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Heat hold second best record in ABL going into Christmas despite three losses over the weekend

Chris PikeThe West Australian
Perth Heat Christmas strip - (l-r) Alex Hall (#10), Sam Kennelly (#24) and Jess Williams (#5).
Picture Michael Farnell SportsImagery
Camera IconPerth Heat Christmas strip - (l-r) Alex Hall (#10), Sam Kennelly (#24) and Jess Williams (#5). Picture Michael Farnell SportsImagery Credit: Michael Farnell

Perth Heat might have lost their first series of the ABL season to miss the chance of going top heading into Christmas, but already focus has turned to a trip to Sydney where Dylan Unsworth will look to make another winning start.

While the Heat lost their pre-Christmas series this weekend against the Adelaide Giants three games to one, with the visitors winning both games on Saturday and then the fourth and decider on Sunday, it's far from doom and gloom.

It has still been a strong start to the season for the Heat with three series wins, one tied and one lost for them to remain in second position in the southwest conference with a 12-8 record to be just behind the Giants who are now on top at 13-7.

At 12-8, the Heat still hold the second best record in the ABL going into Christmas ahead of next week's series against the Sydney Blue Sox starting Friday night at Blacktown.

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What another Game 1 means is that it's time for South African star pitcher Unsworth to take the mound again for the Heat.

He has had a stunning start to life in the ABL this season having already been credited with the win in three of the games he's started in so far this season.

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In each series to date, Unsworth has been the starting pitcher in the first game and he has been outstanding including a complete game to go with 33 strike outs and a stunning ERA of just 2.00.

Despite Christmas being in between, already Unsworth has his eyes set on that Game 1 against Sydney on Friday having had to sit back and watch the Giants beat the Heat in the last three games this weekend at Harley-Davidson Ballpark.

And looking at the bigger picture, despite the loss to the Heat, Unsworth couldn’t be more impressed with the chemistry in the team and their desire to make a real push to winning the championship.

"When Tyler (Anderson) and Brooke (Knight) heard about me and wanted to bring me over here, Tyler told me that Perth have revamped the stadium and they want to win the championship," Unsworth said.

"That was a team I wanted to be part of. I've won a championship in AA in Jackson, Tennessee with the Mariners and I know that feeling so to win the championship is obviously a great experience.

Perth Heat Christmas strip - Jess Williams (#5).
Camera IconPerth Heat Christmas strip - Jess Williams (#5). Credit: Michael Farnell SportsImagery

"I'm very competitive and I have that never-ending energy where I want to keep going no matter how many times I get knocked down. I feel like this team is one where we're not going to stop.

"There might be a couple of bad games but the next day comes out and we're ready to play ball. I feel like everybody's on the same path and just ready to roll with it."

As for the series against the Giants which was always going to decide top spot and the best record in the ABL heading into Christmas, the Heat made the perfect start with Unsworth as pitcher in Game 1 on Friday winning 7-2 with homers to Jess Williams, Ulrich Bojarski, Jordan Qsar and Pete Kozma.

That led into the double-header on Saturday and the Giants made a flying start with four runs in the first innings of Game 1. The Heat responded with five runs over the next two innings which included home runs to Bojarski and Niko Hulsizer.

The Heat couldn’t quite keep it going and went scoreless the rest of the way and Adelaide scored a run each in the fourth and fifth inning to claim the 6-5 win and tie the series.

Remarkably the Heat wouldn’t score again the rest of the series with the Giants starting the second game of Saturday night with a run in the first inning and then two more in the third which was enough for the 3-0 victory.

The series then wrapped up on Sunday afternoon at Harley-Davidson Ballpark and despite Heat having some chances including a couple of hits in the second, another in the third and two more along with a pair of walks in the seventh, but they just couldn’t find a way to score.

Even in the bottom of the ninth, the Heat gave themselves a chance with Alex Hall getting on base, but it wasn’t to be and Adelaide won 3-0 to claim the series on the back of winning the final three matches.

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