North Champions
- Updated: August 13, 2018
The Kelowna Falcons used a three-run home run from Dan Pruitt, a four-run second inning and a resilient pitching effort to help them to a 7-6 victory over the Bellingham Bells and crown them North Division Champions in the West Coast League.
Pruitt’s three-run homer in the 1st inning plus nine batters coming to the plate in the 2nd, anchored by a two-run single from Garret Kelly was all the offence the Falcons needed as Kelowna advanced to their first WCL Final since 2015 and will take on the Corvallis Knights.
The Falcons opened the game well in the 1st inning, getting runners on second and third base for Dan Pruitt, who smacked his second home run in as many nights as the three-run shot to left field gave the Falcons a 3-0 lead, scoring first for the first time in the series.
Kelowna’s offence continued their attack in the 2nd inning, sending nine batters to the plate in the frame and scoring four times. Davis Todosichuk drove in a run with an RBI single before Taylor Wright put the Falcons ahead by a 5-0 score on a sacrifice fly.
The scoring in the inning was not over for Kelowna as Garret Kelly lined a two-run single to center field to push the Falcons lead to 7-0 in the game, the largest lead of any team in the series.
The Bells has a big response in the bottom of the 2nd inning to try and keep their season alive, sending 10 batters to plate and scored five runs on seven hits, with the big hit being a two-run single from Ernie Yake in the inning helped Bellingham get within two runs as they cut the Falcons lead to 7-5.
Both pitching staffs took over from there as Trevor DeLaite entered the game for Bellingham and limited the Falcons to just four hits after the third inning while Trevor Brigden settled into the game nicely for Kelowna after the 2nd inning, going 5 innings in the game.
One of the biggest points in the game came in the 6th inning as Kellan Richards took over with the bases loaded and no one out, giving up a run on a fielder’s choice but getting out of the jam with the Falcons still ahead 7-6.
Richards pitched the 7th cleanly for Kelowna before Matt Voelzke came on in the 8th inning, giving up a lead off single before stranding the runner at second base to keep the lead intact.
Voelzke came on in the bottom of the 9th for Kelowna, retiring the Bells in order and finishing the game with a strikeout of Dusty Stroup to give the Falcons a 7-6 win and the North Division Championship.
Brigden picked up the win for the Falcons, pitching in five innings allowing six runs with four walks and four strikeouts while Bells reliever Chris Micheles was saddled with the loss, going 0.2 innings allowing two runs.
The Falcons will play in their final game of the season at Elks Stadium as they host the South Division Champion Corvallis Knights on Tuesday night. First pitch of the opening game of the West Coast League Championship goes at 6:35 PM with tickets available at the Falcons website or at the door ahead of the opening pitch of the game.
Related Posts
Sponsors
