The White Rock Tritons just cannot catch a break.
All season long, the B.C. Premier Baseball League club has been led by its pitchers while the offence has struggled to put runs on the board.
But on Saturday against the North Shore Twins, the bats finally produced, but unfortunately, the pitchers struggled, as the Tritons dropped both games of the doubleheader, 9-5 and 7-2.
“The pitchers were a bit off their game, for both teams, in that one,” explained White Rock head coach Russ Smithson.
Josh Larsen was tagged with the first loss for the Tritons, allowing six runs in four innings before three relievers – Brayden Bouchey, Ethan Cornfield and Dustin Dhanani – finished off the game.
Alex Webb took the loss in the second game, lasting into the seventh inning.
In that contest, White Rock held a 2-1 lead until the sixth, when the Twins exploded for five runs.
On Sunday, White Rock lost two more – both in extra innings – 2-1 and 4-3 to the Abbotsford Cardinals.
“And in that one, we just couldn’t buy a hit,” Smithson said. “It’s tough – we’re always just one hit away but we can’t get it.”
In the first game, Abby scored the winning run in the bottom of the eighth inning, but in the second game, White Rock had a chance to salvage a split.
With the game tied in the top of the eighth, Tony Tabor – who was on base with a single – scored after an error by the Cardinals catcher, but in the bottom half of the inning, the Cards won the game by scoring two runs of their own.
The quartet of losses was made more frustrating, Smithon said, considering his team came into the weekend on something of a high, after two impressive mid-week victories, over the Langley Blaze and Coquitlam Reds.
The Tritons now sport an 11-17 record and are 10th in the 13-team PBL – two spots out of a playoff berth – but Smithson said now is not the time for his team to panic.
“We just have to forget about these games and power though, that’s all we can do,” he said.
“We’re still right there… all the teams from sixth to 10th have about the same number of losses, so if we have one good week or 10-day stretch, we’re right back in the thick of things.”
White Rock played Tuesday at Nat Bailey Stadium against the Twins – results were not available by press deadline – and also have a Thursday night tilt scheduled in Coquitlam, where they’ll battle the Reds.
Smithson is confident his team will be able to star this turnaround with those two contests.
“I think we can, sure – there’s time left (to make the playoffs). We just need our senior guys to really step up and lead the way.”