NANAIMO, B.C. — For a time, it looked like an oh-for-Owls evening.
The Nanaimo NightOwls used a big late rally that included a home run from Ayden Hadley on the ninth inning to post an 8-4 non-league win over a friendly-fire Nanaimo Caged Athletics Selects on a perfect-weather Tuesday night at Serauxmen Stadium.
The Selects, who had last bats in the game to recognize the full home-town flavor of the roster, had a 4-0 lead at one point, but could not hold it, as the NightOwls, who have plenty of local and regional players, chipped away late with two in the seventh and blew it open with a ninth inning rally that gained momentum from an Ayden Hadley home run off former NightOwls pitcher Garrett Goodall to open the ninth inning.
Some of the fun of the game included brothers Aaron and Jayden Marsh on opposite teams, and former NightOwls such as Goodall, Brandon Nicoll and Markus Steen (who got the first hit in NightOwls history in 2022) facing their old squad.
Eight NightOwls pitchers combined to scatter 12 hits with no walks and 11 strikeouts. Newcomer Issac Araiza of San Diego State earned the win in relief. The Selects made five errors behind pitchers that included twins Alex Rogers and Brady Rogers.
Cole Carmichael had a key double in the ninth inning explosion, driving a ball into the right-centre game.
This is the WCL all-star break and the game, featuring four NightOwls (Nevan Noonan, Wylie Waters, Riley Paulino and Adison Mattix) goes Wednesday night at Joe Martin Field in Bellingham. The NightOwls have one more non-league game against the Nanaimo Caged Athletics Selects, a team gathered for exhibition games using current and former star college players from the mid-island area — that game goes Thursday night at Serauxmen Stadium, a 6:35pm start time.
On Friday morning, the NightOwls embark on a six-game road trip that takes the club to Kamloops for three games, Friday-Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon, then up to Edmonton to face the Riverhawks on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday evenings.
The team gets Thursday off next week before welcoming the Bellingham Bells to Serauxmen Stadium.
