It was a weekend of wild swings for the White Rock Tritons, as the BC Premier Baseball League team won big early, before being swept Sunday by the top team in the league.
On Saturday at South Surrey Athletic Park, the Tritons, led by hot bats and stellar performances from their two starting pitchers, won both ends of a doubleheader against the visiting North Shore Twins – both games finished 11-0.
Sunday, however, was a different story, as the first-place Parksville Royals came to town. The Vancouver Island squad won the first game 8-4 and followed up with an 8-2 win to complete the sweep. The Royals remain undefeated with a 6-0 win-loss record, and sit atop the BCPBL standings, while the Tritons are in a tie for fifth, at 3-3.
“On Saturday, we definitely played well – probably the best we’ve played all year,” said Tritons head coach Mike Hughes. “We would’ve liked more (on Sunday)… but we’ll take the two wins.”
The first game Saturday – which followed official opening-day ceremonies for the White Rock-South Surrey Baseball Association – saw veteran pitcher Keith Manby get the start on the pitcher’s mound, and he showed no signs of offseason rust.
The Earl Marriott Secondary student – one of the team’s key returnees from last year, Hughes told Peace Arch News earlier this month – earned the victory, while striking out eight Twins over just five innings, while allowing just three hits – two singles and one double from North Shore’s Dion Wintjes.
He had plenty of run support, too.
White Rock peppered the Twins with 11 hits in just five frames – at which point the game was called on account of the mercy rule. Left-fielder and leadoff hitter Jon Klassen led the charge with three hits, four runs scored and a stolen base, while centre-fielder Jackson Hogg also had three hits in the game, to go with four runs-batted-in and a stolen base.
The Tritons scored in each of the first four innings – helped by two Twins errors – and chased North Shore’s starting pitcher after just two innings of work.
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The script was much the same in Game 2, with the Tritons staying red hot to start the game. White Rock scored seven runs in the bottom of the first inning, again chasing the Twins’ starting pitcher early. The home team added three more runs in the second, one in the third and the game was over after just five innings.
“In the long run, I think we’ll be a team that wins with our defence, but our offence is doing a helluva job right now,” Hughes said. “It makes it easier for our pitchers, too, when they’re pitching with a lead like that.”
White Rock rookie pitcher Noah Bryerton earned his first win in the BCPBL, striking out four batters while scattering five hits – all singles. His control was also on point, as he did not allow a walk.
At the plate, White Rock finished with eight hits, most of which came in the high-scoring first.
Klassen and number-two batter Marshal Luiz – the “catalysts” of the team’s offence so far this season, Hughes said – opened the Tritons’ onslaught with a pair of singles, and then with two outs, the runs started crossing the plate thanks to a string of singles, walks and an error in the infield.
In the second inning, Hogg and Terrell Rogers each had doubles, as the team extended the lead into double-digits and cruised to the win from there.
On Sunday, however, the Tritons couldn’t stay quite as hot, though in the first game of the two-game series, they did come close to handing the Royals their first loss of the young season.
The two squads traded runs in the first inning, with White Rock’s coming after an error during a double-steal attempt by Klassen and Luiz cashed in a run.
Each team scored again in the third, with Parksville plating three, and the Tritons scoring once. The scored remained 4-2 for the visitors until the fifth, when White Rock tied it – Corbin Smith scored after an error by the Royals’ third baseman, and then Steven Lin hit a double that scored Lui.
The deadlock didn’t last long, as Parksville stormed back in the top of the sixth to score four, which proved to be enough for the win.
Pitcher Lukas Frers started the game for the Tritons, striking out nine over just five innings before he was relieved by Ewan Hall.
Parksville never trailed in the second game, either, after taking a 1-0 lead in the first.
The Tritons managed seven hits off Royals pitchers Brady Radcliffe and Jacob Volkers but all were singles, and the home team didn’t put a run on the board until the bottom of the final inning, when they scored two.
White Rock plays this weekend in South Surrey – they’ll host the UBC Thunder for two games Saturday and the Mid-Island Pirates for a doubleheader Sunday.
