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Cold, wet spring puts chill in Athletics

Okanagan pitches well in four games but suffers Premier Baseball League sweep to Twins
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Douglas Farrow/Contributor Ethan Soroka and the Okanagan Athletics dropped four close games to the North Shore Twins.

Facing the B.C. Premier Baseball League鈥檚 top team, the pitching performance was more than adequate.

The 琉璃神社-based A鈥檚 simply didn鈥檛 generate enough offense against the hometown North Shore Twins.

Okanagan pitchers yielded just 19 hits all weekend to the first-place Twins, but the A鈥檚 could muster just three runs en route to being swept in a tight, four-game series at Parkgate Park in North Vancouver.

The Athletics now sit at the bottom of the PBL with a 5-13 record.

Between fielding a young team, key injuries, and a cold, wet spring where practise time has been minimal, the A鈥檚 have struggled to find consistency in their game this season.

Still, A鈥檚 head coach Evan Bailey isn鈥檛 making any excuses for his club.

鈥淚t鈥檚 been rough,鈥 Bailey said of the start to the 2017 season and the recent four-game sweep. 鈥(Against North Shore) we played well defensively and threw the ball well, but couldn鈥檛 get any key hits. If we hadn鈥檛 kept shooting ourselves in the foot, we could have easily split that series.

鈥淲e鈥檙e not getting any luck either, but good teams make their own luck,鈥 he added. 鈥淲e鈥檝e had injuries, only eight or nine practises this spring so that hasn鈥檛 helped. But no excuses, we have no one to blame but ourselves.鈥

In the series opener Saturday, the Twins prevailed 2-0 on Cole Dalla-Zanna鈥檚 three-hit shutout. Keaton Mandryk put in a solid start for the A鈥檚, allowing just three hits over six innings.

In Game 2, North Shore scored three times in the top of the eighth to down Okanagan 4-1. Starter Carter Morris (3-2) was steady for the A鈥檚 through seven innings, before yielding three hits and three runs in the extra inning. Cole Van Every had a pair of hits and the lone RBI to lead the offense.

In Sunday鈥檚 opener, the A鈥檚 had nine hits but left 12 runners on base in a 3-2 loss. Kade Kozak was solid in six innings of work, allowing three hits and striking out seven. Marcus Strother and Dylan Faulkner had two hits apiece for Okanagan.

In the series finale, Tim Walters held the A鈥檚 to three hits in a 3-0 Twins shutout. Three Okanagan pitchers held the Twins to five hits over seven innings.

The Athletics next home action is May 27 and 28 at Elks Stadium against the Whalley Chiefs.





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