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2054 Championship - Newcastle Roos vs Canberra Cavalry

Preview: The media only had a couple days to spew out Championship-related headlines, and most of them centred around either of the following:

Could Ashley Snijders get himself a ring after nearly 20 years in the bigs? And if so, did that put him ahead of Alastair Mildren in their famous feud?

And were Ismael Aguirre, and to a lesser extent, Young-tae Lee kingmakers? For both players, this was their 6th consecutive Championship appearance, and they’d taken home the trophy 4 of their previous 5 visits. Lee had appeared in a staggering 14 postseason campaigns, winning 8 rings with 5 different teams. Could he snare himself a 9th, and if so, how did that place him alongside such players as Snijders and Mildren?

The Cavalry had homefield advantage this year, with by far the best offense in the league. They’d topped all-comers in: BA (.295), OBP (.367), SLG (.471), OPS (.838), runs scored (976), hits (1708), and XBH (560). The 211 HRs they’d socked was 3rd-best, the 642 walks they’d drawn 2nd-best, and the 964 times they’d struck out 3rd-least.

Pitching-wise they weren’t shabby either, their starters’ ERA of 3.64 2nd-best in the league, and the 663 runs they’d allowed 2nd-best. They were also the best staff at picking their spots, walking only 371 hitters all season. Where they did have a weakness was in their bullpen, the 4.02 ERA of their relievers only 6th-best. Defensively, they had a .691 efficiency, 5th-best.

Newcastle had punched their way through the first 2 rounds of the playoffs, and weren’t shy in telling all and sundry that they were more than capable of footing it with the defending champs. The Roos had the 3rd-best BA (.274), and OBP (.346), had scored the 4th-most runs (783), and whacked the 4th-most hits (1518).

Their big weakness was their pitching. While their staff had struck out more hitters than any other staff (1159), they had only the 7th-best overall ERA (4.40), and their starters were only ranked 10th (4.60 ERA). They’d given up 199 HRs during the season, 3rd-worst, but had only walked 422 hitters, 2nd to Canberra.

Neither team had any injury concerns, with both teams saying pre-series that they’d go with 3-man rotations (Rayner, Wurfel, Spear for Canberra; Russell, Henderson, Casey for Newcastle).

Verdict: Newcastle would fight hard, but Canberra would be just too good, taking it out in 5.

Game 1

Isaac Russell (14-9, 3.74 ERA, 4.34 FIP, 1.16 WHIP) had been backed up defensively all year, and that trend had continued in the playoffs, his ERA of 2.76 in his 2 starts so far in complete contrast to his FIP of 5.28. He would take the mound for Newcastle in Game 1, and perhaps he took notice of the stats because he spent most of the pre-game presser praising the defensive capabilities of his team. Eddie Rayner (19-6, 2.93 ERA, 3.96 FIP, 1.09 WHIP) had gone 14-1 through the first 3 months of the season, but only 5-5 through the last 3. Still, he had a 6-game postseason win streak going and aimed to continue that here.

Newcastle took the early lead, a 2-run Brody Cheadle HR in the 2nd putting them ahead 3-0. A run of 5 consecutive hits in the 5th gave Canberra 3 runs, tying the game up. Cheadle hit his 2nd HR of the night in the 7th, and Newcastle scored again in the 8th and 9th to go ahead by 3. In the bottom of the 9th Canberra scrapped hard to score twice and see closer Bywaters yanked. Replacement Logan Bowlby walked Blanksby first-up, but then struck out Hillson to win the game. Final score: 6-5 Newcastle

Rayner’s (8.0IP, 9H, 6ER, 1BB, 7K) streak came to a grinding halt, while Russell (7.0IP, 7H, 3ER, 2BB, 4K) survived 2 errors (1 his own) to make it 3 wins so far this postseason.

Game 2

Brock Casey (13-9, 4.07 ERA, 4.31 FIP, 1.29 WHIP) would start for Newcastle, taking on Blair ‘Goat’ Wurfel (16-4, 3.09 ERA, 3.59 FIP, 1.22 WHIP), who was coming off possibly his best season ever.

