 = 2010 Claxton Shield = 
 
 The 2010 Claxton Shield was the 57th Claxton Shield tournament , the premier baseball competition in Australia , and was held from 6 November 2009 to 7 February 2010 . It was hailed as the precursor to the new Australian Baseball League that will start in the place of the Claxton Shield in late 2010 to early 2011 . The Victoria Aces defeated South Australia two games to nil in the championship series to win the tournament ; this was the 22nd time the Claxton Shield had been awarded to a Victorian team . The competition was sponsored by Domino 's Pizza . 
 At the conclusion of the regular season , the Victoria Aces finished in first place with a 17 – 7 record , earning home @-@ field advantage for the three @-@ game championship series . South Australia hosted the three @-@ game semi @-@ final series against the New South Wales Patriots . Both teams finished with a 14 – 10 record . The Perth Heat ( 12 – 12 ) and Queensland Rams ( 3 – 21 ) both failed to qualify for the finals . 
 
 = = Overview = = 
 
 In June 2009 , it was announced that the rights to the Claxton Shield had been sold to a new Australian Baseball League ( ABL ) , with ownership split between Major League Baseball 's 75 percent share and the 25 percent share owned by the Australian Baseball Federation . The 2010 tournament was considered preparation for the inaugural ABL season starting in 2010 – 11 . It varied from the 2009 Claxton Shield by expanding the season to include ten rounds . Since an uneven number ( five ) teams were involved , four teams paired off for each round and played a three @-@ game series , while the remaining team took a bye . During the season , each team had two bye rounds and played two rounds against each other team , one at home and one away . In total , the schedule allowed for 24 regular @-@ season games per team before a postseason similar to the 2009 edition : the first @-@ place team directly qualified for the championship series and played against the winner of a playoff series between the second- and third @-@ place teams . 
 During the regular season , games were played on a Friday night and a doubleheader on Saturday ; in each doubleheader one of the two games was shortened to seven innings . The exception to this was when Perth played their home games ; they played on a Thursday night instead of a doubleheader on Saturday . Each postseason series was scheduled for a Friday , Saturday and Sunday . 
 
 = = Teams = = 
 
 
 = = = Rosters = = = 
 
 The 2010 series allowed each team to make use of a 19 @-@ man active roster . Exceptions were made in two cases that allowed teams ' active rosters to expand to 21 players , both times for the same reason . Two games during the season had to be postponed because of poor weather . Both games involved teams meeting for the first time during the season ; make @-@ up games were scheduled at the start of the return series between the teams , and this resulted in two four @-@ game series . In both cases , the teams had a 19 @-@ man roster for the make @-@ up game , and an expanded 21 @-@ man roster for the originally scheduled series . 
 
 = = = Venues = = = 
 
 The 2010 Claxton Shield was contested between five teams from around Australia . In previous years , many of the teams had played their home games at multiple venues . This season each team held their home games at only one venue . There was one scheduled exception to this at the start of the season : the New South Wales Patriots ' final home series against the Perth Heat was held at Gilchrist Oval , whereas all of their other home games were held at Blacktown Baseball Stadium . 
 As a result of poor attendance at Geelong Baseball Park , game one of the fifth @-@ round series between New South Wales and the Victoria Aces was moved to La Trobe University , Melbourne . Although the Geelong games had attracted crowds of no more than 500 , the moved game had an attendance of 2 @,@ 200 . Though no further regular season games were moved , the finals series hosted by the Aces was held at La Trobe University as well . 
 The venues are as follows : 
 
 = = Regular season = = 
 
 † — A game postponed from Round 7 , held in Round 8 , was played with Victoria Aces as the away team and Queensland Rams as the home team , despite being played at Geelong Baseball Park , Geelong , Victoria . 
 ‡ — A game postponed from Round 3 , held in Round 9 , was played with South Australia as the away team and Victoria Aces as the home team , despite being played at Norwood Oval , Adelaide , South Australia . 
 The Queensland Rams were the first team to be eliminated from contention for the finals , after being swept four games to nil by the Victoria Aces in round 8 . The following round saw South Australia clinch a position in the finals , despite finishing the round in second position . It was not until the final round that the last two spots in the finals were decided : the Aces clinched top spot by sweeping the Perth Heat , which combined with the New South Wales Patriots sweep of the Rams eliminated Perth from contention and secured the last finals spot for the Patriots . 
 
 = = = Statistical leaders = = = 
 
 
 = = Finals series = = 
 
 The 2010 Claxton Shield made use of the same finals structure as had been used in the 2009 season . The top three teams at the conclusion of the ten rounds of regular @-@ season games qualified . The second- and third @-@ place teams faced in each other in a best @-@ of @-@ three series hosted by the second @-@ place team . The winner of that series then faced the first @-@ place team for a best @-@ of @-@ three series . South Australia hosted the New South Wales Patriots at Norwood Oval , Adelaide , while the Victoria Aces hosted the championship series at La Trobe University , Melbourne . In the finals , the home team and away team alternated during each of the series . As a result , South Australia was officially the away team for game two of its series against New South Wales , as was Victoria in the championship series . 
 After defeating the Patriots two games to one in the semi @-@ final series , South Australia progressed to the championship series against the Aces . There they were defeated two games to nil . After game two of the championship series , Victoria 's Matthew Blackmore was named both Claxton Shield Final Series MVP and Pitcher of the Year . 
 
 = = = Semi @-@ final series = = = 
 
 
 = = = Championship series = = = 
 
 
 = = Awards = = 
 
 At the conclusion of the finals series , the winner of two awards were announced . Matthew Blackmore won both the Pitcher of the Year award and the Finals Series MVP award . At the Baseball Australia Diamond Awards , held on 6 March at the Hotel Grand Chancellor , Adelaide , Wayne Lundgren was announced as the 35th winner of the Helms Award ; the Claxton Shield 's Most Valuable Player award . Lundgren was the first pitcher to win since 1986 . Runners @-@ up by two votes were Paul Mildren and Michael Collins . 
 
 