The Nanaimo Pirates broke out of their slump with a three-win weekend.
The Hub City Paving Pirates had their best results of the year so far in B.C. Premier Baseball League play, splitting a doubleheader against the North Shore Twins on Saturday at Serauxmen Stadium and then sweeping the White Rock Tritons on Sunday in South Surrey. Nanaimo topped North Shore 2-1 and then lost 10-4, and defeated the Tritons by scores of 3-1 and 4-2.
“That’s a huge thing, is the confidence level, in any sport, and it’s huge in baseball, the belief that you can win,” said Doug Rogers, Pirates manager.
In Saturday’s upset over the defending champs, the Pirates scored two runs in the first inning and made the lead stand up.
“We hit pretty good in the first inning, our defence was really tight; overall it was just a good game,” said Alex Jinda, who threw a complete-game win.
He was hitting his spots with his pitches and his curveball had good movement and location. He was fired up, he said, especially with the defence his team played behind him.
“They were just making the routine plays, and then there was a couple really great plays out there that got the team up even more,” he said.
Garrett Goodall led the offence with two hits.
In the rematch, Sam Baker hit a two-RBI double and Finn Martin hit a two-RBI single.
On Sunday, Ryan Stich earned a complete-game win to start the day. Goodall had two hits and two RBIs and Chris Vlaj also had two hits.
The second game saw the Pirates amass 10 hits. Vlaj and Wyatt Strachan had two hits each and Noah Banman had two RBIs. Baker was the winning pitcher, throwing a complete game and allowing one earned run while striking out eight.
GAME ON … The Pirates host a doubleheader against the Langley Blaze this Saturday (May 14) at Serauxmen Stadium. Game times are noon and 2:30 p.m.
sports@nanaimobulletin.com
