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Summer Collegiate

NorthPaws ‘pickled’ in home opener against Portland

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Author: Larry Read

KAMLOOPS BC—The Kamloops NorthPaws are still in search of their first victory of the young West Coast League season.

The NorthPaws hosted the Portland Pickles at Dearborn Ford Field at Norbrock Stadium in a three-game series Tuesday through Thursday (June 6-8).   Over 500 fans a night were treated to some entertaining baseball but went home a little disappointed as the Pickles swept Kamloops.

The scores were 11-4 Tuesday (June 6), 6-4 Wednesday and Thursday (June 7,8). 

The results leave Portland with a 5-1 record while the NorthPaws dip to 0-6.

The NorthPaws will continue their homestand with the first ever appearance of the six time defending West Coast League champions, the Corvallis Knights to Kamloops.   The Pickles will head down Highway 97 for a three-game set in Kelowna against the Falcons.  Crovallis has a record of 5-1 after downing Yakima Valley 8-1. Wednesday night.

Portland and Kamloops will tangle once more this season when the NorthPaws visit the Pickles for three games beginning June 27th.

All West Coast League games are available via their website: https://wcleague.watch.pixellot.tv/

SERIES RECAP:

Tuesday, June 6, 2023-Portland Pickles 11 Kamloops NorthPaws 4

Portland broke open a 1-1 tie scoring four runs in the third inning before adding two more in the fifth and three runs in the sixth. Kamloops scored twice in the bottom of the seventh to reduce the deficit to 10-3.  New Zealander Maclain Roberts was tagged with the loss as he started the game and went three innings giving up four hits, four runs, had one walk and one strikeout.   

Left fielder Andrew Stucky (Tuscon, AZ) and Right fielder Felix Chenier-Rondeau (Blainvile, QC) each had runs batted in.

The Pickles were led by Jackson Waller (San Marcos, CA) who was two for two and three runs batted in. Two of the runs coming in on a single in the sixth.   Jack Metcho (Fairfield, CA) was one for two with three runs scored.  Starter Aiden Garza (Ventura, CA) was the winning pitcher tossing a no hitter for three innings, giving up two runs, striking out two and walking three.

Portland moved to 3-1 on the year.  The NorthPaws dropped their fourth in a row.

Link to Scoresheet:  http://baseball.pointstreak.com/boxscore.html?gameid=598675

Wednesday, June 7, 2023-Portland Pickles 4 Kamloops NorthPaws 4

All the scoring in this game occurred in the first three innings.  Portland rallied from a 2-0 first inning deficit to tally three in both the second and third. 

The NorthPaws were led offensively by first baseman Nolan Austin (Kamloops, BC).  He was two for four at the dish with two runs batted in.  Designated hitter Landon Clark was one for four with an R.B.I.. 

Matthew Romero started for Kamloops and was tagged with the loss going two and a third innings, giving up nine hits, six earned runs, with two walks and a strikeout.

Murphy Gienger (Castle Rock, CO), who came into the game after an inning and two thirds was the winner. He threw a three hitter with eight strikeouts.  Morris Austin (Keller, TX) earned the save as he came on in the ninth inning and struck out the side.

Offensively, the Pickles had three R.B.I. from left fielder Xiage Lancaster (Hilo, HI).  He was two for three with two runs scored.  Jack Metcho was three for five with two runs scored and two runs batted in.  Right fielder Nicky Markantanatos (Portland, OE) was three for five.

Link to Scoresheet: http://baseball.pointstreak.com/boxscore.html?gameid=601034

Thursday, June 8, 2023-Portland Pickles 6 Kamloops North Paws 4

The NorthPaws jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning on the basis of a home run by Jude Hall (Chilliwack, BC).  It was Kamloops’ first home run of the season.  

The home team held a 4-1 lead until the sixth inning when the Pickles scored twice and then added three more in the seventh inning.  They wound up with six runs on six hits and one error. Kamloops had four runs on seven hits and one error.

