Aussie baseball update

[southsider2k5]

http://chicago.whitesox.mlb.com/news/artic...rticle_64005324

 

With the Canberra Cavalry representing Australia in the 2013 Asia Series and the Perth Heat idle, the third week of Australian Baseball League play saw the Sydney Blue Sox sweep the Brisbane Bandits and the Adelaide Bite take two of three from the Melbourne Aces.

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Fifteen home runs were hit over the course of the three-game series in Brisbane, with the Blue Sox mashing 10 as they outscored the Bandits, 24-16, in the sweep.

 

Joey DeMichele led the way with four home runs in the series, hitting two in each of the first two games. The White Sox prospect, a third-round pick in the 2012 First-Year Player Draft out of Arizona State University, was 5-for-14 in the series, with five RBIs to go along with the four homers. A middle infielder, DeMichele is coming off a full season with the Winston-Salem Dash that saw him hit .246 with eight home runs, 54 RBIs and 19 stolen bases in 134 games.

 

Batting ahead of DeMichele in the Sydney lineup was D-backs prospect Keon Broxton. Broxton also had a big weekend, going 5-for-14 in the series. He launched a pair of home runs, drove in four, stole three bases and capped the weekend by going 3-for-5 on Sunday, finishing a triple shy of the cycle. He is hitting .325 with seven RBIs and three steals after 10 games as the Blue Sox's primary center fielder.

 

Sydney native Trent Oeltjen continued to thrive playing for his hometown team, and he finished the weekend 5-for-11 with a pair of homers and three RBIs. He ranks first in the ABL in all three of the Triple Crown categories with a .417 average, four home runs and 12 RBIs.

 

Former Brewers farmhand Connor Whalen turned in the sharpest start of the weekend for Sydney, improving to 2-0 with a 2.35 ERA after holding the Bandits to two runs on four hits Sunday. Whalen struck out seven in the outing, and he ranks third in the ABL with 16 strikeouts over 15 1/3 innings.

 

Brisbane, meanwhile, received solid contributions from up and down the lineup but simply didn't have enough firepower to keep up with Sydney's relentless attack.

 

Tampa Bay Rays prospect and Bandits leadoff man Joey Rickard finished the weekend 6-for-12 with two RBIs, and he collected a stolen base in each of the three games. He is tied with Oeltjen atop the ABL leaderboard with a .417 batting average, and has two home runs and four stolen bases in seven games.

 

Australian native and Cleveland Indians prospect Ryan Battaglia made his presence felt in his first full weekend in the ABL, hitting a home run in each of the three games for the Bandits. The 21-year-old first baseman finished the 2013 season with the Class A Advanced Carolina Mudcats.

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[witesoxfan]

In other words, DiMichele was 1 for 10 on balls that stayed in the park.

[NorthSideSox72]

DeMichele doing a Dunn imitation, somehow posting a 700's OPS while hitting under .200.

 

Jacob May looking decent down there.