It ended up being a night Canberra reliever Logan Dale would spend a long time trying to forget. An Ahernfeld HR in the 3rd was part of a 2-run inning that gave Canberra an early 2-1 lead before Sean Carr’s 3-run blast in the 4th put Newcastle back ahead. They added another in the 4th before Canberra’s big guns of Lee, Aguirre, Blanksby and Hillson combined to reduce the lead to 1 in the bottom of the 6th. Aguirre’s infield single in the 8th led to the equalizer scoring 2 outs later.

And then came the top of the 9th. Dale came out to pitch after having recorded the final 2 outs of the 8th. Si-xun Qiao singled wide of 2nd off the first pitch of the inning. Marshall Tipping drew a walk before Sean Carr unexpectedly sac-bunted both runners ahead. Courcha singled, driving in the go-ahead run plus 1 more. Cheadle singled, and Joshua Moore walked, loading the bases. The stage was set for Al Ayliffe to create a real piece of history. Having already hit a Grand Slam against Wellington in the Division Finals, and another against Adelaide in the Preliminary Finals, could the 25 y/o make it an incredible 3 in 1 postseason? Yes, he could, smashing a first-pitch fastball 426 feet over right centre! It took 5 minutes for the dugout celebrations to die down.

6 runs in the inning and Canberra walked off the field well and truly deflated. Never one to give up, Aguirre singled in the bottom of the inning but he was left a solitary figure at 1st when the final out was recorded. Final score: 11-5 Newcastle and they’d beaten up Canberra 2 games in a row, in the Cavalry’s stable.

Casey (5.0IP, 4H, 2ER, 0BB, 4K) looked much better than Wurfel (5.1IP, 8H, 5ER, 3BB, 4K), though neither got the result.

Game 3

Away from home and well and truly up against it, Canberra sent Angelo Spear (14-11, 3.95 ERA, 4.12 FIP, 1.30 WHIP) to the mound, hoping he would have one of his better nights. He would go up against Baden Henderson (11-13, 3.64 ERA, 4.30 FIP, 1.22 WHIP), who was 2-0 so far this postseason.

Spear brought his good stuff today, allowing only 6 baserunners in 8 innings of work. 3 of those baserunners came in the 3rd, Newcastle scoring 1, but Canberra had already gone ahead thanks to Blanksby’s 3-run blast in the top of the inning. The Cavalry scored an insurance run in the 7th, but nobody was willing to bet against the Roos in the bottom of the 9th. Herbert gave up a leadoff single to Andre England before Tyler Pratly’s follow-up single advanced England to 3rd. Qiao also singled, driving in a runner and flashbacks to Game 2 started among Cavalry fans.

But in a postseason already full of extraordinary events, another one concluded Game 3. Roos’ manager Quintin Fletcher called a hit-and-run on Marshall Tipping’s 2-2 pitch. Tipping made good contact, lining the ball hard toward the shortstop. Towards, but not over as it turned out. Cain Reed pulled off a sharp leaping catch, wheeled around while in the air and upon landing fired to Lee at 2nd. Lee, who at 38 had been poor at SS this season but still held his own on the other side of the infield, tagged the retreating runner and whipped the ball to 1st. Aguirre gloved it and Tipping was out by half a step. 6-4-3 TRIPLE PLAY to end Game 3! Final score: 4-2 Cavalry, and the way they charged in from everywhere to celebrate it seemed as if they’d won the Championship.

Spear (8.0IP, 6H, 1ER, 0BB, 4K) was the deserving winner, while Henderson (6.1IP, 8H, 4ER, 2BB, 6K) often found himself in trouble.

Game 4

Russell would take on Rayner again. Both pitchers had thrown 115+ pitches in Game 1 so it would be interesting to see how long they would last this time around.

