A winning weekend in Kelowna has the Whalley Chiefs thinking about the postseason.
Whalley won three of four games against the Okanagan Chiefs, and are 5-3 (won-loss) over the past eight games. The Chiefs have improved to 10-21 and have moved two games closer to a B.C. premier Baseball League (PBL) playoff berth, trailing the eighth-place Vancouver Cannons by four and one-half games.
Solid pitching is vital in any four-game weekend in the PBL, and the Chiefs received the best from their staff in Kelowna.
Yuta Kikuzaki got the Chiefs off to a great start, pitching a complete game six-hitter with only one walk in Saturday’s first game. The North Delta resident allowed two earned runs while collecting five strikeouts.
Garrett Hasner singled then scored the winning run in the fifth inning on a passed ball. Kyle McComb and Ryan Pouwells were the offensive leaders with two hits each.
Brandon Bohn got the win in the second game Saturday, also going the distance while allowing one earned run while striking out five Okanagan batters in seven innings on the mound. The Athletics were held to just two runs on five hits and four walks.
Colton Wright with a pair of singles, Chorpita with two RBIs and McComb with two runs scored led the Chiefs at the plate.
The lone Athletics win came in Sunday’s first game. A five-run fourth-inning put the game well out of reach, building and Okangan lead to 7-0.
Mitchell Anderson had two singles and a double to account for three of the eight Chiefs hits.
A complete-game, three-hitter from Cole Hunt allowed the Chiefs to leave Kelowna with three victories. Hunt fanned 11 Athletics batters, and allowed just three hits and three walks.
Whalley scored in the first inning when Pouwells scored on an error.
In a three-run fourth inning, Hasner singled to score Chorpita then came home on Matthew Yee’s base hit. Colton Wright also scored on a passed ball.