# 2016–17 Australian Baseball League season

The 2016–17 Australian Baseball League season was the seventh Australian Baseball League (ABL) season, and was held from 17 November 2016 to 11 February 2017.

## Teams

Teams in the ABL :
| Team | State / Territory | Stadium |
| Adelaide Bite | South Australia | Diamond Sports Stadium |
| Brisbane Bandits | Queensland | Brisbane Exhibition Ground |
| 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
### Standings

| Team | Pld | W | L | GB | PCT | Home | Away | Qualification |
| Melbourne Aces | 40 | 26 | 14 | — | .650 | 13–7 | 13–7 | Championship Series |
| Adelaide Bite | 40 | 23 | 17 | 3 | .575 | 12–8 | 11–9 | Preliminary final |
| Brisbane Bandits | 39 | 21 | 18 | 4.5 | .538 | 11–8 | 10–10 | Preliminary final |
| Canberra Cavalry | 40 | 20 | 20 | 6 | .500 | 11–9 | 9–11 | |
| Sydney Blue Sox | 39 | 15 | 24 | 10.5 | .385 | 11–9 | 4–15 | |
| Perth Heat | 40 | 14 | 26 | 12 | .350 | 10–10 | 4–16 | |

### Statistical leaders

Batting leaders :
| Stat | Player | Team | Total |
| AVG | Mitch Dening | Adelaide Bite | .340 |
| HR | Mitch NilssonMike WalkerStone Garrett | Brisbane BanditsMelbourne AcesSydney Blue Sox | 7 |
| RBI | Mitch Dening | Adelaide Bite | 27 |
| R | Aaron Whitefield | Brisbane Bandits | 34 |
| H | Aaron Whitefield | Brisbane Bandits | 53 |
| SB | Aaron Whitefield | Brisbane Bandits | 20 |
Pitching leaders :
| Stat | Player | Team | Total |
| W | Mark Hamburger | Melbourne Aces | 5 |
| L | Mike LeeTom Bailey | Perth HeatPerth Heat | 6 |
| ERA | Mark Hamburger | Melbourne Aces | 1.90 |
| K | Mark Hamburger | Melbourne Aces | 86 |
| IP | Mark Hamburger | Melbourne Aces | 752⁄3 |
| SV | Ryan Searle | Brisbane Bandits | 9 |
* ↑ Minimum 2.7 PAs per team game.
* ↑ Minimum 0.8 IP per team game.

## Postseason
### Bracket

| Preliminary Final Series | Preliminary Final Series | Preliminary Final Series | Championship Series | Championship Series | Championship Series |
| | | | 1 | Melbourne Aces | 0 |
| 2 | Adelaide Bite | 1 | 3 | Brisbane Bandits | 2 |
| 3 | Brisbane Bandits | 2 | | | |

### Preliminary Final Series
#### Game 1

3 February 2017 19:00 (UTC+10:30) at Diamond Sports Stadium in Adelaide :
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Brisbane Bandits | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 0 |
| Adelaide Bite | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1 |
| WP: Zac Treece (1–0) LP: Matthew Williams (0–1) Sv: Ryan Searle (1) Boxscore |||||||||||||

#### Game 2

4 February 2017 18:00 (UTC+10:00) at AFA Stadium at Holloway Field in Brisbane (F/12) :
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | R | H | E |
| Adelaide Bite | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 15 | 2 |
| Brisbane Bandits | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 1 |
| WP: Zach Cooper (1–0) LP: Ryan Searle (0–1) Home runs: ADE: Marcus Greene Jr (1), Mitch Dening (1) BRI: Aaron Whitefield (1), Wade Dutton (1) Boxscore ||||||||||||||||

#### Game 3

5 February 2017 13:00 (UTC+10:00) at AFA Stadium at Holloway Field in Brisbane :
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Adelaide Bite | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 0 |
| Brisbane Bandits | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 8 | X | 18 | 23 | 3 |
| WP: Rick Teasley (1–0) LP: Hei Chun Lee (0–1) Home runs: ADE: Stefan Welch (1), Jordan McArdle (1) BRI: Trent Oeltjen (1), Ryan Battaglia 2 (2), Logan Wade (1), Mitch Nilsson 2 (2), David Rodriguez (1) Boxscore |||||||||||||

#### Composite Line Score

2017 ABL Preliminary Final Series (2–1): Brisbane Bandits over Adelaide Bite
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | R | H | E |
| Brisbane Bandits | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 41 | 4 |
| Adelaide Bite | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 11 | 25 | 2 |

### Championship Series
#### Game 1

10 February 2017 19:30 (UTC+11:00) at Melbourne Ballpark in Melbourne :
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Brisbane Bandits | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 10 | 0 |
| Melbourne Aces | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 0 |
| WP: Rick Teasley (1–0) LP: Mark Hamburger (0–1) Home runs: BRI: Trent Oeltjen (1), David Rodriguez (1), Logan Wade (1), Kevin Padlo (1) MEL: None Boxscore |||||||||||||

#### Game 2

11 February 2017 18:30 (UTC+11:00) at Melbourne Ballpark in Melbourne :
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Brisbane Bandits | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 0 |
| Melbourne Aces | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| WP: Kramer Champlin (1–0) LP: Jon Kennedy (0–1) Sv: Ryan Searle (1) Home runs: BRI: None MEL: Cody Jones (1) Boxscore |||||||||||||

#### Composite Line Score

2017 ABL Championship Series (2–0): Brisbane Bandits over Melbourne Aces
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Brisbane Bandits | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 18 | 0 |
| Melbourne Aces | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 12 | 0 |