Following 27 rounds of play only four teams remain as the Division One 2016/17 playoffs kick-off tonight.
After trailing Moorabbin in third place for the better part of the second half of the season, Blackburn cemented a spot in the playoffs with a five-game winning streak to finish the season. Standing in their way of a spot in the Championship are divisional opponents and Eastern Conference leaders Melbourne. Throughout the season the sides met on four occasions, with Melbourne claiming wins in three of the four games. Despite this, Blackburn had seven players named to the 2017 Division 1 All-Star game in comparison to Melbourne’s three.
Daniel Mack leads the list of dangerous hitters in the Blackburn line-up, finishing the season with 33 hits and 11 runs batted in (RBIs) while also posting a 0.371 batting average. On the mound Nathan Harris will be a key figure for Blackburn after posting a 7-3 record and a 2.96 ERA on the season.
However, Blackburn’s pitching staff won’t have an easy series against Melbourne, they will most notably have to find a way to shut down the bat of Nathan Aron. Aron finished the season with 38 hits, 25 RBIs and two home runs. He also hit for a batting average of 0.418 and a 0.475 OBA.
Over in the Western Conference newcomers Fitzroy will have to go through reigning champs Essendon who look to take home the Championship for a sixth season in a row.
Similar to Blackburn, Fitzroy made a late run to secure a position in the playoffs. With Josh Tols (0.20 ERA) absent for WBC duties with Team Australia, Fitzroy’s pitching staff will have to rise to the occasion to stop the defending champs. Tom Dicker has been the standout with the bat for the Lions, finishing with a 0.421 batting average and a 0.513 OBA.
While Essendon’s star studded line-up have seven hitters hitting above 0.300 including Tim Sullivan, Josh Davies, Liam Bedford and Sam Moon. On the mound Gareth Formisano maintains a 6-4 record for Essendon with a 2.04 ERA and will be well supported by a bullpen that runs deep.
