The current version of the Australian Baseball League (ABL) is down to four teams — the Adelaide Giants, the Brisbane Bandits, the Perth Heat and the Sydney Blue Sox — competing from November to February.
The original Australian Baseball League ran from 1989 through 1999. The current ABL was formed in 2010 as a partnership between Major League Baseball (three-quarter ownership) and the Australian Baseball Federation (one-quarter ownership). At its peak, the ABL featured eight teams.
There has been only one no-hitter in the history of the new ABL, and it was thrown during the opening game of the best-of-three preliminary playoff series in 2011 by Sydney native David Welch:
| 1 | David Welch |
|---|---|
| Sydney Blue Sox | |
| Friday, February 4, 2011 Sydney Blue Sox 8, Adelaide Bite 0 (9 innings) Blacktown Olympic Park (Sydney) Game 1 of a best-of-three playoff series |
The original Australian Baseball League began play in 1989-1990, with the first game between the Perth Heat and Adelaide Giants played on October 27, 1989 at Perth’s Parry Field. Teams played 42-game seasons until 1991-’92, when the season was extended to 48 games. The schedule was again expanded in 1991-’92 to 56 games. The league folded after the 1998-’99 season.
Here are the seven no-hitters thrown in the original ABL:
| 1 | Chip Duncan Michael Hennessy |
|---|---|
| Parramatta Patriots | |
| Thursday, November 29, 1990 Parramatta Patriots vs. Brisbane Bandits (7 innings) North Ipswich Reserve (Ipswitch) |
|
| 2 | Jody Treadwell |
| Adelaide Giants | |
| Thursday, November 21, 1991 Adelaide Giants 4, Sydney Wave 0 (7 innings) Norwood Oval (Adelaide) Treadwell strikes out 14 and walks 2. |
|
| 3 | Kevin Gallaher |
| Melbourne Bushrangers | |
| Friday, January 8, 1993 (Game 1 of doubleheader) Sydney Blues 1, Melbourne Bushrangers 0 (6½ innings) Parramatta Stadium (Sydney) Sydney scores a run on a bases-loaded wild pitch in the bottom of the sixth, then retires Melbourne in the top of the seventh for the 1-0 win. | |
| 4 | John Boothby |
| Brisbane Bandits | |
| Saturday, January 22, 1994 (First game of doubleheader) Brisbane Bandits 6, Adelaide Giants 0 (7 innings) Norwood Oval (Adelaide) | |
| 5 | Gary Nilsson Kelly Wunsch Cameron Cairncross |
| Brisbane Bandits | |
| Monday, January 2, 1995 Brisbane Bandits 1, Canberra Bushrangers 0 (7 innings) RNA Showgrounds (Brisbane) |
|
| 6 | Allen McDill |
| Melbourne Monarchs | |
| Friday, February 10, 1995 (First game of doubleheader) Melbourne Monarchs 3, Gold Coast Cougars 0 (7 innings) Melbourne Ballpark (Melbourne) |
|
| 7 | Matt Herges John Challinor |
| Adelaide Giants | |
| Saturday, November 7, 1998 (First game of doubleheader) Adelaide Giants 3, Gold Coast Cougars 1 (13 innings) Carrara Stadium (Queensland) 9 innings of no-hit ball. |
Title photo: Night at the ballpark by Simon_sees licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped and shaded.