LEFTIES: Port Angeles wins two out of three against Nanaimo

NANAIMO, B.C. — For 23 innings this weekend, Port Angeles Lefties pitchers totally dominated the Nanaimo NightOwls.

Finally, in the sixth inning Sunday, the NightOwls’ bats woke up as Nanaimo avoided getting swept by the Lefties.

Instead, the Lefties will have to settle for a series win, taking two out of three games over the weekend from the NightOwls after an 11-1 loss Sunday in Nanaimo.

That final score is misleading as the Lefties were locked in a 0-0 tie into the bottom of the sixth inning. The NightOwls blew up for eight runs in the sixth, going after the Port Angeles bullpen with five hits, two hit batsmen and a walk in the inning.

Brad Johnson (Central Arizona College) started and pitched great, going five innings and allowing just two hits and three walks. He struck out five. The bullpen and the Lefties offense couldn’t do much on the day, however.

Jeremy Giesegh (Cal State, San Bernardino) went 2-for-3, while Will White (Cal State, Bakersfield) had a hit and an RBI. Tyler Shulman (Harvard) hit a double.

The Lefties won Saturday and Friday, with pitchers dominating both games in a 5-0 shutout Saturday and a 9-1 victory Friday.

The Lefties (5-13 in West Coast League, 8-13 overall) next play Tuesday in Longview against the Cowlitz Black Bears (6-11 in WCL play).

Saturday’s Game

The Lefties got outstanding pitching from a trio of hurlers in a 5-0 shutout Saturday.

Ryan Rodriguez (Centralia College) started, going 5⅔ innings and allowing just three hits and one walk. He struck out five. Ian Hoffsteter (Chaffey College) pitched 2⅔ and allowed four hits and one walk. He struck out two. John Vaara (Port Angeles High School, Edmonds CC) finished up, pitching a perfect two-thirds of an inning.

The Lefties got all the runs they would need in the first inning, scoring four runs to give Rodriguez a healthy cushion to work with. Port Angeles had just eight hits, but four of them were for extra bases.

Valdivia was 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI. Tommy Markey (Fordham) had a double and a run scored, while Garrett Patterson (UC-San Diego) had a double, a run scored and two RBIs. Sam Matosich (Centralia College) also added a double, while Jett Nelson (Jamestown) was 2-for-3 with a run and an RBI.

Friday’s Game

The Lefties got a three-run home run from Jack Edmunds and a fantastic pitching performance from Garrett Holpuch to beat the NightOwls 9-1 on Friday night.

Edmunds (Fordham), belted his home run in the third inning. He added another RBI on a sacrifice fly in a five-run fourth.

Holpuch (Tennessee Tech) went seven innings, allowing just four hits and one earned run. He struck out five and walked two. Cade Stuart (Fresno Pacific) went two innings in relief, allowing one hit and two walks. He struck out one.

New York’s Fordham University was huge for the Lefties in this game.

Taylor Kirk, a teammate of Edmunds from Fordham, also had a big game, going 3-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI. Fordham’s Markey went 2-for-5 with double, two runs scored and an RBI.

Levi Joyce (Edmonds CC) was 3-for-5 with a run scored and an RBI, while Matosich was 2-for-4 with a double, a run scored and two RBIs.

Nanaimo 11, Port Angeles 1

PA 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 — 1 6 2

Nan. 0 0 0 0 0 8 1 2 x — 11 11 1

WP: Langan; LP: J. Joyce

Pitching

PA — Johnson 5 IP, 2 H, 2 BB, 5 K; Joyce 0.1 IP, 2 H, 2 ER; Seay 0.1 IP, 3 H, BB, 4 ER; Sato 0.1 IP, 2 H, BB, 2 ER; Lopez IP, H, ERE, 2 BB; Wrightstone IP, 3 H.

Hitting

PA — Giesegh 2-3; White 1-4, RBI; Shulman 1-4, 2B.

Port Angeles 5, Nanaimo 0

PA 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 — 5 8 0

Nan. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 —0 7 1

WP: Rodriguez; LP: Boice.

Pitching

PA —Rodriguez 5.2 IP, 3 H, BB, 5 K; Hoffsteter 2.2 IP, 4 H, BB, 2 K; Vaara 0.2 IP.

Hitting

PA —Nelson 2-3, 2B, R, RBI; Valdivia 2-4, 2B, R, 2 RBI; Markey 1-4, 2B, R; Patterson 1-4, 2B, R, 2 RBI; Matosich 1-4, 2B.

Port Angeles 9, Nanaimo 1

PA 1 0 3 5 0 0 0 0 0 — 9 15 1