Shamrocks slip in third
The Armstrong Shamrocks battled hard for 40 minutes but suffered another third-period letdown in an 11-9 loss to the Kelowna Raiders in Thompson Okanagan Junior Lacrosse League play Thursday night at Nor-Val Sports Centre.
Kelowna opened the scoring on the powerplay, but the Shamrocks replied with four straight goals. Brett Hawrys and Nathan Marcetta, both on hard outside shots, Willy Hanley, on the powerplay, and Daniel Peterson, splitting the defence on a tremendous solo effort, helped give Armstrong a 4-3 lead after 20 minutes.
Kelowna, who had eight powerplay goals on the night, rattled off three unanswered goals before Owen Barker pulled the Rocks within a goal.
The Raiders restored their two-goal lead, but after an Armstrong timeout, Cullen Rowen ripped a low shot on a well-executed play to tie the game 7-7 after two periods.
Penalty troubles killed the Shamrocks in the third as the Raiders capitalized several times with the man advantage to go ahead by three goals. Armstrong scored twice in a comeback attempt, but could not overcome the difference.
Panthers caught in a Storm
The Kal Tire Storm stopped the Anchor Inn Panthers 15-11 in Pee Wee baseball action Thursday night at Creekside Park.
The Storm, who got great late-inning work from pitcher Aaron Fairbairn, beat the Panthers for the first time this season in a game where the lead changed hands four times.
The umpires were kept busy with several close plays at home and third base.
Fairbairn came in to finish the game and threw exceptionally hard pitches, mixed in with off-speed stuff that kept the Panthers guessing. That was until Jessie Helmle came to the plate in the top of the fifth and took a Fairbairn pitch over the fence in left center field for a solo shot.
Fairbairn managed to shake off the big hit and retire the last two batters on strikes.
In Mosquito play at Lakeview Park, the Global West Mortgage Red Sox took a 15-11 victory over the Sun Dial Lighting Gladiators.
It was a strong second inning for both teams as Christopher McIntosh hit an RBI double for the Red Sox, while Caden Doyle slammed a three-run homer to right centre field for the Gladiators.
McIntosh pitched a strong fourth inning for the Red Sox with two strikeouts and leaving two runners on bases. Austin Fairbairn also pitched a solid fourth for the Gladiators with two strikeouts.
Heat cook up win
The Vernon Heat, sponsored by Royal Canadian Legion #25, bounced the Kelowna Bruisers 12-8 in Bantam girls fastball action at High Noon Field in Kelowna.
Shelby Munk pitched the game and smacked a run-scoring triple for Vernon, who got three hits, two RBI and two runs from Mazie Wilson.
Dayna Hanley stroked two hits, including a run-scoring double to center field. Allie Crandlemire supplied two hits, one RBI and two runs, while Brianna Leon knocked in one run and scored once. Dallyce Edwards, and Danica Jensen also scored for the Heat, who are coached by Mario Richard.
Quotable…
“I thought we were pretty disciplined. So if I were to comment on what I think of the penalties, I’d get a pretty big fine. So I’m going to save my money.” – Vancouver Canucks’ head coach Alain Vigneault on the wave of penalties called against his team in a 4-3 loss to the San Jose Sharks in Game 3 of the Western Conference finals Friday night.
