Sport Baseball Teams 5 First place Perth Heat
(12–4) | Country Australia Defending champions Perth Heat (2008) | |
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Dates 2 December 2008 – 8 February 2009 | ||
The 2009 Diamond Anniversary Claxton Shield was the 75-year anniversary of the Claxton Shield and was held from 2 December 2008 to 8 February 2009 and was the Shield's Diamond anniversary. The Perth Heat won the tournament after defeating the New South Wales Patriots 3-2 in the third game of a best of three series.
Contents
Overview
The 2009 Shield series excluded the Australian Provincial baseball team and consisted of four, three game series against each team including a two home, two away and a bye round for each of the teams. On top of this to start off the tournament, there was also a showcase round where each team played each other once. To celebrate the 75th anniversary, the showcase round also hosted a variety of other events such as a Home Run Derby. Teams that competed in the 2009 Claxton Shield were the New South Wales Patriots, Queensland Rams, Perth Heat, Victoria Aces and the South Australia.
The competition served as the primary selection trial for the national team to compete in the 2009 World Baseball Classic. The first round of the WBC commenced Mexico City on 8 March 2009, a month after the final round.
Venues
The 2009 Claxton Shield will be competed between 5 teams from around Australia in 13 different venues.
Championship series
The 2009 Claxton Shield finals series will have the top three teams after regular fixtures qualify. The team who finishes first will auto-qualify for the final where they will meet the winner of the 2nd vs 3rd. Both semi-finals and finals are best of three series.
7 February 2009 at 7.00 pm, Baseball Park
Perth Heat def. New South Wales Patriots.
Conditions
Blacktown Baseball Stadium experienced quite warm December summer weather for New South Wales. Although the average maximum temperature is 25 °C (77 °F), most games were above this, with Game 8 of the showcase round between South Australia and Victoria Aces hitting 32 °C (90 °F) during the match.
On 7 December, the temperature dropped to a maximum of 22 °C with a strong breeze over Blacktown as well as clouds, however, no rain fell and the games finished as scheduled.
A large low-pressure system and long periods of rain forced the postponement of both games on 12 December in Altona, Victoria and Canberra. Games the next day were re-scheduled to allow for 7-inning double headers. Game 1 between Queensland Rams and Victoria Aces was relocated to Mildura, Victoria where Game 2 and 3 were also being played.
On 3 January, the New South Wales Patriots vs Queensland Rams second game at Baxter Field, Lismore was delayed during the 6th inning due to a small stint of heavy rain. Drizzle was present throughout the game, but was only delayed for approximately ten minutes.
Fielders Choice Player of the Series
This is awarded recognition of outstanding individual performances each round of the 2009 Claxton Shield by the Australian Baseball Federation.