Daniel Orfaly – photo by Rich Lam, UBC Athletics
The Thunderbirds completed the series sweep of the College of Idaho, but the Coyotes didn’t go down without a fight.
The Thunderbirds cruised for the first six innings. Starter Daniel Orfaly pitched five innings, allowed only two hits, got the win. Will Anderson pitched a perfect sixth inning. The Thunderbirds started off with a run in the bottom of the first on an RBI single by Aaron Marsh, added a two-RBI double by Aidan Rose in the second inning, an RBI single by Jonny McGill in the third inning, and an RBI on a ground out by McGill in the fifth inning.
The Coyotes finally got on the board in the top of the seventh, with two runs at the expense of James Brock, on an RBI single by Jordan Kelly, and a sacrifice fly by Darren Smith. The Thunderbirds got those runs back in the bottom of the seventh with RBI doubles by Mitchell Middlemiss and McGill. Evan Hoegler pitched the top of the eighth, struck out two of the three batters he faced, and the Thunderbirds led 7-2 going into the ninth.
Graham Seltzer came in to close it, and was greeted with singles by Dillon Danner and Chandler Stocking. The next batter, Kelly, flied out. The following batter, Kris Kirkpatrick, hit what was thought to be a sacrifice fly, and Seltzer and the Thunderbirds would have gladly traded a run for the second out of the inning. Instead, the call was catcher interference; Kirkpatrick was awarded first base, and Hutton Stiles, the courtesy runner for Danner, was sent back to third base. So, it was bases loaded and one out. The next batter, Darren Smith, drew a walk to score a run, and the tying run was at the plate. The Thunderbirds brought in Dylan Myttenar, a first-year student making his fourth career appearance, and his previous appearance didn’t go well. He proceeded to strike out Jace Mahlke for out number two. The next batter was Kirkpatrick, and he hit a sharp ground ball down the third base line that could have scored three runs. Instead, Jaden Lamothe fielded it, and was able to get to third base just in time to step on the bag and record the final out.
Middlemiss went 3-for-4 with a double, an RBI, and two runs scored. Stocking finished 3-for-3 with a double. Starter Dawson Cummins, who pitched six innings, allowed four earned runs on eight hits, struck out six, got the loss. recap