Kamloops was threatening in the bottom of the ninth.  They had the bases loaded with two outs, but Felix Chenier-Rondeau (Blainville, QC) hit a long flyball which was caught in left field.

Sakemi Sato (La Quinta, CA) was the winning pitcher as he threw two innings of one hit ball with four strikeouts.  Portland was led offensively by Jack Metcho.  He was two for five with three runs batted in.  Nicky Markantanatos was two for five with an RBI.

Joey Adge (Parker, CO) was three for four for Kamloops with an RBI.   Hall was two for four with three runs batted in.

Christian Spitz (Overland Park, KS) was the losing pitcher.  He went three and a third giving up four runs (3 earned), striking out three and walking three.  Kamloops resident Tyrelle Chadwick had his second start of the year for the NorthPaws. He pitched three innings giving up two hits, four walks and one earned run.

Link to Scoresheet: http://baseball.pointstreak.com/boxscore.html?gameid=598677

HEAD COACH KEITH FRANCIS:

“It is always the little things in baseball that come back to haunt you. We run the bases improperly. We don’t get the right hit at the right time. Can’t throw the strike when we need it the most. Those things add up. I am telling them we need to win inning by inning.  This has been the underlying theme all season. There is just one inning where an error was started and the pitcher can’t come back from it.  We aren’t hitting. We haven’t scored more than four runs in any game. That is tough. “

FIRST BASEMAN NOLAN AUSTIN (KAMLOOPS, BC):

“It is not the start we wanted to have. We were in the game again tonight.  Just small little errors are keeping us from getting over that hump.  Once we can get the first one we will start to figure it out we are going to start to cruise and get some more dubs.”

NEXT UP:

The NorthPaws will conclude their six game homestand with the Corvallis Knights.  The Knights and NorthPaws will play a three-game series starting tomorrow (Friday June 7th).  It is the first time that the two teams will have ever met in West Coast League play. As mentioned earlier in this release, the Knights have won the league title the last six years in a row.   In 2022, they beat the Bellingham Bells in the final.

PLAYERS TO WATCH ON THE CORVALLIS KNIGHTS:

#5, Tyler Quinn, Inf./C, Pacific University, Oregon. He was the Knights MVP in 2022

# 7, Luke Thiele, Inf., Central Arizona College, he’s going to Purdue in the fall.

# 16, Blake Avila, Central Arizona, he’s going to Grand Canyon in the fall.

#17 Sean Wiese, LHP, Hawaii. A four-year Knight, he was the Knights top pitcher in 2022 as our closer.

# 20 Sam Stem, OF, Gonzaga. He hit over .300 for the Zags this spring as a freshman.

# 37, Neil Feist, RHP, Cal State-Northridge. A returnee and a key player from the 2022 champions.

If you can’t make the NorthPaws games, they are all webcast on  https://wcleague.watch.pixellot.tv/ .   Some home games will also be shown on Shaw TV in Kamloops (Cable 10 or 105 with Blue Curve).

TAILGATE PARTY:

The Molson’s Tailgate Party is hoppin’ before every NorthPaws home game.   It runs Tuesday through Saturday 5-630 PM.  The Party runs Sundays noon-1 PM.  Hotdogs and a Pilsner are sold for $ 12.00 plus tax.

For Everything NorthPaws – Go to the website : https://www.northpawsbaseball.ca/ 

Kamloops NorthPaws tickets: ticketing@northpawsbaseball.ca

West Coast League: westcoastleague.com.

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Summer Collegiate

NorthPaws take two of three from Kelowna with another one run victory

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The Kamloops NorthPaws held on to win game tree by a score of 3-2, winning the series against the Kelowna Falcons at Norbrock Stadium on Thursday night. Righty Sawyer Jensen went five strong innings, giving up just two earned runs. The NorthPaws had a scrappy sixth inning, taking the lead while the bullpen locked it down, giving up just two hits in the final four innings.

