International Baseball Showdown: Skybattle Trophy — Game 3 @ Melbourne Ballpark
Melbourne Aces 4 tied with Hanwha Eagles 4
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Tied game? We paid for blood!
In lieu of an actual competitive season since their abrupt departure from the ABL last year, the Melbourne Aces have hosted a string of teams from around the baseball world… this week it was the Korean Baseball League’s Hanwha Eagles.
The Aces had taken the first two games of the series on the Friday and Saturday nights, leaving this game something of a dead rubber on a Sunday afternoon.
Hanwha got on the board in the first innings, scoring two runs even as they left two runners on base. The Aces replied with a single run in the bottom of the first, with the visiting pitcher hitting the first batter, walking the second and an error advancing the runners into scoring position. Darryl George grounded out, but the Dario Gomez scored.
From there it was a tight battle until the fourth innings — Hanwha scored a couple of runs on the back of a string of singles which forced a pitching change. In reply, the Aces levelled the scores on the back of a two-run homer from Joe Deluca.
From there though it was all defence and pitching. Both teams were blanked for the final five innings.
The game ended in a four-all tie with no extra innings played. A little unsatisfying. A bit like playing a season of exhibition series instead of trying to win the ABL.
A sunny, but not too hot Sunday afternoon made the Melbourne Ballpark a pleasant place to spend the day. A free ice cream on departure was a nice treat too.
Hopefully the Aces and the ABL can mend their fences though at some point. I’d much rather be heading out to Altona to watch the Aces try to win the Claxton Shield than playing international teams.
Tickets: $16 (General admission)
Entertainment: ⭐⭐