Kamloops – The NorthPaws are back in the win column thanks to a 7-0 win over the Kelowna Falcons at NorBrock Stadium. The Paws got some great pitching performances from Evan Dugdale and Cade Bridges. The Falcons left the bases loaded twice and left the door wide open for the offence to go to work.
“This was overdue,” Head Coach Riley Jepson said. “Getting one win puts everyone at ease and allows us to have some fun,”
At the plate, Kade Crawford, Evan Dugdale and Logan Booth all had multi-hit nights, featuring Crawford’s sixth homerun of the season in the bottom of the third. The story in game one was the timely hits not coming, but on Wednesday, they came in bunches.
“I felt like we were a little more there today, just in the sense of competing on both sides of the ball,” Jepson said.
The Paws rode a great start from righty Evan Dugdale, who threw five scoreless innings, giving up just five hits. Dugdale got it done at the plate as well in the bottom of the first. Crawford led off with a double and later stole third. Dugdale sent a base hit into right-center field, scoring the center fielder.
In the third, it was Crawford’s turn. He launched his sixth home run over the left field wall, setting the tone for what would be a big third inning. With the solo blast, Crawford sits in a tie for first in the West Coast League with six bombs.
Later in the inning, the Paws had runners on the corners with one out when Jackson Glymph hit a sac fly into left field, making it 3-0. Logan Booth followed that up with the first of his two RBI doubles on the night, putting Kamloops ahead 4-0. An error kept the inning alive, and Keegan Drinkle took full advantage with an RBI single of his own, bringing in the fourth run of the inning.
In the top of the sixth, the NorthPaws still controlled the game up 5-0. Dugdale was out for another inning of work, but ran into trouble. A walk, double and a hit by pitch loaded the bases with nobody out. Jepson made the call to the bullpen, bringing in Cade Bridges. The righty forced three straight fly outs, ending the inning and escaping the jam while preserving the shutout.
“That really pushed the momentum back to our side and let us play free and easy the rest of the way,” Pitching coach Dustin Beggs said.
The NorthPaws did just that. An RBI single from Ian Huang in the sixth and an RBI double from Logan Booth in the seventh put the game out of reach, giving the NorthPaws the victory. Now the two teams will head back to Kelowna for the rubber match tomorrow night. You can catch the action on the West Coast League streaming platform. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35.
The Paws return home this weekend for a three-game series against the Nanaimo NightOwls, which features Jersey night on Friday and First Responders night on Saturday.
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