Heartbreaker

It was a heartbreaking loss on Wednesday night in Nanaimo as the Kelowna Falcons fell 6-4 to the NightOwls after a walk-off homerun in the bottom of the ninth inning.

After giving up a run in the first inning, the Falcons bats came alive in the third scoring three times to take the lead. Garet Crenshaw knocked in Jonas Salk on fielder’s choice before Trey Duffield came up with a massive two-out, two-run double to bring home Griffin Palfrey and Crenshaw.

The NightOwls would tie the game in the fourth with a pair of runs off starter Sam Hill.

As the game headed into the bottom of the eighth, the fireworks would begin. First, the NightOwls took the lead with a single run off reliever Koen van’t Klooster (pictured). Then in their next at bats, the Falcons tied it in the top of the ninth when Konner Palmeira drove home Luke Solis with a single.

Unfortunately for the Falcons and van’t Klooster they couldn’t hold down the home side. Brandon Nicoll reached on an error, then two batters later Bryce Johnson homered on an 0-1 pitch for the walk-off and the victory.

Van’t Klooster suffered the loss even though he struck out 10 batters over 5.1 innings of work.
Despite the loss the Falcons didn’t lose any ground on the final playoff spot, as the Wenatchee Applesox also lost on Wednesday night. The Falcons remain three games back with 10 games remaining on the schedule.

Thursday night they will look to rebound and salvage one game this series. First pitch from Nanaimo is set for 6:35pm. Fans can watch the game HERE.

Photo courtesy of Tami Quan Photography

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