Two wins in a four-game weekend was enough for the North Delta Blue Jays to move a game closer to the eighth-place Vancouver Cannons.
The Blue Jays ended a four-game losing streak Saturday by sweeping the Parksville Royals 6-2 and 4-0. They then dropped both ends of a double header with the Victoria Mariners by scores of 7-6 and 9-0 on Sunday.
The pair of wins was one more than the Cannons managed in their four weekend games, and with a 14-16 won-loss record, Vancouver has a one and one-half game lead over the 11-16 Blue Jays in the race for the final postseason position.
Parksville scored the first two runs of Saturday’s first game at North Delta’s Mackie Park, but managed nothing after that. Blue Jays pitcher Dylan MacAhonic held the Royals to just two hits and a walk over six innings, with both Parksville runs unearned. MacAhonic struck out five batters while earning his second victory of the season.
Brad Antchak carried the big bat for the home team, going three-for-four with a double, two runs scored and one run batted in (RBI). Malcolm Boehm and Riley Grewal each had a pair of this for North Delta, with Grewal collecting a pair of RBIs.
In the second contest, Ryo Takenaka threw a three-hitter that included four walks for a shutout victory. Takenaka had seven strikeouts.
North Delta made the most of just four hits. In the bottom of the third inning, Grewal doubled to score Mitch Boychuk, then came home on a single from Evan Rogers. Bryan O’Hara and Brett Sakaki scored in the fifth inning off a fielder’s choice and a Royals fielding error.
A three-run fifth inning gave North Delta a 6-4 lead over the Mariners in the first of Sunday’s two games, but Victoria scored three of their own in the sixth inning for the win.
The Mariners needed just four hits and four walks to score the seven runs, while North Delta took the loss despite 10 hits, seven of which were for extra bases.
Takenaka, Boehm and O’Hara were the top blue Jays batters, each with a single and a double.
The Mariners limited North Delta to three hits in game two, and walked off with a 9-0 victory. A double from Antchak and two singles from Jordy Cunningham was all the offense for the Blue Jays.