Kelowna Falcons

Double Dip Victory

KELOWNA, B.C. – The Kelowna Falcons used a come-from-behind effort for a pair of 3-2 victories on a doubleheader Saturday at Elks Stadium against the Walla Walla Sweets. 

GAME #1

The Falcons opened the game with a great chance to get on the scoreboard, pushing runners on the corners with one out before Marvcus Guarin grounded into an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play and kept the game scoreless before Kelowna got back to work in the 2nd inning to take the lead. 

A first pitch lead off triple from Brandon Hupe started the inning off before James Shimashita drove him home on the next pitch with an RBI double down the right field line on a high chopper for his 6th RBI of the season to give the Falcons a 1-0 lead. 

The inning wasn’t done there for the Falcons as Johnny Carr popped a single into right field that brought Shimashita into score from second and pushed the lead to 2-0 after two innings of play. 

Garner Spoljaric got the start for the Falcons and was terrific to start, sitting down the first six Sweets he faced in the game before working out of a jam in the 3rd inning to leave runners on the corners and keep the Falcons lead at 2-0. 

Ezra Samperi extended that advantage with an RBI sacrifice fly to left field to give Kelowna a 3-0 lead in the 3rd inning with Spoljaric working out of a two-on, none-our jam again in the 4th to keep the Falcons ahead. 

Walla Walla got on the scoreboard in the 5th inning as Brock Ephan jumped on a fastball and hit a home run to right center field to cut the Falcons lead to 3-1 and conclude the day for Spoljaric, who ends up throwing 4.1 innings allowing just a run on three hits with three strikeouts. 

The Sweets closed the gap in the 7th and final inning, loaded the bases with no one out and bringing a run in but Kristian Scott was able to close the door for the Falcons and not allow any other runs to score as the Falcons earned a 3-2 victory in the opening game. 

GAME #2

In the second game of the day, it was the Sweets who would strike first, after stranding a pair of runners on base in the 1st inning, a solo home run off the bat of David Le Boida to right field gave the visitors a 1-0 advantage in the 2nd inning. 

The Sweets would extend their lead in the 3rd inning, getting runners on the corners as Justin Folz drove a ball to left center field that scored Ben Farriss from 3rd base and pushed Walla Walla ahead by a 2-0 score. 

Blake Tritch saw his outing as Falcons starting pitcher come to an end throwing 2.2 innings, allowing two runs on five hits and three strikeouts and also three walks before giving way to reliever Zach Jacobs who collected the final out of the frame. 

Pitching took over from there with Sweets starter Ty Hueckman dealing a great outing, going 4 innings allowing just one hit and no runs, striking out three and walking one before handing the ball to Ben Johnson in the 5th inning. 

The tables turned in the 6th inning for the Falcons, after being held in check offensively for the majority of the night. An error that saw the Falcons get runners on the corners proved to be costly as Cole Cummings bounced a single in the infield for his 7th RBI of the season and a 2-1 game. 

Marvcus Guarin hit a ball deep in the hole at shortstop that was a tough play for Parker Price as his throw was offline to first base. The ball sat by the Falcons dugout and a hussling Cummings scored all the way from first base and gave the Falcons their first lead of the game at 3-2. 

Zach Jacobs finished up his outing at four innings allowing no runs with just one hit before Kristian Scott came on to get the final out in the game, striking out Ben Farriss and concluding the doubleheader with another 3-2 victory. 

The Falcons (11-15) look for the sweep against the Sweets (17-10) in the finale of the three-game set and the first half of the season. First pitch on Sunday at Elks Stadium is set for 6:05 PM with tickets available at the Falcons website while also at the gate ahead of the opening pitch.

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