# 2017–18 Australian Baseball League season

The 2017–18 Australian Baseball League season was the eighth Australian Baseball League (ABL) season, and was held from 16 November 2017 to 11 February 2018. It was the last season of the ABL that was played with 6 teams, as the league expanded to eight teams for the 2018–19 season.
The league also saw a large spike in offensive production with the single season home-run, run, AVG, SLG & OPS records all broken and home runs doubled, leading to a juiced ball theory.

## Teams

Teams in the ABL :
| Team | State / Territory | Stadium |
| Adelaide Bite | South Australia | Diamond Sports Stadium |
| Brisbane Bandits | Queensland | Holloway Field |
| Canberra Cavalry | Australian Capital Territory | Narrabundah Ballpark |
| Melbourne Aces | Victoria | Melbourne Ballpark |
| Perth Heat | Western Australia | Baseball Park |
| Sydney Blue Sox | New South Wales | Blue Sox Stadium |

## Regular season

Key :
* Clinched postseason berth
2017–18 regular season standings :
| Pos | Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Away |
| 1 | Brisbane Bandits | 28 | 11 | .718 | – | 15–4 | 13–7 |
| 2 | Perth Heat | 26 | 14 | .650 | 2.5 | 12–8 | 14–6 |
| 3 | Canberra Cavalry | 21 | 18 | .538 | 4.0 | 14–6 | 10–9 |
| 4 | Melbourne Aces | 17 | 23 | .425 | 11.5 | 9–11 | 8–12 |
| 5 | Sydney Blue Sox | 13 | 27 | .325 | 15.5 | 7–13 | 6–14 |
| 6 | Adelaide Bite | 11 | 29 | .275 | 17.5 | 7–13 | 4–16 |

## Postseason

| Semifinal Series | Semifinal Series | Semifinal Series | Championship Series | Championship Series | Championship Series |
| 1 | Brisbane Bandits | 1 | | | |
| 4 | Melbourne Aces | 0 | | | |
| 4 | Melbourne Aces | 0 | 1 | Brisbane Bandits | 2 |
| | | | 3 | Canberra Cavalry | 1 |
| 2 | Perth Heat | 1 | 3 | Canberra Cavalry | 1 |
| 3 | Canberra Cavalry | 2 | | | |

### Statistical leaders

Batting leaders :
| Stat | Player | Team | Total |
| AVG | Jay Baum | Canberra Cavalry | .439 |
| HR | T.J. BennettDonald Lutz | Brisbane BanditsBrisbane Bandits | 16 |
| RBI | David KandilasChiang Chih-hsien | Canberra CavalrySydney Blue Sox | 44 |
| R | Jake Fraley | Perth Heat | 50 |
| H | Jay BaumJake Fraley | Canberra CavalryPerth Heat | 61 |
| SB | Jake Fraley | Perth Heat | 39 |
Pitching leaders :
| Stat | Player | Team | Total |
| W | 6 tied at | 4 teams | 5 |
| L | Mark HamburgerGreg Mosel | Melbourne AcesAdelaide Bite | 7 |
| ERA | Frank Gailey | Canberra Cavalry | 2.34 |
| K | Ryan BollingerJosh Tols | Brisbane BanditsMelbourne Aces | 75 |
| IP | Mark Hamburger | Melbourne Aces | 67+1⁄3 |
| SV | Cameron Lamb | Perth Heat | 6 |
* ↑ Minimum 2.7 PAs per team game.
* ↑ Minimum 0.8 IP per team game.

### Championship Series

| 09 February 2018 18:00 (UTC+11:00) Game 1 | Canberra Cavalry | 5–1 | Brisbane Bandits | Narrabundah Ballpark, Canberra Attendance: 2,275 Umpires: HP: Takahito Matsuda 1B: Trent Thomas 2B: Matthew Pearson 3B: Ben Nash |
| 09 February 2018 18:00 (UTC+11:00) Game 1 | WP: Brian Grening (1–0) Sv: Tyler Herr (1) | Boxscore | LP: Ryan Bollinger (0–1) | Narrabundah Ballpark, Canberra Attendance: 2,275 Umpires: HP: Takahito Matsuda 1B: Trent Thomas 2B: Matthew Pearson 3B: Ben Nash |
| 09 February 2018 18:00 (UTC+11:00) Game 1 | HR: David Kandilas (1), Robbie Perkins (1) | Boxscore | HR: TJ Bennett (1) | Narrabundah Ballpark, Canberra Attendance: 2,275 Umpires: HP: Takahito Matsuda 1B: Trent Thomas 2B: Matthew Pearson 3B: Ben Nash |
| 10 February 2018 18:00 (UTC+10:00) Game 2 | Brisbane Bandits | 12–2 | Canberra Cavalry | Holloway Field, Brisbane Attendance: 2,202 Umpires: HP: Tom West 1B: Mal Mackay 2B: Paul Latta 3B: Takahito Matsuda |
| 10 February 2018 18:00 (UTC+10:00) Game 2 | WP: Tim Atherton (1–0) | Boxscore | LP: Lake Bachar (0–1) | Holloway Field, Brisbane Attendance: 2,202 Umpires: HP: Tom West 1B: Mal Mackay 2B: Paul Latta 3B: Takahito Matsuda |
| 10 February 2018 18:00 (UTC+10:00) Game 2 | HR: 2 Chih-Sheng Lin (2), Mitch Nilsson (1), 2 Andrew Campbell (2), David Sutherland (1), Donald Lutz (1) | Boxscore | HR: Travis Witherspoon (1) | Holloway Field, Brisbane Attendance: 2,202 Umpires: HP: Tom West 1B: Mal Mackay 2B: Paul Latta 3B: Takahito Matsuda |
| 11 February 2018 16:00 (UTC+10:00) Game 3 | Brisbane Bandits | 4–2 | Canberra Cavalry | Holloway Field, Brisbane Attendance: 1,333 Umpires: HP: Mal Mackay 1B: Paul Latta 2B: Takahito Matsuda 3B: Tom West |
| 11 February 2018 16:00 (UTC+10:00) Game 3 | WP: Travis Blackley (1–0) Sv: Ryan Searle (1) | Boxscore | LP: Frank Gailey (0–1) | Holloway Field, Brisbane Attendance: 1,333 Umpires: HP: Mal Mackay 1B: Paul Latta 2B: Takahito Matsuda 3B: Tom West |
| 11 February 2018 16:00 (UTC+10:00) Game 3 | HR: Mitch Nilsson (2), Adam Weisenberger (1) | Boxscore | | Holloway Field, Brisbane Attendance: 1,333 Umpires: HP: Mal Mackay 1B: Paul Latta 2B: Takahito Matsuda 3B: Tom West |