Kamloops – Mother nature decided only six innings of baseball were going to get played Tuesday night at NorBrock Stadium. The NorthPaws defeated the Port Angeles Lefties 11-8. Third baseman Tanner Mitchel had five RBI’s and designated hitter Evan Dugdale launched his third home run of the season, helping the Paws bats get off to a scorching start.
The Paws turned to Taylor Pearce on the mound. The righty recorded two quick outs in the top of the first, but a throwing error gave the Lefties a base runner. An infield hit and a walk loaded the bases, but Pearce was able to get a strikeout to put up a big zero to begin the game.
In the bottom half, the offence showed that Sunday was a rare off day for the bats. A pair of walks and a single loaded the bases with one out. Elijah Olaybal reached on a fielder’s choice, bringing in the first run. Ian Huang hit an RBI single, and Logan Booth walked to load the bases for a second time.
Tanner Mitchell was up and faced a two-strike count after fouling off multiple pitches. He finally got his pitch to hit and cleared the bases with a double over the left fielder’s head, making it 5-0. Two batters later, it was back to the top for Crawford, who hit a single down the left field line, scoring two more, making it 7-0.
The Lefties went to the bullpen in desperate need of an out. Evan Dugdale was at the plate and took the second pitch he saw deep to left center field for his third home run of the season, putting an exclamation point on the inning.
“It was cool to see Taylor work through that jam in the first and have the offence go to work after,” Head coach Riley Jepson said. “When you get that run support early, it takes the pressure off the guys.”
The Lefties hung around in the ball game after scoring three in the top of the second and two in the top of the fourth. Kamloops answered in the bottom half with two of their own courtesy of Tanner Mitchell once again. His double was his second of the night and his fifth RBI, making it 11-5.
“Tanner works hard,” Jepson said. “He’s been making some adjustments recently, and it was nice to see the work pay off tonight.”
The teams went scoreless in the fifth, but Port Angeles stayed opportunistic. In the sixth, they scored three runs on two hits, trailing by just three runs.
The rain had played a factor all night, but as the sixth inning rolled on, the weather wasn’t slowing down. Throughout the game, fresh dirt was poured on the mound and in the batter’s box, and finally, enough was enough for the umpires. A thirty-minute rain delay was announced.
In the West Coast League, if you play five innings, you can have a result. As the stoppage rolled along, that idea became a reality when the players tarped the field, making it official. The NorthPaws secured their first home win in the most bizarre fashion.
“After last weekend, we felt like we needed to come out tonight and get a win,” Mitchell said.
The Paws now move to 3-7 on the year and will look to win the series tomorrow night against the Lefties at 6:35.
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