The season began with a pitching gem for the Langley Blaze as Jake Polancic tossed a complete game one-hitter to defeat the White Rock Tritons 7-0.
The Blaze completed the doubleheader sweep at South Surrey Athletic Park with a 9-8 victory in game two as the tying run was gunned down at home plate.
Langley completed the opening weekend of their B.C. Premier Baseball League by splitting a doubleheader on Sunday at McLeod Park, edging the Nanaimo Pirates 9-8 before losing game two 7-3.
In the opener, Polancic struck out seven and walked three batters while the offence was keyed by Kurt Meeberg who had a double and three RBIs while Brendan Holstrom also had a double, which drove in a run.
Tony Pharand, who scored three runs in the opener, scored twice more while driving in three in game two while Connor Chorpita delivered three hits, including a triple, and one RBI.
The Blaze finished with six extra-base hits in the game — a pair of triples and four doubles.
Markus Gregson earned the win, scattering five runs over four innings.
Against the Pirates, the Blaze needed some late-inning heroics in the opener as they surrendered three runs in the fifth to fall behind 8-7. But in the bottom of the sixth, Langley struck for a pair of runs for the one-run win.
Langley won despite committing five errors which led to six unearned runs.
Kristjan Storrie and Dayton Wilson each had two-run doubles while Hayden Jaco also drove in a pair of runs.
Pharand scored three more runs and after stealing five bases in the opener, swiped another pair of bases.
Aiden Mordecai earned the win, with 2.1 innings of scoreless relief.
The second game saw both teams score twice in the first inning but Nanaimo pulled ahead for good with three runs in the third for the 7-3 win.
Despite the loss, Pharand continued his solid play with another four hits and one run scored. The Blaze lead-off hitter finished opening weekend with a .692 batting average (9-for-13), seven runs scored, nine stolen bases and three RBIs.
Langley out-hit Nanaimo 13-11 in the game, but left 10 runners stranded on base.
Brendan Coulter was tagged with the loss.
Langley has a pair of doubleheaders scheduled for the weekend, Saturday at McLeod Park against the Abbotsford Cardinals and Sunday at Mundy Park against the Coquitlam Reds.
