The Trail AM Ford Orioles earned a berth in the playoffs with two big wins over Victoria and Nanaimo at the BC Sr. Men’s Baseball Championship in Trail.
Orioles pitcher Scott Rhynold threw 160 pitches and struck out 14 batters in a complete game 9-8 victory over Victoria Red Mavericks on Saturday.
The win put Trail into contention after losing their opening match 14-4 to the Burnaby Bulldogs on Friday.
Trail pitcher Chris Kissock took the mound on Sunday versus the Nanaimo Coalminers and grand slams from Dallas Calvin and Ross St. Jean propelled the Orioles to a 14-4 mercy rule win over the Coalminers.
Kissock brought a good mix of fast balls and off speed pitches to keep the Miners off balance, giving up seven hits, striking out four, and walking two batters in the complete game victory.
Trail plays the third seed in Div. B, the Kamloops Sun Devils, in the 8 p.m. quarter-final game Sunday night.
In other action, Burnaby took the number-1 seed in the ‘A’ Division, earning a berth into the semifinal on Monday with wins over Trail, Victoria and Nanaimo.
In the B Division, the Coquitlam Angels guaranteed a spot in the semis with a 9-7 win over the Ladysmith Pilots and 14-4 victory over Kamloops. The Pilots earned the second seed with an 8-1 win over Victoria Blue Mavericks and a 5-2 victory over the Sun Devils and play the third seed Victoria Mavericks Red at 5:30 p.m. Sunday.
The semifinal matches go Monday at 8 a.m. and 10:30 am. with the final scheduled for 1:30 p.m.
