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2062 Preseason Predictions

Coastal: Adelaide and Cairns would duke it out, the Venom picked to pip their rivals at the post for the division crown. Perth and Darwin would both be awful.

East-West: Another tight race, with Kununurra to edge out Central Coast by a couple games. Newcastle and Brisbane would both fail to play .500 ball.

NZ: Christchurch to win a race with the Sluggers by 3 games, Whangarei to make good on the performances they’d been threatening to put up the last few seasons. Auckland and Wellington would both stink up the joint.

Southern: All the division races were going to be close this season, according to the experts. Here Sydney would prevail over Hobart by a handful of games, while Melbourne would once again fail to live up to the hype and Canberra would be terrible.

Wildcard: Central Coast and Cairns, comfortably.

Jorge Diaz Award: New faces would adorn the podium this season, with 24 y/o Brisbane 1B Norm Blume the preseason favourite. Canberra’s Neil Bellett would give him a run for his money, and Auckland’s Andre Wiltshire would also be in the mix. Richard Moore, Gary Young and Vern Bull would also have strong seasons but ultimately miss out.

Hurler of the Year: John Zglinicki to go back-to-back, with Victor Doubleday hot on his heels. Matt Juhl would have an excellent season and Barry Dean couldn’t be counted out, with the pundits picking him to strike out more than 250 hitters this season.

ABC: Alice Springs, Melbourne Victory, Kalgoorlie Gold Rush, Port Moresby Kumuls were the 4 teams picked to make the ABC postseason, and the Overseas Division would be the most hotly contested, with only 4 games separating 1st and 3rd. Gavin Howell and Si-xun Qiao were the hot tips for Golden Bat, while Satya Susanti and Canberra’s NABA import J.R. Evans would joust for Golden Arm. The Hobart Hammerheads were picked to hit only 55 homers all season.