# 1997–98 Perth Heat season

The 1997-98 Perth Heat season was the 9th season for the team. As was the case for the Heat's previous seasons they competed in the Australian Baseball League (ABL).

## Regular season
### Standings

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | L | PCT | GB | Qualification |
| 1 | Melbourne Monarchs | 52 | 32 | 20 | .615 | — | Advance to Finals Series |
| 2 | Sydney Storm | 54 | 32 | 22 | .593 | 1 | Advance to Finals Series |
| 3 | Melbourne Reds | 51 | 30 | 21 | .588 | 1.5 | Advance to Finals Series |
| 4 | Gold Coast Cougars | 53 | 31 | 22 | .585 | 1.5 | Advance to Finals Series |
| 5 | Perth Heat | 53 | 30 | 23 | .566 | 2.5 | |
| 6 | Adelaide Giants | 53 | 26 | 27 | .491 | 6.5 | |
| 7 | Brisbane Bandits | 53 | 20 | 33 | .377 | 12.5 | |
| 8 | Hunter Eagles | 53 | 10 | 43 | .189 | 22.5 | |

#### Record vs opponents

| Opponent | W–L Record | Largest Victory | Largest Victory | Largest Victory | Largest Defeat | Largest Defeat | Largest Defeat | Current Streak |
| Opponent | W–L Record | Score | Date | Ground | Score | Date | Ground | Current Streak |
| Adelaide Giants | 6-7 | 7-2 | 5 December 1997 | Norwood Oval | 1-7 | 5 December 1997 | Norwood Oval | L2 |
| Brisbane Bandits | 3-3 | 15-2 | 5 January 1998 | ANZ Stadium | 2-18 | 4 January 1998 | ANZ Stadium | W2 |
| Gold Coast Cougars | 4-2 | 8-2 | 10 January 1998 | Carrara Oval | 2-19 | 8 January 1998 | Carrara Oval | W1 |
| Hunter Eagles | 5-2 | 17-6 | 28 January 1998 | Marathon Stadium | 0-8 | 19 January 1998 | WACA | W4 |
| Melbourne Monarchs | 3-5 | 6-1 | 22 November 1997 | WACA | 2-7 | 14 December 1997 | Melbourne Ballpark | L3 |
| Melbourne Reds | 4–2 | 13–6 | 26 December 1997 | WACA | 3–8 | 27 December 1997 | WACA | W2 |
| Sydney Storm | 5-3 | 10-3 | 8 November 1997 | WACA | 1-5 & 5-9 | 15 November 1997 | Concord Oval | W2 |
| Total | 30–23 | Brisbane Bandits | Brisbane Bandits | Brisbane Bandits | Gold Coast Cougars | Gold Coast Cougars | Gold Coast Cougars | W1 |
| Total | 30–23 | 15–2 | 5 January 1998 | ANZ Stadium | 2-19 | 8 January 1998 | Carrara Oval | W1 |

### Game log

| W | Heat win |
| L | Heat loss |
| T | Heat tie |
| | Game postponed |
| Bold | Heat team member |
1997-98 Game Log :
October
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveCrowdRecordRef
1
31 October (DH 1)
Giants
6–5
1-0
2
31 October (DH 2)
Giants
6–3
2-0 :
November
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveCrowdRecordRef
3
1 November (DH 1)
Giants
6–5
3-0
4
1 November (DH 2)
Giants
2–8
3-1
5
7 November (DH 1)
Storm
3–5
3-2
6
7 November (DH 2)
Storm
3–2
4-2
7
8 November (DH 1)
Storm
10–3
5-2
8
8 November (DH 2)
Storm
4–1
6-2
9
15 November (DH 1)
@ Storm
1–5
6-3
10
15 November (DH 2)
@ Storm
5–9
6-4
11
16 November (DH 1)
@ Storm
4–3
7-4
12
16 November (DH 2)
@ Storm
11–7
8-4
13
21 November
@ Monarchs
6–7
8-5
14
22 November (DH 1)
@ Monarchs
6–1
9-5
15
22 November (DH 2)
@ Monarchs
9–5
10-5
16
23 November
@ Monarchs
0–2
10-6 :
December
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveCrowdRecordRef
17
5 December (DH 1)
@ Giants
7–2
11-6
18
5 December (DH 2)
@ Giants
1–7
11-7
19
6 December (DH 1)
@ Giants
1–5
11-8
20
6 December (DH 2)
@ Giants
3–6
11-9
21
14 December (DH 1)
Monarchs
10–9
12-9
22
14 December (DH 2)
Monarchs
2–7
P. Dale
12-10
23
15 December (DH 1)
Monarchs
0–3
E. Nelsen
R. Spear
12-11
24
15 December (DH 2)
Monarchs
4–6
12-12
25
19 December
Giants
4–2
13-12
26
20 December (DH 1)
Giants
4-0
14-12
27
20 December (DH 2)
Giants
2–5
14-13
28
21 December
Giants
2–6
14-14
29
26 December (DH 1)
Reds
13–6
15-14
30
26 December (DH 2)
Reds
1–0
16-14
31
27 December (DH 1)
Reds
2–3
16-15
32
27 December (DH 2)
Reds
3–8
16-16 :
January
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveCrowdRecordRef
33
3 January
@ Bandits
1–11
16-17
34
4 January
@ Bandits
2–18
16-18
35
5 January
@ Bandits
15–2
17-18
36
8 January
@ Cougars
2–19
17-19
37
9 January
@ Cougars
8–7
18-19
38
10 January
@ Cougars
8-2
19-19
39
19 January (DH 1)
Eagles
0–8
19-20
40
19 January (DH 2)
Eagles
11–6
20-20
41
20 January (DH 1)
Eagles
6–8
20-21
42
20 January (DH 2)
Eagles
5–2
21-21
43
22 January
@ Reds
2–0
22-21
44
23 January
@ Reds
9–6
23-21
45
24 January
@ Reds
Wash Out
23-21
46
26 January
@ Eagles
15–5
24-21
47
27 January
@ Eagles
8–7
25-21
48
28 January
@ Eagles
17-6
26-21
49
31 January
Bandits
0–12
26-22 :
February
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveCrowdRecordRef
50
1 February
Bandits
12–6
27-22
51
2 February
Bandits
5–1
28-22
52
5 February
Cougars
6-2
29-22
53
6 February
Cougars
3-10
29-23
54
7 February
Cougars
7-4
30-23 :

## Postseason
### Finals Series at Melbourne Ballpark

In previous years the post season was played as home and away best of 3 games, with the two winner of each series meeting for a best of 5 series{fact}, in 1997-98 this was changed to a round robin play-off format with each team playing 3 games, 1 against each of the other 3 qualified teams, with the two highest places teams playing off in the Championship Series.
All games for the 9th ABL title were played at the Melbourne Ballpark from February, 10–12 with the best of three championship series February 14–15.
Full series results

### Award Winners
#### ABL awards

| Award | Name | Stat | ref |
| Reliever of the Year | Gabe Molina | | |

#### All-stars

| Position | Name | ref |
| Relief Pitcher | Gabe Molina | |

#### Heat Awards

| Award | Name | Stat | ref |