place, while Queensland (3–9) remained in last position.

Round 6

For the second time in the season, the Queensland were swept in a series this time by the Heat at Baseball Park. The Patriots hosted South Australia, and after dropping the first game won both games in the doubleheader to win the series, and inflict their first series loss of the season.

Despite their series loss, South Australia (9–5) remained in first place. Perth (9–6) moved to second place on the back of their sweep, only one half game behind. Victoria (6–5) dropped to third without playing a game. New South Wales (8–7) fell to fourth, while Queensland (3–12) remained in last place.

Round 7

Round 8

Round 9

Round 10

Going into the final round, the Perth Heat and the Victoria Aces were the two teams that could have taken first place and assured themselves of a home final. In the first game of their series though, the Aces clinched the top spot, and in doing so made the Patriot's chance of overtaking the Heat and making the finals easier.[6] The following two games saw New South Wales beat Queensland to move them into third position,[7] and Perth drop another game to Victoria to allow South Australia to secure second, and a home semi final series.[8]

The Patriots secured the last remaining finals berth in the first game of their doubleheader, beating the Rams 16–0 and eliminating the Heat from finals contention.[9]

References

  1. ↑ "2010 Claxton Shield Game Schedule". Australian Baseball Federation. 2009. Archived from the original on 14 November 2009. Retrieved 8 November 2009.
  2. ↑ "Results and Standings". Australian Baseball Federation. Retrieved 24 January 2010.
  3. ↑ "Claxton Shield baseball game at La Trobe University". La Trobe University. 30 November 2009. Retrieved 15 January 2010.
  4. ↑ Green, Bradley (24 November 2009). "Claxton Shield baseball moved from Geelong due to poor crowds". Geelong Advertiser. Archived from the original on 28 December 2009. Retrieved 15 January 2010.
  5. ↑ "New South Wales vs Victoria (Dec 04, 2009)". Australian Baseball Federation. 4 December 2009. Retrieved 15 January 2010.
  6. ↑ Laidler, Gemma (22 January 2010). "Victoria record 17 hits against WA". Australian Baseball Federation. Retrieved 22 January 2010.
  7. ↑ Laidler, Gemma (22 January 2010). "NSW still in with a chance for finals berth". Australian Baseball Federation. Retrieved 23 January 2010.
  8. ↑ Laidler, Gemma (22 January 2010). "Victoria win second game in a row against WA". Australian Baseball Federation. Retrieved 23 January 2010.
  9. ↑ Bray, Eddie (23 January 2010). "NSW Patriots clinch playoff berth!". Baseball NSW. Retrieved 23 January 2010.
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