Time is running out on the Whalley Chiefs.
The B.C. Premier Baseball League team lost two of three games last week at Whalley Stadium, falling to three games behind the eighth-place Abbotsford Cardinals in a battle for a top-eight finish an a playoff position.
After defeating the White Rock Tritons 6-1 Thursday night, the Chiefs were swept by the North Shore Twins Saturday afternoon, and have fallen to 17-28 (won-lost) on the season with just three games remaining.
The Chiefs pounded out a dozen hits in their win over the Tritons, with Jacob Robazza leading the way with a four-for-four effort at the plate that included a triple, four runs batted in (RBI) and a run scored. Cole Hunt and Max Williams each had a pair of hits, while Lichel Hirakawa-Kao scored three times.
Jordan Dray pitched a complete game for the win, with White Rock’s only run unearned. The 16 year-old had three strikeouts while allowing five hits and a pair of walks to earn his fist victory of the season in four decisions.
Against the second-place Twins, Whalley was one out away from a 3-1 victory, only to give up four runs in the top of the seventh inning in a 5-3 loss.
Emerson Dohm of the Twins did most of the damage, hitting a three-run triple the scoring one batter later on a single.
After North Shore went up 1-0 in the second inning, the Chiefs scored once each in the third, fifth and sixth frames to go up by two runs. Hirakawa-Kao was three-for-three with two RBIs.
North Shore got an early jump on the Chiefs in the second game and never let up, leading 3-1 after one inning and 5-1 after two on their way to an 11-1 victory. They added their 11th run in the fifth inning, bringing the game to an end on the 10-run mercy rule.
The Chiefs managed just five hits, one a double by Spencer Rankin, and had only six base runners in the game. North Shore did their damage on 10 hits and six walks.
Whalley will visit the Twins Thursday in North Vancouver, before closing out their regular season at home against the Parksville Royals next Sunday at 11 a.m. at Whalley Stadium.
