2011–12 Melbourne Aces season

2011–12 Melbourne Aces
League	Australian Baseball League
Ballpark	Royal Melbourne Showgrounds
City	Melbourne, Victoria
Record	21–24 (.467)
League place	2nd
Owner	ABL
General manager	Windsor Knox
Manager	Phil Dale
Radio	Aussie Digital

The 2011–12 Melbourne Aces season was the second season for the team. As was the case for the previous season, the Aces will compete in the Australian Baseball League (ABL) with the other five foundation teams, and will again play its home games at the Royal Melbourne Showgrounds.

Offseason

During the offseason, it was announced that the Aces' home ground, the Royal Melbourne Showgrounds, would undergo major reconstruction in preparation for this season. Among others, the most notable change involved moving home plate approximately 15 feet closer to the fence, increasing the length of the field to 400 feet at centre field.[1] The ground was previously noted for its size among ABL grounds, having accounted for over 42% of all home runs hit during the inaugural ABL season.[2]

Regular season

Standings

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	L	PCT	GB	Qualification
1	Perth Heat	45	34	11	.756	—	Advance to major semi final
2	Melbourne Aces	45	21	24	.467	13
3	Adelaide Bite	45	20	25	.444[a]	14	Advance to minor semi final
4	Sydney Blue Sox	45	20	25	.444[b]	14
5	Brisbane Bandits	45	20	25	.444[c]	14
6	Canberra Cavalry	45	20	25	.444[d]	14

Source: [3]
Rules for classification: Teams are ranked on winning percentage. In a multi-way tie, the winning percentage from games in head-to-head competition with the other tied teams is used as the first tiebreaker. In a multi-way tie, where after the first tiebreaker two teams are still tied, the winning percentage from games in head-to-head competition between the two tied teams is used as the second tiebreaker.[4]
Notes:

1. 1st tiebreaker: 16–11 (.593)
2. 1st tiebreaker: 13–14 (.481); 2nd tiebreaker: 5–4 (.556)
3. 1st tiebreaker: 13–14 (.481); 2nd tiebreaker: 4–5 (.444)
4. 1st tiebreaker: 12–15 (.444)

Record vs opponents

Opponent	W–L Record	Largest Victory			Largest Defeat			Current Streak
		Score	Date	Ground	Score	Date	Ground
Adelaide Bite	–	–			–
Brisbane Bandits	–	–			–
Canberra Cavalry	–	–			–
Perth Heat	0–4	–			6–1	13 Nov 2011	Melbourne Showgrounds	L4
Sydney Blue Sox	1–3	13–9	5 Nov 2011	Blue Sox Stadium	8–6	5 Nov 2011	Blue Sox Stadium	L1
Total	1–7	Against Sydney Blue Sox			Against Perth Heat			L5
		13–9	5 Nov 2011	Blue Sox Stadium	6–1	13 Nov 2011	Melbourne Showgrounds

Game log

W	Aces win
L	Aces loss
T	Aces tie
	Game postponed
Bold	Aces team member

2011–12 Game Log
November # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Crowd Record Ref 1 4 November @ Blue Sox L 3–2 Chris Oxspring (1–0) Daniel McGrath (0–1) 1,193 0–1 [5] 2 5 November (DH 1) @ Blue Sox L 8–6 Matthew Williams (1–0) Andrew Mann (0–1) Koo Dae-Sung (1) — 0–2 [6] 3 5 November (DH 2) @ Blue Sox W 13–9 Blake Cunningham (1–0) Josh Wells (0–1) 1,295 1–2 [7] 4 6 November @ Blue Sox L 2–0 Chris Oxspring (2–0) Sam Gibbons (0–1) 1,425 1–3 [8] 5 11 November Heat L 6–3 Daniel Schmidt (1–0) Shane Lindsay (0–1) Benn Grice (2) 1,514 1–4 [9] 6 12 November Heat L 9–8 Trevor Caughey (1–0) Yusei Kikuchi (0–1) Matt Erickson (1) 1,174 1–5 [10] 7 13 November (DH 1) Heat L 6–1 Jacob Clem (1–0) Jason Hirsh (0–1) — 1–6 [11] 8 13 November (DH 2) Heat L 5–3 Warwick Saupold (1–0) Nic Ungs (0–1) 923 1–7 [12] 9 17 November Bandits – 10 18 November Bandits – 11 19 November Bandits – 12 20 November Bandits – 13 24 November @ Cavalry – 14 25 November @ Cavalry – 15 26 November @ Cavalry – 16 27 November @ Cavalry –
December # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Crowd Record Ref 17 1 December @ Bite – 18 2 December (DH 1) @ Bite – 19 2 December (DH 2) @ Bite – 20 3 December @ Bite – 21 16 December @ Heat – 22 17 December @ Heat – 23 18 December @ Heat – 24 19 December @ Heat – 25 20 December @ Heat – 26 29 December Blue Sox – 27 30 December Blue Sox – 28 31 December (DH 1) Blue Sox – 29 31 December (DH 2) Blue Sox –
January # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Crowd Record Ref 30 1 January Blue Sox – 31 5 January Bite – 32 6 January Bite – 33 7 January (DH 1) Bite – 34 7 January (DH 2) Bite – 35 8 January Bite – 36 11 January @ Bandits – 37 12 January @ Bandits – 38 13 January @ Bandits – 39 14 January @ Bandits – 40 15 January @ Bandits – 41 18 January Cavalry – 42 19 January Cavalry – 43 20 January Cavalry – 44 21 January (DH 1) Cavalry – 45 21 January (DH 2) Cavalry –

