The British Columbia Thunderbirds swept a double-header against the Bushnell Beacons at Tourmaline West Stadium in Vancouver, BC on April 26, but it wasn’t decided until the bottom if the ninth of the second game.
First game: British Columbia 8, Bushnell 3. The Thunderbirds got on the board before the Beacons recorded an out. Braeden Scott and David Krahn hit RBI singles. Also in the bottom of the first inning, Caleb Richter made a great catch of a line drive hit by Kellen Bourne.
That was the first of several noteworthy defensive plays in this game. In the top of the second, the Beacons tied the game with an RBI single by Dylan Carson and Richter scoring when Danny Womack reached on a fielder’s choice. But also in that inning, Josh Miyazawa hit a hard ground ball to Scott a first base. Scott made a great catch to get the out at first, but was unable to tag Carson at first base to get the double play. Womack was caught in a rundown between second and third for the second out of the inning.
In the bottom of the third, shortstop Nigel Fahland made a great catch of a line drive by Krahn.
The Thunderbirds took the lead for good in the bottom of the fourth with a two-RBI single by Matt Vrlak. They added two runs in the bottom of the sixth with a sacrifice fly by Kansai Sugimoto and an RBI single by Scott, then Josh Cote hit a two-RBI double to put the Thunderbirds up 8-2. The Beacons got one back in the top of the seventh on an RBI single by Fahland, but left the bases loaded.
Starter Myles Chamberlain got the win; he went five innings, allowed two runs on three hits, struck out four. Oliver Duthie, pitching his final home game for the Thunderbirds, retired all six batters he faced, struck out two of them. Beacon starter Tyler Biddinger got the loss. Scott finished 3-for-4 with an RBI for the Thunderbirds.
Second game: British Columbia 9, Bushnell 8. With nothing really on the line in this one, both teams gave some lesser-used players some playing time. Linden Happell got his first start of the season for the Thunderbirds. The Beacons rested their start player, Albert Jennings.
Beacon starter Loreto Siniscalchi held the Thunderbirds scoreless for four innings. The Beacons’ first run in the top of the third was a gift. Aiden Takuma was struck out, but reached first on a bad throw, then went to second. The next batter, Hoko Gaspar, got the first hit of the season, and the Beacons led 1-0. They added a run in the fourth on an RBI single by Nigel Fahland. Lou Fujiwara ended the shutout with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the fifth, and David Krahn hit an RBI double to tie the game 2-2.
The Beacons took the lead again in the top of the sixth with a two-RBI single by Eli Crist. The bottom of the sixth ended with Oliver Clements thrown out at home. The Beacons got one more run in the top of the seventh, but the Thunderbirds proceeded to score five runs on one hit in the bottom of the seventh. The one hit was a two-RBI single by Kellen Bourne. The Thunderbirds got one more run in the bottom of the eighth, and he 8-5 going into the ninth.
Then things got interesting. The Beacons were down to their last strike, with runners at first and second and Mana Heffernan. Heffernan hit a single to score a run. The next batter, Davis Grawey, hit a single to load the bases. The Beacons then tied it with a two-RBI single by Fahland. The half-inning finally ended with a fly out.
Clements opened the bottom of the ninth with a single, and went to second on an error. Calvin Warrillow hit a bunt single to move Clements to third. The bases were then loaded with and intentional walk. Kyle Yip, pinch hitting, hit a ground ball down the third base line to score Clements and win the game.
Lukas Huynh pitched the ninth inning and got the win, despite giving up the three runs. Kaden Douglas-Pluff pitched the previous two innings, allowed one run on two hits, struck out three. Hunter Schwenk got the loss. Krahn and Clements both finished 3-for-4, and Krahn hit two doubles. Grawey went 3-for-5.
The Thunderbirds won the series three games to one. Lewis-Clark State swept their series against Warner Pacific, and they will be hosting the Cascade Collegiate Conference tournament that starts May 1.
