Baseball: Auckland Tuatara end Australian Baseball League season with first ever series win

Zach Clark starred for the Auckland Tuatara in their maiden ABL series win. Photo / Photosport

The Auckland Tuatara have ended their inaugural Australian Baseball League campaign in the best way possible - securing their first ever series win.

The Tuatara took three of four matches this weekend against the playoff-bound Melbourne Aces, splitting Saturday night's doubleheader.

"It was good to watch these guys just play hard baseball right to the end," manager Steve Mintz said. "Even though we were maybe playing spoiler or whatever everyone wanted to say, we just wanted to play good baseball and after we got the two wins (on Friday), we came in with it on our mind that we could get that series win."

After the Tuatara won back-to-back games on Friday night, it came down to the final game of the four-match slate before they could round out the series.

Melbourne got the better of the Auckland side in Saturday afternoon's matinee, claiming a 4-2 win, before the Tuatara finished strong with an 8-4 victory, closing out the series 3-1.

The win caps off what was a frantic season for the Auckland side, who had to play two of their home series' in Australia. The Tuatara finished with a 14-26 record.

"The culture that we've been trying to establish with the Tuatara is well on its way. We've got a lot of work to do and I think just with that culture and what we want people to know with the Tuatara is we're coming for a fight and we want you to be ready.

"Next year, we'll continue to build that culture with the players that we add and the Kiwi players who are here, they'll be able to help more next year knowing and getting that experience they've gotten this year.

"We're super excited about where we're heading."

Mintz said he expected he would be returning as manager next year, with Darren Bragg returning as part of the coaching staff.