PORT ANGELES — The Port Angeles Lefties fell out of the playoff picture this weekend after getting swept by the Edmonton Riverhawks.
The Lefties were plagued by leaving too many runners on base all weekend and Sunday was no exception as outhit Edmonton but stranded 14 baserunners in a 5-4 loss. They stranded eight baserunners in the final three innings.
Pitchers Jake Cumming (Nevada), John Vaara (Port Angeles High School, Edmonds CC) and Francisco Lopez (Dyersburg State CC) all did well, allowing just six hits and two earned runs. Cumming was hurt by six walks and three unearned runs. Vaara pitched a hitless four innings in relief, walking just one and allowing the Lefties to stay in the game. Lopez pitched a perfect ninth.
At the plate, Roberto Garza-Nunez (Embry-Riddle) remained red-hot, going 4-for-4 with his fifth home run of the season and three RBIs. Garza-Nunez improved his batting average to .301 for the season after a slow start to his summer.
Jared Bujanda (Cal State, Bakersfield) was also hot at the plate, going 3-for-5 with a run scored, improving his average to .333 on the season.
Kosei Suzuki (Frank Phillips College) was 3-for-4 with a run scored.
The Lefties had trouble with the clutch hit as they stranded 35 runners over the weekend.
While the pitching was solid Sunday, the Lefties’ hurlers struggled Saturday and Friday as the Riverhawks won 16-4 and 13-1.
In both of those games, the starters did well but the bullpen got knocked around in the late innings.
Port Angeles (10-14 second half, 16-35 overall) has today off and finishes its season with a three-game series at Civic Field against the Cowlitz Black Bears (7-16 second half, 18-32 overall) beginning at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday.
Edmonton 5, Port Angeles 5
Edm. 0 3 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 — 5 6 0
PA 1 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 — 4 12 1
WP: Egan. LP: Cumming. SV: Jans.
Pitching
Edmonton — Foden 4.1 IP, 9 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 3 K; Egan 3 IP, 2 H, BB, 3 K; Lampe 0.2 IP; Jans IP, H, 2 BB, 2 K.
Port Angeles — Cumming 4 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 6 BB, 2 K; Vaara 4 IP, BB, K; Lopez IP.
Hitting
Edmonton — Zarowny 2-4, 2 R, 3 RBI; Watson 2-5, 2B, 2 RBI.
Port Angeles — Garza-Nunez 4-4, HR, R, 3 RBI; Suzuki 3-5, 2B, R; Bujanda 3-5, R.
Saturday’s game
Edmonton won Saturday 16-4. Starter Brock Mayer kept the Lefties in the game for five innings as Port Angeles went into the fifth tied 2-2. Mayer went five innings, allowing eight hits and four earned runs. He struck out five and walked two.
The Riverhawks scored three in the fifth inning, then added six more runs in the seventh to put the game out of reach at 12-2. The bullpen gave up nine earned runs.
At the plate, Port Angeles’ Wyatt Hall, who joined the Lefties just this week, was 3-for-4 with a double, a run scored and an RBI. Hall played for the Roughriders and Wilder Baseball Club and became a star at Skagit Valley College, winning Athlete of the Year for the Cardinals last year. He now plays for Cal State, San Bernardino.
Garza-Nunez was 3-for-5 with a double and two RBIs. Bujanda was 2-for-4 with a double, a run scored and an RBI.
Edmonton 16, Port Angeles 4
Edm. 1 1 0 0 3 1 6 2 2 — 16 18 0
PA 0 0 2 0 0 0 1 1 0 — 4 12 3
WP: Knoll. LP: Mayer.
Pitching
Edmonton —Knoll 7 IP, 8 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 2 K; Ridsdale IP, 2 H, ER, K; Colville IP, H, BB, 2 K.
Port Angeles — Mayer 5 IP, 8 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 5 K; McCormack 1.1 IP, 3 H, 4 ER, 2 BB; Schumann 0.2 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, BB; Joyce 2 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, BB, 3 K.
Hitting
Edmonton — Zarowny 3-5, 2 R, RBI; Dunn 3-6, 3 R, 2 RBI; Hale 3-3, 4 R, RBI; Young 2-4, 2B, 4 RBI.
Port Angeles — Hall 3-for-4, 2B, R, RBI; Garza-Nunez 3-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Bujanda 2-4, 2B, R, RBI.
Friday’s game
It was a similar story Friday, as the Lefties went into the eighth very much still in the game, down 4-0. The Riverhawks scored two runs in the eighth and seven more in the ninth to pull away for a 13-1 win.
Jackson Price (Transfer portal) started and pitched well, going five innings and allowing three earned runs on five hits, five walks and five strikeouts.
Jason Noffsinger (Shasta College) and Eric Schumann (Embry-Riddle) pitched well out of the pen, going a combined two innings and allowing one hit and two walks. But the Riverhawks tallied 10 hits and nine earned runs in the final two innings against a trio of Lefties’ pitchers.
Hall again had a solid game, going 2-for-4. Jason Leon (Cal State, Bakersfield) was 2-for-4, while Valdivia hit a double and Jeremy Giesegh (Cal State, San Bernardino) had a hit and an RBI.
Edmonton 13, Port Angeles 1
Edm. 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 2 7 — 13 16 2
PA 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 — 1 9 4
WP: Kobitowich. LP: Price.
Pitching
Edmonton — Kobitowich 7 IP, 7 H, 2 BB, 3 K; Leoppky 2 IP, 2 H, ER, 2 BB, 3 K.
Port Angeles — Price 5 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 5 BB, 5 K; Noffsinger 1.2 IP, H, 2 BB; Schumann 0.1 IP; Ricken IP, 4 H, 2 ER, K; Hagopian 0.1 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, K; Wike 0.2 IP, 3 H, 4 ER, 2 BB.
Hitting
Edmonton — Watson 3-4, 3 R, 2 RBI, 2 BB; Dunn 2-6, 3B, R, 3 RBI.
Port Angeles — Hall 2-4; Leon 2-4; Valdivia 1-4, 2B; Giesegh 1-5, RBI.
