When they left for Vancouver Island, the Whalley Chiefs were riding an impressive win streak atop the B.C. Premier Baseball League (PBL).
Two days later, the Chiefs had lost three in a row and have slipped to third place in the elite 18-and-under league.
Whalley split their double header Saturday against the Victoria Eagles, extending their season-opening win streak to seven games with an 8-1 win in the first game, then falling 10-8 in the rematch.
Sunday against the Victoria Mariners, the Chiefs lost twice by scores of 7-2 and 3-1.
Whalley dominated the Eagles for their only win of the weekend, outhitting their hosts 11-3 while getting a complete game from starting pitcher Thomas Espig. The Eagles managed one unearned run against Espig, who walked just two batters and had five strikeouts.
Brendan Yip, Braeden Massignani and Stephen Horner each had a pair of hits to lead the offense.
The Chiefs had another nine hits in the second game, but three Whalley pitchers allowed 10 hits and five walks.
Massignani and Nolan Weger paced the offense with three hits each. Weger and Jordan Yamaguchi drove in two runs each.
The Mariners, one of two remaining unbeaten teams in the PBL, led 2-0 after three innings of the first game Sunday then put the game out of reach with a four-run sixth inning.
The Chiefs managed just five singles, while the Mariners had 10 hits including four doubles.
Alex Deluca pitched a strong game for the Chiefs in the final game of the weekend, allowing three unearned runs on four hits. But Whalley had just five hits and one run in offense, coming up two runs short.
Whalley finished the weekend at 7-3 (win-loss) and are two games back of the 8-0 Mariners. The Chiefs will play four road games against next weekend, visiting the 5-3 Langley Blaze Saturday and the 3-6 White Rock Tritons Sunday at the South Surrey Athletic Park.
