Kelowna Falcons

Falcons Fall to Elks

The Kelowna Falcons (11-8) fell in their opening game against the Bend Elks (9-9) by a score of 10-8. It was a crazy game for both sides that saw a combined 18 runs cross the plate.

The Falcons entered the game on a one-game losing streak, having dropped the series finale against the Bellingham Bells the previous night. Bend was also on a losing streak, having been beaten by the Port Angeles Lefties.

The Falcons allowed the opening run of the ballgame on a wild pitch. Ian Dawkins then gave Kelowna the lead with a single, which plated a couple of runs to give the Falcons the 2-1 lead. Bend rallied back and scored five runs over the next three innings to give themselves a 6-3 lead.

It was the Falcons turn to rally and in the top of the seventh inning, it was Connor Gurnik who drove home a pair with a triple. Alex McGarry walked on four straight pitches, which put runners on the corners for Kelowna. That brought up the pinch-hitting Taylor Wright who blasted a three-run bomb right into the scoreboard to give the Falcons an 8-6 lead.

Not to be outdone, the Elks again put together a rally and scored an astounding four runs in the bottom of the seventh to give themselves a 10-8 lead. The Falcons would try desperately to tie the game but the comeback was snuffed out at the top of the ninth.

Bryan Donohue, the Falcons manager, on what he saw with his team tonight. “There were too many positive hitting counts for their team. We were wild off the mound. There were too many pitches that were missing by two feet, too many balls to the backstop, we probably had six or seven wild pitches. It just wasn’t sharp. Our pitching accuracy wasn’t good enough. For them to score that many runs based on the arms that we have, we were just putting ourselves in bad counts. We have to be sharper out of the bullpen early. You score eight runs it this league it has to be a win. It’s unacceptable to give up ten runs.”

Kade Mechals will make his second start of the summer when the Falcons and Elks meet again at 6:35 pm on Saturday night. Kelowna will look to break its two-game losing skid and pull within a game of first again.

Falcons Play by Play and Recaps come courtesy of Anthony Fusco. 

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