The Falcons were pressing early in the bottom of the second as they mounted a two-out rally. Jensen hit two batters and walked a third to load the bases. Jensen struck out Devin Porch to end the inning, keeping the game scoreless.

“I told him when he was warming up to not worry about how good your stuff is and just compete. He did that tonight,” said Pitching Coach Jack Slominski.

After the Falcons left the bases loaded, the NorthPaws went to work in the bottom of the second. Catcher Matthew MacDonald walked to lead off the inning. A throwing error by the Kelowna pitcher on a pickoff attempt allowed MacDonald to reach second base. Center fielder Connor Clark singled, putting runners on the corners. Clark tried to steal second while MacDonald anticipated the catcher’s throw to second and broke for home. He would score, putting the NorthPaws up 1-0.

In the fifth, Jensen ran into some trouble on the mound. A single walk past the ball put runners on first and second. The Falcons would get a line drive to stay fair down the right field line, scoring a pair of runners and taking a 2-1 lead. Jensen would eventually get out of the inning and finish with five innings pitched, giving up two earned on four hits with three strikeouts.

With the bottom of the order coming back up to the plate in the sixth, MacDonald led off with his second walk of the game and would later steal second. A balk advanced the catcher to third base while first baseman Keegan Drinkle got hit by a pitch, putting runners on the corners. MacDonald scored the tying run on a past ball from Kelowna’s pitcher.

In a full count, third baseman Elijah Clayton got a hold of a ball and drilled it to left center field. The Falcons left fielder appeared to make the catch, but the ball went off his glove and hit him in the face. As he went down in left center, Drinkle hustled around the bases and scored the go-ahead and eventual winning run.

Lefty Tyler Starily was the first call out of the bullpen for Kamloops and went two scoreless innings, giving up just two hits while striking out two as well. In the top of the seventh, a single and two walks loaded the bases, but Clayton made an incredible play to record the force-out at second base, getting his team out of the inning.

Righty Julio Garcia came on in the eighth and would record a six-out save, dominating the Falcons, striking out three hitters, throwing 17 strikes and just four balls to record his third save of the season.

“He’s a great pitcher,” said Slominski. “We have confidence in him, knowing that when we give him the ball in the eighth or ninth, it’s likely over.”

The NorthPaws have won their fourth consecutive series on home soil, but it won’t be any easier as they play six in a row at Norbrock against the Bellingham Bells and the Wenatchee Applesox.

“It’s going to be tougher now; I want these guys to get used to winning games and expect to win and put out an effort where they can win games,” said Head Coach Riley Jepson.

The series against the Bells kicks off Friday night at 6:35 from NorBrock Stadium.

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Less that 24 hours after a 16 run outburst Northpaws register just two hits in loss to Falcons

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The Kamloops NorthPaws dropped the second game of the home-and-home series to the Kelowna Falcons 6-1 at Elks Stadium on Wednesday night. The NorthPaws got on the board first, but Falcons righty Gio De Graauw retired the next 26 Kamloops hitters, throwing a complete game. It’s the second complete game of the West Coast League season, both of which were thrown by Kelowna.

The NorthPaws got off to a quick start in the first as left fielder Elijah Clayton tripled to the gap in left-center. Designated hitter Drew Schmidt was up next and sent an RBI single to left field. Schmidt took his lead at first base but got erased off the base path after getting picked off. No one realized it in the moment, but that was the last time in the game Kamloops would have a runner on base.

Righty JM Harduvel got the start on the mound for Kamloops and had his longest outing of the season, going two and two-thirds, giving up three earned on two hits. Harduvel got into some trouble in the third as the Falcons loaded the bases with just one out. A sacrifice fly tied the game at one as UC Berkley pitcher was pulled from the game.

