Australian Baseball League

ADELAIDE, 2 November - An impressive debut of former Yankee Anthony Claggett was quickly overshadowed by a flawless display from the Alcohol. Think Again Perth Heat lineup, demoralising the Adelaide Bite in a 13-3 victory at Norwood Oval Friday evening.

The evening started off with a tantalising pitching matchup, a former Major Leaguer in Claggett taking on Team Australia Ace Paul Mildren. Both pitchers performed to expectations early on, but a long fourth inning, partially thanks to a Jeremy Cresswell error, resulted into Bite Manager Tony Harris dragging Mildren and going to the bullpen after 4 innings.

The Heat would make mincemeat of the Bite relievers, scoring four runs in the sixth and six runs in the seventh to put the game beyond any doubt. The dominant lineup hit hard and often with Adamson, Melker, Hughes, Bell, de San Miguel and Amberson having multiple hit nights. Allan de San Miguel showed no ill effects from a slight injury that forced Manager Steve Fish to move the Heat catcher to first base, racking up eight total bases including the Heat's second home run of the season to put the Heat up 1-0 after two innings.

Cardinal Adam Melker continued his dominant start for the season with four hits, hitting at a .700 pace after the first two games. After an impressive spring training playing against the Heat, State League recruit David Amberson continued his impressive season with three hits for the night scoring twice.

After a quiet game on Thursday, Carter Bell's sixth inning triple would be the beginning of the end for the Bite. With two runners on, Bell drove a ball long into center with Bite's Nathan Melendres almost making an outstanding play at the wall. Instead of bouncing off the wall, Melendres fell through it, as both runners would come in to score. The Heat would score eight more runs that evening with Bell adding another two hits to his tally and scoring three of the Heat's runs.

Allowing only three hits for the evening, Claggett was impressive in his first outing for the Heat, lasing five innings and picking up five strikeouts. The Bite were not without their chances, loading the bases with one out in the fourth, but Claggett remained composed and induced an all-important ground ball to first baseman de San Miguel who doubled off the runners with help from shortstop Carter Bell.

Even with the game beyond doubt, the Heat reserved some of their fireworks for the final inning with Tim Kennelly coming in to close out the game. Kennelly's inning was characteristic of a wild flamethrower, as Bite batters flailed at Kennelly's fastball. Only Josh Cakebread would make contact reaching on an error, and a wild pitch would score Ben Lodge for an unearned run. Despite the wild pitch, Kennelly remained in control enough to strike out three in an entertaining ninth inning display.

Saturday night sees the Heat looking to sweep the Bite with either Daniel Schmidt or Scott Mitchinson taking the mound. Stay tuned to the Heat's Facebook and Twitter for updates with the game starting at 4:30pm WST.