Newcastle adopted a patient approach to Rayner, forcing him to throw strikes and fouling off plenty of those to stay alive, driving his pitch count up. It was Canberra who got on the board first, scoring 2 in the 2nd, 1 of those thanks to Blanksby’s leadoff HR. Back-to-back HRs in the 3rd (a 2-run Qiao shot followed by Tipping tipping it over the fence) were part of a 4-run inning, giving Newcastle the lead. Hillson made it a 1-run game in the 5th with his leadoff HR before Blanksby cracked his 2nd jack of the night in the 5th, a 3-run affair, to give Canberra a lead of 2.

Newcastle weren’t cowed, though, seeing off Rayner in the bottom of the inning thanks to a leadoff single followed by a walk. Reliever Gan Chang hadn’t thrown in 7 days and while he got his fastball up near the 160 km/h mark he wasn’t hitting his spots. He walked Carr, plunked Courcha to bring a run in, went wild against Cheadle to see another run score (after which Cheadle was intentionally walked) before finally recording the first out of the inning. Even so, Moore’s deep fly to left sacrificed in another run. Getting the out seemed to settle Chang down, though, and he retired Ayliffe and England in quick succession to end the inning.

The scoring dried up after that, remaining 7-6 until the top of the 9th. Bywaters, who’d stuttered badly in his last outing, came to the mound. His 0-2 curveball to Terence Kerr hung rather than fell and Kerr singled wide of 2nd. Ahernfeld didn’t lift his bat from his shoulder, walking on 5 pitches. Rhett Vader sac-bunted both runners ahead. Cain Reed hit a sharp groundball to 2nd, who was playing up and who fired quickly to 1st for the opening out of the inning. Boston got a fastball at the knees but his quick swing made light work of it, jabbing it over the head of the 3B and into the corner. Both runners scored and Canberra had the lead. Bywaters got his marching orders and his replacement, Xavier Hagerty, struck out Lee swinging to curb the damage.

It was too much, though, Herbert showing no nerves this time to retire Newcastle in order, fanning the last 2 hitters. Final score: 8-7 Canberra to level the series. Rayner (4.0IP, 7H, 6ER, 4BB, 4K) threw 95 pitches and looked nowhere near his best, while Russell (6.1IP, 8H, 6ER, 2BB, 1K) nearly got himself win #4 of this year’s playoff campaign.

Game 5

Newcastle decided Brock Casey needed another couple days rest before pitching again, so sent Vicente Velez (13-14, 5.05 ERA, 4.48 FIP, 1.52 WHIP), who’d thrown 1.2 innings of scoreless relief in Game 2 of this series, out to the mound. Canberra would go with Wurfel. The 34 y/o could still get his fastball upwards of 160 km/h even if his slider and changeup weren’t quite what they used to be.

All the runs in this game were scored in 1s through the 1st 6 innings. Carr lofted his 6th HR of the postseason in the 2nd, Qiao his 2nd in 2 games in the 5th. Aguirre hit a solo shot in the 6th but his Cavalry were never really in it, Bywaters recovering from his previous 2 horror outings to record an easy save, including 2 swinging Ks. The game may have turned after 3, when Wurfel didn’t come back out to the mound. He was having back issues, and media were told after the game that the recurring spasms he was experiencing would keep him out of the rest of the playoffs. Final score: 5-2 Newcastle, and they were now 1 game away from their first Championship since 2038.

Wurfel (3.0IP, 5H, 3R, 2ER, 1BB, 0K) looked like he was struggling from his first pitch, while Velez (6.0IP, 8H, 2ER, 2BB, 5K) did a passable job and picked up a postseason W.

Game 6

Could Angelo Spear bring it 2 games in a row? The Cavalry thought so, even if a lot of their fans had doubts, as they sent him out to the mound to start this game despite the fact they’d hinted during the off day that Rory Lowe might get a call up. Spear would be up against a fully rested Casey, who was quietly confident the Roos would win it in 6.

Spear did bring his good stuff 2 games in a row. The Roos scored first in the 3rd, 2 singles and a wild throw from the RF seeing Ayliffe safely touch home plate. Cain Reed’s 3-run jack in the 4th put Canberra ahead and 2 more were added in the 5th.