Righty Jayson Tamayo came on in relief to try and end the inning with two outs. Tamayo was about to throw his second pitch when he was called for a balk, allowing the Falcons to take the lead. A few pitches later, a single would make it 3-1 for Kelowna.

In the bottom of the fourth, a pair of walks and a stolen base put runners on second and third with two outs. Tamayo would then get called for his second balk of the game, making it 4-1. The Falcons added two more in the bottom of the seventh on two hits and two errors in the field by the NorthPaws.

At this point, all the attention was on De Graauw as the Dutchman continued to cruise through innings. After efficient innings in the seventh and eighth, throwing just 21 pitches, Falcons Head Couch Doug Noce decided to keep his starter in the game with a chance to finish the game.

De Graauw needed 15 pitches and recorded two more strikeouts to secure the complete game on 101 pitches. The righty had seven strikeouts and didn’t walk a batter, retiring 26 straight hitters. In Collegiate Summer Baseball, it’s rare for a guy to pitch seven innings, let alone a complete game. For a team to have two complete games through the first twenty contests is downright absurd. Back on June 14th, Joel Hogan threw a complete game in a 2-1 victory over the Nanaimo Night Owls.

The good news for the NorthPaws is that they won’t have much time to dwell on the loss as the two teams finish the series on Thursday night at Norbrock Stadium. The first pitch is set for 6:35.

 

 

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Nanaimo NightOwls Take Both Games Against The Redmond Dudes

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NANAIMO, B.C. — Nanaimo NightOwls defeated the Redmond Dudes 5-1 on Wednesday night in the second game of their exhibition series. Nanaimo sweeps the mini series, scoring 17 runs and only giving up 1 in the two games.

The Redmond Dudes jump out to an early 1-0 lead in the first inning, and it looked like it was going to be a pitchers’ duel. The score stayed 1-0 until the NightOwls were able to tie it up with one run in the sixth inning when Caden Petrey singled in Talan Zenk. Extra innings were on the horizon before a big bottom of the eighth. Nanaimo scored four runs to take the lead and the fans at Serauxmen Stadium all went home happy.

https://baseball.pointstreak.com/boxscore.html?gameid=629559

Starting pitcher Nathan Ames was very good on the day, giving up just one run on five hits in his four innings. Dawson Shultz threw one scoreless inning with a strikeout. With this being an exhibition game, the Nanaimo NightOwls had a pair of local Victoria Golden Tide players join the team. Peter Cunningham pitched two scoreless innings before Nate Major got in and showed off.

He ended up getting the win for the Nanaimo NightOwls, pitching two scoreless innings and not giving up a hit. He walked just one and struck out two, and you could argue he deserved the save after Nanaimo went up in the eighth inning.

At the plate for the Nanaimo NightOwls Talan Zenk had a fantastic night. The second baseman who attends Everett Community College went two for three with a double, a single, two RBI, two runs, and a walk. Drew Giannini also had a multi-hit game for the Nanaimo NightOwls. He went two for three with a double, an RBI, and a run.

As mentioned earlier, Caden Petrey got the first RBI of the game and went one for three with a strikeout. The other NightOwls run came from pinch hitter Tyler Arnold, who replaced Petrey as designated hitter for the 8th-inning rally.

It was a nice series for the Nanaimo NightOwls with two strong wins over the Redmond Dudes. The pitching was strong and the bats came alive. Now a well deserved day off for the players. I also noticed some of the fans going home with roses so we hope you enjoyed Valentines in June. Friday is “Stand Up Against Cancer” Night at the ballpark and this is something that effects so many peoples lives.

The regular season gets back in action with a weekend series starting this Friday against the Edmonton RiverHawks. Friday and Saturday June, 27th and 28th are 6:35 pm first pitches while we go Nanaimo Bars Family Fun Sunday at 1:00 pm on the 29th. Make sure to follow us on all social media platforms and tag us in your photos and videos from the game using the hashtag #IlluminateTheDark.

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