The 2023–24 Australian Baseball League season was the thirteenth season of the Australian Baseball League (ABL), and began on 17 November 2023. The Adelaide Giants won their second consecutive championship, beating the Perth Heat two games to one in a best-of-three Championship Series.
Teams
Six teams competed in the season, down from eight in the previous season, due to Auckland Tuatara being liquidated and Geelong-Korea's exit from the league.
+ Teams in the ABL Team State/Territory Stadium Adelaide Giants South Australia Dicolor Australia Stadium Queensland Viticon Stadium Australian Capital Territory MIT Stadium Victoria Melbourne Ballpark Western Australia Empire Ballpark New South Wales Blue Sox Stadium
Regular season The regular season began on 17 November 2023 and is scheduled to end on 21 January 2024. Due to the departure of Auckland Tuatara and Geelong-Korea, the ABL returned to a six-team, single-conference model. 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 1 December game scheduled between Canberra and Perth was originally postponed due to rain but later cancelled due to the lack of suitable schedule space to make up the game. Adelaide was the first team to clinch a playoff position in Round 8, followed shortly after by Brisbane and Perth in the same round. Canberra was eliminated in the same round, leaving just Melbourne and Sydney to fight for the final playoff spot in the final two rounds.
Highlights from the regular season include Adelaide's Nick Ward tying the single-game hit record (6) on 14 December with Shuhei Fukuda, formerly of Brisbane. Tim Kennelly surpassed Trent D'Antonio's all-time games record of 395 on 15 December 2023 and became the first player to 400 games in Round 8.
Trent Thomas, the league's most capped umpire became the first to surpass 300 games 19 November 2023.
Standings + Key Postseason
Pos Team W L Pct. GB 1 Adelaide Giants 29 11 — 2 Perth Heat 24 15 4.5 3 Brisbane Bandits 22 18 7.0 4 Melbourne Aces 21 19 8.0 5 Canberra Cavalry 12 27 16.5 6 Sydney Blue Sox 11 29 18.0
Statistical leaders
+ Batting leaders Stat Player Team Total AVG Cory Action Canberra Cavalry .333 HR Greg Bird Melbourne Aces 11 RBI Greg Bird Melbourne Aces 40 R Nick Ward Adelaide Giants 40 H Nick Ward Quincy Latimore Adelaide Giants Adelaide Giants 47 SB Aaron Whitefield Melbourne Aces 14
+ Pitching leaders Stat Player Team Total W Lachlan Wells Adelaide Giants 6 L Matthew Rae Sydney Blue Sox 6 ERA Lachlan Wells Adelaide Giants 0.94 K Ryan Bollinger Brisbane Bandits 68 IP Ryan Bollinger Brisbane Bandits SV Carter Hope Brisbane Bandits 8
Awards + Season awards Award Player Team Ref Helms Award (MVP) Lachlan Wells Adelaide Giants Postseason MVP Todd van Steensel Adelaide Giants Pitching Champion Lachlan Wells Adelaide Giants Hitting Champion Nick Ward Adelaide Giants Reliever of the Year Sam Gardner Brisbane Bandits Defensive Player of the Year Logan Wade Brisbane Bandits Rookie of the Year Alex Skepton Brisbane Bandits
Postseason
The postseason began on Australia Day, 26 January 2024, with four teams making the playoffs. All postseason series will use a best-of-three format, with the first-placed Adelaide Giants hosting the fourth-placed Melbourne Aces and the second-placed Perth Heat hosting the third-placed Brisbane Bandits. The winners of the semi-finals competed the Claxton Shield, beginning on 2 February 2024.
Postseason bracket
References
External links The Australian Baseball League – Official ABL Website Official Baseball Australia Website