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Perth Heat survived three straight weeks on the road to now be in a third successive ABL Championship Series against the Canberra Cavalry looking for a first Claxton Shield triumph since 2015 at Empire Ballpark.

While it was a tough finish to the regular season for the Heat with back-to-back road trips to Canberra and Sydney before then finishing in third place and having to go to Adelaide for the semi finals, things have fallen into place nicely for the Championship Series.

The Heat won three of four games against the Cavalry and then split the series against the regular season champion Blue Sox to end up in third position and set up another rematch with the Giants.

After losing the past two Championship Series in that ballpark in Adelaide, the Heat shook that off to win in two games last weekend with the added bonus then seeing the Cavalry upset the Blue Sox in the other semi-final match up.

That means that it’s the third and fourth ranked teams from the end of the regular season who will now play in the Championship Series this weekend at Empire Ballpark.

The Heat earned home field advantage as the No. 3 seed and now Game 1 will take place on Friday night before Saturday night’s Game 2 takes place with the first pitch also thrown at 7pm. If required, the deciding Game 3 will take place on Sunday evening as well.

The Heat are attempting to win a first ABL championship since 2015 but there’s been so many close calls since then including losing Championship Series to the Brisbane Bandits in 2019, the Melbourne Aces in 2021, and then the Giants in each of the past two seasons.

Since the modern era of the ABL began back in 2010/11, the Heat have won four championships and going back further, have won the Claxton Shield 15 times in total.

The Heat and Cavalry are also no strangers to taking on each other in Championship Series’ having met in back-to-back deciders back in 2013 and 2014.

The two teams split those results as well with the Cavalry prevailing back in 2013 with the 2-0 series victory with Aaron Sloan the MVP before the Heat got one back a year later as part of winning four championships in five years also winning 2-0 with Joey Wong the MVP.

The two teams did battle twice this regular season too with the first meeting at Empire Ballpark back in mid-December and it was the Cavalry who took three of those four games in Perth including finishing off with a 12-2 victory to wrap things up on the Sunday.

The return encounter in Canberra was the first of three straight road trips for the Heat and this time it was Perth taking three of the four games outscoring the Cavalry 21-2 in those three victory.

So both teams have won four of the eight games they have played so far this season while both are coming off outstanding road semi-final victories so the stage is set for a mouth watering Championship Series in what is sure to be a packed Empire Ballpark.

Having been so close so many times since that last championship since 2015, Heat manager Andy Kyle is hoping that this weekend is finally when they breakthrough but he’s fully aware of the significant challenge the Cavalry will present.

“They’re a quality team and have got some starting pitching with (Jack) Mahoney the leftie, he’s been one of the best pitchers all year to be honest stats wise and with innings pitched and everything across the board,” Kyle told 91.3 SportFM.

“He’s been an ace for them so the key thing will be having good bats against him and their starting pitching. They’ve also got a couple of good arms out of the pen and some of the best closers as well.

“They will rely on good pitching and they’ve got some good base runners who can do some different things at the plate.

“We know what’s in front of us and we know how they play, and they were really good early and then sneaked into the finals, and then were outstanding against Sydney. It’s going to be a great series as a match up.”

It would mean the world for Kyle to help this Heat group win a championship and for him to become a title winning manager on the back of the success he was part of as a player, but he’s not ready to think that far ahead yet after the pain of losing four Championship Series so far in charge.

“Obviously that’s the goal to end up winning, but before that there’s a lot in front of us that I’ve got to think about first and that’s something I’ll reflect on afterwards if we’re fortunate enough to get through this weekend and win,” Kyle said.

“These players mean the world to me and I’ve been through a lot with the core group, and I’m just trying to do everything I can to help support them and hopefully get that championship back to Perth.”

ABL SEASON 2024/25 – CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES (January 31-February 2)

PERTH HEAT v CANBERRA CAVALRY – at EMPIRE BALLPARK

GAME 1 – Friday 7:00pm WST

GAME 2 – Saturday 7:00pm WST

GAME 3 (IF REQUIRED) – Sunday 6:00pm WST

Live stream available by clicking here