The Kelowna Falcons got over the .500 mark for the first time since opening night as they picked up their fourth win in a row in a 6-2 West Coast League victory over the Port Angeles Lefties on Tuesday night at Elks Stadium.
Birthday boy Taylor Wright had a big night, collecting three RBIs including a two-run double, while Stone Churby threw 6.1 of one-run ball for the Falcons (10-9) in the first of a three-game series against the Lefties.
Port Angeles opened the scoring in the game in the 3rd inning off a passed ball but the lead did not last for very long as the Falcons were quick to tie the score in the bottom half of the frame as Wright launched a fly ball to the center field and scored Lucas Soper from third base to tie the game at 1-1.
The Falcons broke the game open with a big inning in the 5th as they sent eight batters to the plate in the frame, starting with a run scoring on a Drew Williams single that was misplayed in the outfield and gave the Falcons a 2-1 lead before Wright stood in and delivered a two-run double to extend the lead to 4-1. Austen Butler capped off the scoring in the inning with a run scoring double to put Kelowna ahead by a 5-1 score.
After that third inning run allowed, Churby was dominate and keep the Lefties off the board with some solid innings of pitching and had lively movement on his slider and exiting the game in the 6th with runners on the corners after a quality outing.
The Lefties were able to score a run in the 6th to cut the lead to three before the Falcons countered in the bottom half on an error to get the lead back to 6-2. Zane Lindeman came on in relief from there and pitching two scoreless innings to close out the Falcons fourth win in a row.
Churby earned his second victory of the season with his very good outing while Tyler Oldenberg took the loss for the Lefties in the series opener. The Falcons (10-9) host the Lefties (10-12) for the second game of the series on Wednesday night before the annual Firefighters Night on Thursday with fireworks on display after the game with 6:35 p.m. start times for each game.
Tickets are available on the Falcons website and at the door ahead of the first pitch.