After a planned doubleheader against the North Delta Blue Jays was rained out Saturday, the White Rock Tritons managed a win and a loss in the Sunday afternoon twin-bill against the North Shore.
The Tritons, with pitcher Adam Shumka on the mound, earned a 5-1 victory in the opening game, before falling by an identical score in the nightcap.
Both BC Premier Baseball League games were played at South Surrey Athletic Park.
In the opener, Shumka picked up his fourth win of the season in impressive fashion, going the full seven innings while allowing just three base hits – two singles and one triple – and one run. He also struck up six Twin batters, and walked none.
Offensively, the White Rock attack was paced by shortstop and leadoff hitter Tony Tabor, who went 1-for-3 with a triple, a run-scored, and two runs-batted-in. Nathan Trueblood, playing right field, went 2-for-3 at the dish, adding one RBI.
The game was scoreless until the third inning, when North Shore plated its lone run in the top of the frame, when Keenan Williams, who led off the inning with triple, scored on a fielder’s choice.
In the bottom half of the inning, White Rock tied the game with Talon Van Horn – who got on base due to a Twins’ fielding error – and Trueblood, who singled, both scored on Tabor’s triple.
One batter later, Tabor scored on a wild pitch to make it 3-1 White Rock.
The Tritons tacked on two insurance runs in the bottom of the fourth inning, after a series of plays that included a wild pitch, a single and a throwing error by North Shore right-fielder Robbey Panico.
The Twins made amends for the loss in the second game of the day, scoring single runs in the first, second and fourth innings to take a slim 3-1 lead – White Rock notched a run in the first frame, too – and then added a pair of runs in the seventh to escape with the 5-1 road win.
Pitcher Shaylen Buis – who recently returned to the pitcher’s mound after spending nearly a year recovering from an injury – was tagged with the loss. He pitched two innings, striking out three batters, and allowed two hits and two runs.
Connor Kenwood worked five innings of relief, allowing one hit, three runs – just one of them earned – while striking out two.
The Tritons managed just three base hits – all singles – off North Shore starting pitcher Kyle Olver, who hit double digits in strikeouts, sitting down 10 White Rock batters in six innings. The six-foot-five Vancouver native improved his record to 6-3 with the victory and lowered his earned-run average to a miniscule 0.87.
The Tritons, who sit last in the PBL with a 10-28 record, will spend their Canada Day long weekend in California, as they take a weekend break from league action to take part in the Firecracker Classic, which runs July 30 until July 5 in Los Angeles.
The team’s next PBL game is July 8, when they travel to Whalley for a doubleheader against the Chiefs.