KAMLOOPS, B.C. — For the Nanaimo NightOwls to reach their first berth in the West Coast League playoffs, the formula is simple — start winning series, home or road.
The first step is complete but a bonus is within grasp after a 6-4 come-from-behind victory in toasty conditions over the host Kamloops NorthPaws. The NightOwls can sweep the series in the Sunday evening (6:35pm, time adjusted for heat.
The NightOwls scored the last five runs of the game — two in the seventh, three in the eighth — and outhit the NorthPaws 10-8 one night after Nanaimo took the first game of the series 2-1.
The decisive inning with three runs was the product of working walks, a costly Kamloops error, and some sharp baserunning.
Sammy Kahler scored three runs and Joshua Torres was 2-5.
Caden Pearlman went four strong innings with two hits allowed and five strikeouts, giving up one unearned run.
Hayden Cuthbertson, Richtter Castillo and Paul Montgomery, who earned the save, held the NorthPaws scoreless in relief efforts.
The NightOwls and NorthPaws will play again tonight in Kamloops, in what are expected to be very hot conditions, and the game originally slated for Sunday afternoon has been moved to a 6:35pm start in order to mitigate the heat factor.
From there, the NightOwls head northeast to Edmonton and a Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday battle with the Riverhawks, one of the teams Nanaimo will want to get ahead of in the very tight North Division standings.
The next home action for the NightOwls, after a Thursday off day, is hosting the Bellingham Bells at historic Serauxmen Stadium for a Friday-Saturday-Sunday series. Every game counts with how tight the standings are for playoff positions with three spots from the North still to be determined.
