Morning Star Staff
Win one, lose one. It’s been the norm for the Vernon Canadians early in the B.C. Midget AAA Baseball League.
The C’s split a pair with the South Fraser Giants of Surrey Saturday and then did likewise on Mother’s Day with the Cloverdale Spurs, at Marshall Field.
“As a team, I guess we are happy playing .500 baseball,” said Vernon head coach Ken Liefke. “Every doubleheader we come out and win the first game and then become complacent and give the next game to the other team. We are 7-5 on the season and it should be much better. We have only lost one game where I felt we have been outplayed.”
Liefke is high on Caden Doyle’s offence of late. Doyle has driven in 10 runs and swiped 20 bases.
“Doyle has been on a tear at the plate,” said Liefke. “He has hit three triples in the last four games and has boosted his average up to .425.”
Vernon grounded South Fraser 9-4 with Ty Wellman going the full seven and striking out seven. He is 3-1.
Doyle was 2-for-3 with single, triple, one ribbie and one stolen base, while Dylan Eckland was 2-for-3 with a single, double and two RBI.
The Dodgers rebounded for a 6-4 win in Game 2 with Landon Currie suffering the loss.
Doyle knocked in two runs with a double and triple and one swiped base.
Jake O’Quinn went 2-for-3 with two singles and two stolen bases, while Ethan Huizinga doubled and had one swiped sack. South Fraser is 7-11.
The Canadians clipped Cloverdale 7-4 Sunday morning with Cory Anderson (3-0) going the distance, fanning three. Currie, Doyle and Eckland each supplied two hits and two stolen bases.
The 6-7 Spurs then outlasted the C’s 11-6 with Jarod Leroux suffering the loss, allowing six earned runs over three winnings.
Doyle went 3-for-4 with a triple and double, adding two stolen bases and one RBI. Currie was 2-for-3 and was hit by a pitch, while Ethan Huizinga doubled and singled with one RBI.
Noah Allyene had two singles and one swiped bag.
The fourth-place Canadians resume their 16-game homestand Saturday against the 0-16 Chilliwack Cougars (1 and 3 p.m. at Marshall) and face the 11-5 Aldergrove Dodgers for a Sunday twinbill (11 a.m. & 1:30 p.m.).
The Vernon Bantam AA Canadians split a Sunday doubleheader with the Penticton Tigers.
After spotting Penticton an 8-3 lead, the C’s came back to win the opener 10-9. Matthew Hansen took the mound in the second inning and, despite a number of errors, kept his composure through four innings, allowing four runs and issuing three strikeouts.
Colby Geiger, Liam Alstad, Ben Fortems, and Hayden Lewis all hit singles as Vernon chipped away at Penticton’s lead. Nakoda Parker smacked a huge double in the sixth inning to cash in Ryan Vandesande (who was 2-for-4 with two runs in the lead-off position), Ryan Gamage, and Hansen. Sapion Joe pitched two shutout innings as closer.
In Game 2, the C’s started with Gamage pitching five stellar innings and striking out five in a 7-6 loss.
Gamage also provided two singles and a triple with three RBI and got decent defensive support with Dalton Stenberg, Nolan Stein, Alstad and Hansen coming up with some key plays.
The Kal Tire Smoke stopped Hi Pro Sportswear Stingers 12-7 in the Mosquito season opener Monday night at Lakeview Park.
Stinger slugger Auston Seibel led off the second with an inside-the-park home run to centre field. The Stingers led 4-2 in the third when Erik Pastro hit a triple to centre, scoring Corben Marcotte.
Austan Van den Brand smacked an infield single to score Pastro to tie the game. Owen Turnbull then sat down the next three Smoke batters to end the inning.
Brennan Braddick pitched for the Smoke in the third and faced four batters, allowing one hit and striking out three. The Smoke scored four in the top of the fourth and Braddick struck out the three batters he faced to end the inning. Seibel then fanned three in the final inning, while Kyle Wheeler doubled off Kal Tire’s Horatio Andow, who then struck out the next three Stingers to finish the inning.