It was mostly 3-up 3-down from them on, the score 5-1 Canberra heading into the top of the 9th. Jesus Rodriguez was on the mound, having spelled Spear to record the last 2 outs of the 8th. Pratly led off the inning with a single, before Qiao struck out on 3 pitches, Rodriguez’s changeup freezing Qiao up and just nicking the zone. Tipping singled wide of short and Rodriguez headed to the showers, Herbert coming to the mound. Sean Carr wasted no time, hitting a tame fastball over the head of the shortstop for a single, loading the bases. Courcha didn’t lift his bat from his shoulder for 6 pitches, the last a called strike, ending his AB. He wasn’t happy about it, and replays showed the sinker was too low but he’d already gotten his marching orders. Next up, Brody Cheadle watched a strike and a ball go past. Then he made good contact with a cut fastball low in the zone and watched it fly deep over right centre. And into the bleachers for a game-tying Grand Slam! Herbert recovered to strike out Moore but come off the mound knowing he might not have just blown a save. He might have blown the Championship!

Boston singled with 1 out in the bottom of the inning, but Lee ground into a 4-6-3 double play to send the game into extra time. Herbert was sent back out for the 10th and responded in champion fashion, fighting through to retire the side in order. Hillson singled with 2 outs in the bottom of the 10th but couldn’t spark a rally. From then on neither side got on-base until the bottom of the 13th. Blanksby singled to lead off the inning. Hillson followed with another single and Terence Kerr walked on 5 pitches. Ahernfeld hit a fly into left-centre, finding grass between the 2 fielders for a walk-off single. Final score: 6-5 Canberra to force a Game 7 at home.

Spear (7.0IP, 6H, 1ER, 1BB, 4K) had another good night, while Casey (4.2IP, 7H, 5ER, 3BB, 3K) looked like he could do with another day of rest.

Game 7

Rayner was determined to shoulder the Game 7 start, according to his coaches, as he’d been ready to do last season. Henderson would start for Newcastle, hoping to atone for his Game 3 effort.

Back-to-back doubles to lead off the bottom of the first opened the scoring for Canberra before Henderson settled into a rhythm. A Courcha double drove Qiao home in the top of the 2nd, tying things up, before Newcastle edged ahead in the 3rd, England’s 3-1 ground out deep enough to score Ayliffe. Both pitchers rattled through their opposing lineups until the 6th. Lee led off the inning with a swinging K before Aguirre drew a walk. Blanksby spotted a 1-1 changeup and didn’t hesitate, getting underneath it to send it over the leftfield fence for a 2-run HR.

With Herbert having thrown 40 pitches the night before and possibly down on confidence, Canberra sent Zachariah Quinn, who’d started 21 games during the regular season, out to the mound in the 9th. Tipping got himself to 3-1 but could only hit a fastball directly to short for a regulation 6-3 out. Carr got frozen up by a 2-2 forkball and was given out on strikes. Courcha, hitting .360 for the series, went hard at a 2-1 fastball high in the zone. Right idea, but he couldn’t quite execute it, his liner going fast but straight into the shortstop’s glove for the series-winning out. Final score: 3-2 Canberra, to make them the latest to go back-to-back and prove Aguirre and Lee were both kingmakers. Unfortunately for Snijders, there would be no ring this year, and this might’ve been his last shot unless a Championship-calibre squad would hire him on for next season.

Rayner (6.2IP, 5H, 2ER, 2BB, 8K) saved his best for last, while Henderson (7.0IP, 5H, 3ER, 2BB, 7K) also brought his good stuff.

Hurler of the Series: Angelo Spear (1-0, 15.0IP, 12H, 1BB, 2ER, 8K), though some ecstatic fans were of the opinion Quinn should’ve received it for his nerveless Game 7 save.

Slugger of the Series: Jacob Blanksby (.444/.545/.963, 4HR) was definitely big-time, this award marking the second consecutive year he’d won it.

Teammate Aguirre had a quiet series, but always seemed to be on-base when needed, while Newcastle's Ayliffe would always be remembered as the guy who hit 3 Grand Slams in 1 postseason.