Doing all the scoring over the final three innings, the Fraser Valley Chiefs outlasted the North Delta Blue Jays 6-2 in B.C. Premier Baseball League play Tuesday night at Mackie Park.
The two sides battled through four scoreless innings until Fraser Valley finally pushed across a run in the top of the fifth. They added two runs in the sixth, and three more in the seventh.
The Blue Jays broke the shutout in their last at-bat, with Steven Van Vooght smacking a two-out double to score Tyler Pentland and Bryan Elias.
The result boosted the Chiefs won-lost record to 15-10, good for fifth place in the 13-team 18-and-under league. North Delta fell to 10-14, tied for ninth place with the North Shore Twins, a half-game back of the White Rock Tritons in the race for eighth place and the final playoff position.
The pitching of Ty Walker of the Chiefs and North Delta’s Douglas Strohan kept Tuesday’s game scoreless for much of the contest. Strohan, an 18-year-old from Burnaby, allowed just two hits through four innings, keeping Fraser Valley off the scoreboard until the visitors collected seven hits over the final three frames. Strohan walked just two batters while striking out seven. Three of the Chiefs runs were unearned.
Walker allowed just four hits and four walks in the contest, collecting 11 strikeouts to boost his league-leading total of 75.
Justin Pilgrim, Brody Hawkins and Mitch Dornblut led the Chiefs with two hits each. Dornblut scored a pair of runs, while Pilgrim batted in a pair with a two-run single in the sixth inning.
The Blue Jays are in Langley tomorrow (Saturday) to face the 19-7 Blaze, while the Chiefs host the 15-8 Parksville Royals at noon Saturday for a double header at Whalley Stadium, before travelling to the provincial capital Sunday for two contests with the 13-6 Victoria Mariners.