Despite a losing weekend on Vancouver Island, the Whalley Chiefs didn’t lose any ground in their pursuit of a B.C. Premier Baseball League playoff position.
The Chiefs lost three of four games to fall to 4-10 (won-lost) on the season, but remain two games back of the eighth-place Okanagan Athletics, who also lost three of four games against the North Shore Twins in Kelowna.
The Chiefs split a double header Saturday with the Victoria Eagles, before losing twice to the Victoria Mariners on Sunday.
Whalley’s lone win on the weekend came in the first game, a 5-4 victory in an extra inning over the Eagles.
Lucas Soper had a huge game at the plate for Whalley, going four-for-four with a double and two runs scored. Max Williams was two-for-four.
Will Gladwell was the winning pitcher, throwing the final three innings and allowing one earned run on a walk and three hits while collecting four strikeouts.
The Chiefs had 10 hits in both games Saturday, but while they held Victoria to just six hits in the first game, the Eagles had 11 in the second in an 11-10 victory.
Victoria built a 10-3 lead after five innings, but their advantage was wiped out with a seven-run sixth inning by the Chiefs, all coming with two outs. Mitch Williams, Jordan Dray, Trevor Henits and Soper all had two hits for the Chiefs.
The Eagles scored the winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning with a one-out single.
Against the third-place Mariners Sunday, Whalley outhit their opponent 7-5 but came up short in a 6-2 loss.
Dray went two-for-three with an RBI (run batted in) to lead the Chiefs at the plate, while pitcher Thomas Espig took the loss after allowing five earned runs on five hits and seven walks in 3.2 innings pitched.
The second game lasted just six innings, coming to an end after the Mariners had built a 13-3 lead which brought the game to a halt on the 10-run mercy rule.
Mariners batters combined for 18 hits, as Victoria scored at least two runs in five of the six innings.
Kimiya Matsuo and Mitch Williams each went two-for-four for Whalley.
The Chiefs get a chance to make up ground on the Athletics next weekend, when they host the Kelowna-based squad for four games at Whalley Stadium. Saturday’s double header is scheduled for a 2 p.m. start.