Roster

Melbourne Aces roster - 2011–12 ABL
Active roster				Inactive roster		Coaching Staff
Pitchers Right-handed pitchers 27 Kyle Bedford  9 Blake Cunningham 23 Alex De Silva 52 John Edwards  2 Sam Gibbons  5 Fumikazu Kimura 42 Shane Lindsay 32 Andrew Mann 28 Kevin Reese Left-handed pitchers 66 Daniel McGrath 49 Paul Weichard		Catchers 15 Mitchell Ayres Infielders 12 Josh Davies 63 Tom Dicker  4 Hayden Dingle 16 Darryl George  6 Joshua Hendricks 26 Justin Huber 38 Dominic Ramos  7 Scott Wearne Outfielders 21 Nathan Aron 33 Elliot Biddle 34 Paul Rutgers		Pitchers 22 Adam Blackley 18 Matthew Blackmore 11 Adam Bright -- Bubbie Buzachero -- Cameron Forbes 36 Donovan Hendricks 30 Jeff Jamnik -- Yusei Kikuchi -- Markus Solbach 17 Russell Spear -- Josh Spence 40 Greg Wiltshire Catchers 27 Liam Bedford -- Kevin David 26 Grant Karlsen Infielders -- Brad Harman 10 Matthew Lawman -- Jamie Lethborg -- Jamie Papanicolaou -- Jacob Sheldon-Collins -- Adam Silva 25 Brett Tamburrino Outfielders  3 Andrew Russell		Manager 43 Phil Dale Coaches 33 Lee Hogan (Pitching Coach) 19 Phil Allen (Coach) 20 Damian Shanahan (Coach)
Current as of 8 November 2011.

References

1. Building the Jet Couriers Melbourne Ace Field, Melbourne Aces website.
2. Stats, Melbourne Aces website.
3. "Australian Baseball League Standings". Australian Baseball League. Archived from the original on 3 November 2011. Retrieved 13 November 2011.
4. "Playoff Procedures". Australian Baseball League. Retrieved 22 January 2012.
5. "Melbourne @ Sydney boxscore". Australian Baseball League. 4 November 2011. Retrieved 4 November 2011.
6. "Melbourne @ Sydney boxscore". Australian Baseball League. 5 November 2011. Retrieved 6 November 2011.
7. "Melbourne @ Sydney boxscore". Australian Baseball League. 5 November 2011. Retrieved 6 November 2011.
8. "Melbourne @ Sydney boxscore". Australian Baseball League. 6 November 2011. Retrieved 6 November 2011.
9. "Perth @ Melbourne boxscore". Australian Baseball League. 11 November 2011. Retrieved 14 November 2011.
10. "Perth @ Melbourne boxscore". Australian Baseball League. 12 November 2011. Retrieved 14 November 2011.
11. "Perth @ Melbourne boxscore". Australian Baseball League. 13 November 2011. Retrieved 14 November 2011.
12. "Perth @ Melbourne boxscore". Australian Baseball League. 13 November 2011. Retrieved 14 November 2011.