Lefties pitchers set a season high in strikeouts, but can’t come away with a win. (Photo courtesy of Maevis Photography)
Lefties fall in slugfest loss to close out Kelowna series
By: Thomas Johnson
It was a superb start from Colby Scheuber (Transfer Portal) on the mound, but it was not enough as the Kelowna Falcons smashed three home runs to take down the Port Angeles Lefties 7-4.
Scheuber punched out 11 Falcons, striking out the most batters by a Lefties pitcher in one game. The Port Angeles bullpen added another three strikeouts to set the high for team strikeouts in one game at 14.
“A big changeup day, I think they had six or seven lefties and so that was the plan early and they just didn’t adjust, so I just kept going to it,” Scheuber said after the game. “They weren’t adjusting to it so I just had to keep going back to it.”
Despite the pinpoint pitching, Kelowna still slugged off three home runs, as they scored five of their runs off of four-baggers. Caden Mitchell (McLennan Community College) had two of the shots — the first ones he’s had all season — in his series debut against Port Angeles.
Aidan Kuni (McLennan Community College) put up a round-tripper of his own in the third inning, and the Falcons never looked back with a three-run lead in hand.
Spencer Dickinson (Oklahoma Baptist) had a solo jack of his own to keep it close, making the score 3-1 at the time. The infielder from Saipan now has two home runs in WCL play, carrying over his 10-homer season with Oklahoma Baptist.
A half inning after Mitchell notched his second slug of the day to put the Lefties deficit at four, Jeremy Giesegh (Cal State, San Bernardino) started off the inning with a triple to start a rally. Giesegh came around to score as part of his two-hit day. The outfielder carries on his on-base streak — up into the double digits — as he recorded his ninth multi-hit game in league play.
Kelowna added a pair of insurance runs in the eighth inning to give the Falcons a five-run cushion, something the Lefties could not come back from.
Travis Helm (Central Washington) and Brett Haggerty (Yakima Valley College) both notched singles in the ninth frame and came around to the plate to make the deficit a mere three runs, but the Lefties ran out of outs to finish off the comeback.
“We come back to the yard tomorrow on our off day and get our work in and move on,” Scheuber said. “You don’t try to hang your head on a loss like this, you just move forward.”
Port Angeles has an off day Monday before returning to Civic Field on Tuesday to face the Redmond Dudes in a non-league matchup before heading across the Juan de Fuca strait to face Victoria.
