After a busy six-game stretch over four days, the North Delta Blue Jays are no closer to a playoff position in the BC Premier Baseball League.
The Jays won just twice, and are a game and a half behind the Vancouver Cannons in a race for eighth place in the elite 18-and-under provincial league. Vancouver won one of their three games over the same stretch, and with a 15-18 won-lost record remain ahead of the 14-20 North Delta squad.
The Blue Jays spent the weekend in the provincial capital, splitting a double header with the Victoria Eagles Saturday before losing twice to the Victoria Mariners on Sunday.
Tuesday, North Delta was back at home at Mackie Park, defeating the White Rock Tritons 7-0. They then lost 8-2 to the Langley Blaze at Mackie on Wednesday.
The Jays were unlucky not to sweep the Eagles Saturday. Ryo Takenaka threw a three-hitter over eight and two-thirds innings, but was forced to take a 1-0 loss when a wild pitch allowed the Eagles to score the winning run with two out in the bottom of the eighth inning.
North Delta struggled offensively, managing just three singles. But the bats came alive in the second game with a dozen hits in a 3-1 victory.
Brad Antchak, Bryan O’Hara and Jordy Cunningham had two hits each for the Jays. Clint Taylor singled to score Dylan MacAhonic to break a 1-1 tie in the fourth inning, and Malcolm Boehm added an insurance run on a sacrifice fly by Riley Grewal in the sixth.
Antchak had three hits in Sunday’s first game against the Mariners, accounting for half of the Jays’ team total in a 4-1 loss. Victoria had just five hits, but two were for extra bases.
Game two was a similar story, as North Delta had a 6-4 edge in hits but still lost 2-1. MacAhonic took the loss for the Jays, pitching five innings and allowing two earned runs on four hits and a pair of walks.
After scoring just five runs in four games in Victoria, the Blue Jays scored seven times in the first five innings of Tuesday’s win.
Grewal singled to score Brett Sakaki in the second inning, scoring on a sacrifice fly by Taylor. Grewal added a second RBI in the third, driving in Evan Rogers with another single. Boychuk made it 4-0 after four innings with a sacrifice fly to score Taylor.
A three-run fifth inning put the game well out of reach. Rogers and Boehm scored on back-to-back wild pitches, then O’Hara’s sacrifice fly scored Sakaki.
Doubles from Taylor and Antchak were the highlights of Wednesday's loss, which had the blue Jays trailing 2-0 after one inning and 6-0 after two.
The Blue Jays play four games at home this weekend. They play the Abbotsford Cardinals (16-12) on Saturday and the North Shore Twins (22-10) Sunday. The first pitch on both days are set for 11 a.m.