Langley Blaze’s Ricky Bertrand is thrown out sliding into the second base during Saturday’s doubleheader against the Parksville Royals.

Langley Blaze’s Ricky Bertrand is thrown out sliding into the second base during Saturday’s doubleheader against the Parksville Royals.

Blaze move closer to clinching top spot

The Langley Blaze split a pair of doubleheaders, going 1-1 against both the Parksville Royals and the Victoria Eagles.

Despite the mixed results, the Blaze (30-10) were able to stretch their lead atop the Premier Baseball League to 2.5 games with eight games remaining.

Playing in Parksville on Saturday, Langley needed a run in the top of the seventh to force extra innings and then won the game with four runs in the eighth.

Ricky Bertrand belted a solo home run in the game while Luke Simpson drove in a pair of runs.

Bill Germaine, Josh Wray and Greg Rogers had the other RBIs.

Aaron Dick picked up the win, allowing just one hit and one walk, plus no runs, over the final three innings.

Starting pitcher Jeremy Filipek had a solid showing, giving up two hits and two runs, while fanning 11 batters.

Game two saw Langley fall behind 4-0 before Ricky Bertrand finally drove in a run in the final inning, but the Blaze still lost 4-1. The Langley bats were limited to three hits, although two of them were doubles.

And playing back at McLeod Park on Sunday, the Blaze bats were again silent in the opener against Victoria, managing just three hits.

This wasted a great performance from Justin Geerts, who limited the Eagles to two hits and one run.

But the Blaze avoided the three-game losing streak with a 4-1 win in the second game.

Tyler Barlow, Germaine and Rogers drove in one run apiece and that was more than enough offence for Jon Bauer, who allowed one run on two hits over seven innings.

The Blaze are back in action on Tuesday (June 28) when they host the Abbotsford Cardinals at McLeod Park.

Langley Times