Playing .500 on a four-game trip to Vancouver Island has the North Delta Blue Jays in the middle of the pack in the B.C. Premier Baseball League.
The Jays split doubleheaders Saturday against the Victoria Eagles and Sunday with the Victoria Mariners. Now at 6-5 (win-loss) on the season, North Delta is tied for fifth in the 12-team PBL, on pace for a playoff position but 4.5 games out of first place after the first quarter of the season.
“We were satisfied with the split, although with a couple of timely hits we could have won the second game against the Eagles,” said Blue Jays head coach Gerry White. “Liam Andrews pitched a solid game but got the loss and (Matt) Poirier was just as good in the first game getting the win.”
The Blue Jays began the weekend with a 6-3 victory over the Eagles, scoring three times in the second inning to take and early lead, then adding three more in the top of the seventh inning to break a 3-3 tie.
Logan Newman was credited with the game-winning RBI when he drew a two-out, bases-loaded walk. Marc Ashford then hit a two-run single to add a pair of insurance runs.
Only tow of the three runs scored by the Eagles on Poirier were earned. The Blue Jays pitcher allowed just five hits and a walk while striking out six batters.
Ashford and Ryder Mavis led the offense with two hits each.
North Delta outhit the Eagles 5-4 in the second game, but left six runners on base and fell 2-1.
Andrews allowed the two earned runs on four hits and three walks while striking out six Eagles batters. Mackenzie Marquis drove in the only Surrey run.
The Mariners scored 26 runs against North Delta pitching Sunday, but won just one of the two games. A seven-run third inning was the difference in a 13-5 victory in the first game.
Noah Or with two RBIs was the lone bright spot at the plate for the Blue Jays.
In the second game, the Blue Jays built a 15-0 lead and were two outs away from ending the game in the fifth inning on the mercy rule when the Mariners sent 18 men to the plate and scored 13 runs on 13 hits.
“I have never been involved in a game where a team scores 13 runs in one inning and we didn’t commit an error,” said White. “It was just one hit after another.”
The Mariners had just one hit in the other six innings, allowing the Blue Jays to hand on for a 15-13 win.
Ashford was a perfect four-for-four with four RBIs, while Cole Evans went three-for-four, also with four runs batted in.
The Blue Jays take a break from PBL play this weekend, traveling to Okotoks, Alberta for a tournament.