The North Island Cubs defeated the Richmond Chuckers twice on Saturday, June 15 and split with the South Fraser Giants on Sunday, June 16 to take another three wins out of four in 18U AAA league action at Nunns Creek Park.
This marked the second weekend in a row they went three for four.
Cubs sweep Richmond, split with South Fraser
Game one against Richmond on Saturday saw the Cubs down the Chuckers by a score of 12-4, as pitcher Curtis Owens picked up the win on the hill for North Island. Branden Lambert went three for three at the dish with three singles, while teammates Austin Gurney and Markus Cross both had doubles. Dayton Ring and Laine Rogers had two singles each and Riley Sutherland and Owens added a single each.
Game two had Cubs starting pitcher Austin Gurney throw another complete game, striking out five batters and only issuing one walk en route to a convincing 13-1 North Island win. Dayton Ring was three for three with a triple and two singles, Rogers and Cross both went two for two with a double and a single each, Robert Gurney, Brayden McClary, Nico Matheson and Owens all had two singles each while Lambert added his own single.
Sunday had the Cubs up against the South Fraser Giants. In game one, the North Island squad couldn’t get a hit when they absolutely needed it, stranding 11 runners on base and eventually losing the game 3-0. Cubs batters Robert Gurney, Matt O’Reilly, Ring, Rogers, Sutherland, Owens and Cross all had singles.
Laine Rogers took the mound in game two and pitched a beauty, striking out six batters and walking six as he paced his team to a 7-3 victory to finish off the weekend. The Cubs offence exploded in the fourth, scoring five runs. Rogers and Sutherland both had doubles, Robert Gurney was three for four with three singles, Lambert, and Owens had a pair of singles each, while singles went to Austin Gurney, Ring, McClary, Cross, O’Reilly and Matheson.
Cubs sweep Penticton, split with Kelowna
The previous weekend, the surging Cubs, also won three of four games at Nunns Creek Park. After dropping their first game of the weekend to the Kelowna Sun Devils by a score of 6-4, the locals strung together the three consecutive wins to catapult them into fifth place overall in the 18U AAA league standings.
Saturday’s first game saw the Cubs get off to a slow start, spotting Kelowna a 3-0 lead after the first three innings. Markus Cross scored the first North Island run in the bottom of the fifth on an RBI double by Jayden Smith. The Cubs managed to plate three more runs in the bottom of the seventh on RBIs from Dayton Ring, Matt O’Reilly and Markus Cross, but it was too little too late as the Sun Devils squeaked out the win. Robert Gurney, Dayton Ring and Markus Cross all had two singles each, while singles went to Brayden McClary, Austin Gurney, Branden Lambert and Riley Sutherland.
Game two saw a dominant pitching performance by Cubs starter Austin Gurney. Going 6-2/3 innings, Gurney struck out 10 Kelowna batters and issued only one walk, leading his team to a 6-2 victory. Curtis Owens was three for three at the plate with a double and two singles, while Lambert had two singles. Robert Gurney hammered a two-RBI triple to the fence in the bottom of the fifth to put the Cubs in the lead for good, while singles went to McClary, Laine Rogers, Sutherland, O’Reilly and Smith.
Game one on Sunday against the Penticton Tigers ended with a walk-off double by Riley Sutherland in the bottom of the seventh. With the score tied at 1-1, the Tigers pitcher loaded the bases with no outs. Unfortunately, the Cubs hit a line drive to the third baseman, who made a spectacular catch and then quickly doubled off the third-base runner, leaving the locals with two outs and runners on first and second. The next batter, Sutherland, watched the first pitch go by and then smacked a double to score Owens from second for the win. It was the second time the Cubs walked off a team in as many weeks – doing the same to Cowichan the previous weekend. This time it was Sutherland being mobbed by his teammates in the infield. Dayton Ring threw a complete game for the win while offensively Sutherland had two singles, with singles going to Robert Gurney, McClary, and Owens.
Game two of the Penticton doubleheader was a convincing 11-1 win for the Cubs. Once again, Owens was three for three at the plate with three singles, while Austin Gurney and Ring each had a triple and a single each. McClary and Smith had two singles each, while lone singles went to Rogers and O’Reilly.
The Cubs are now off for a couple of weekends before they head off to the Baseball BC Provincial Championships in Surrey from July 4 to 7.
