NANAIMO, B.C. — You know what’s better than winning? Winning twice in the same evening.
For the first time in their three-year history, the Nanaimo NightOwls swept both ends of a doubleheader, coming out victorious by scores of 4-1 and 8-5 over the visiting Port Angeles Lefties in games played Tuesday evening at historic Serauxmen Stadium.
The results improve the NightOwls to 11-9 in the second half, and 23-24 overall, and keeps Nanaimo very much in the hunt for post-season action in the West Coast League. The losses dropped Port Angeles to 10-10 in the second half and 16-31 overall, making it harder for the Lefties to find a way into the playoffs.
In the first game, the NightOwls raced out to a 3-0 lead and the pitching trio of Moosa Nonomiya, Lawson Minshew and Li Sih-te limited the Lefties to four hits and three walks.
Sammy Kahler was 2-3 with a double, RBI and run scored to lead the offense,
In the second game, a double by Cole Carmichael was the key swing in a four-run second inning that gave the NightOwls a 4-1 lead.
Second baseman Hsu He-Chieh’s double in the third scored two more runs and Nanaimo was out in front 6-2, on the way to an easy win in Game 2. He-Chieh was 3-3 with three runs driven in.
Jake Fleury continued his run of strong starts, going six innings, scattering seven hits and striking out six — with no walks. Ryan Inouye pitched the final inning.
The NightOwls have four home regular season games remaining — one of them is Wednesday night, 6:35pm first pitch, with the final game of this series with the visiting Port Angeles Lefties.
The NightOwls then go on the road on Friday to Wenatchee, the final road trip of the season, and a three-game set that runs Friday, Saturday and Sunday, the final game an afternoon affair.
The NightOwls are back at Serauxmen on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday with the Edmonton Riverhawks — and both teams fighting for playoff spot and positioning.
