WENATCHEE, Wash. — The Nanaimo NightOwls will finish ninth overall in the West Coast League for the second season in a row. Problem is, in the 16-team league, the best eight records make the playoffs.
The NightOwls, who have put scares into the top WCL squads all season, dropped a 6-3 score Sunday evening to the AppleSox in Wenatchee. The loss ended the playoff hunt that had been the team’s goal.
The NightOwls have been involved in 15 games decided by a run in the final inning and 11 of those ended as walkoff victories — turn the 5-10 record in those suspenseful games around, and the NightOwls are in first place.
The NightOwls are 25-26 overall and 13-11 in the second half. Sunday’s results around the league mean the four North Division playoff clubs will be the AppleSox, Edmonton Riverhawks, Bellingham Bells and the Island rival Victoria HarbourCats. Positioning is still to be determined.
There will be playoff baseball at Serauxmen Stadium in Nanaimo however — the HarbourCats will have to play their home dates in Nanaimo because the City of Victoria promised the field in the capital city to the BC Lions for preparations for a CFL game later in the month. It is expected the HarbourCats will play on Saturday night against an opponent to be determined.
Trailing 4-0 on Sunday, the NightOwls scored three runs in the seventh inning and had a runner in scoring position in the eighth when it was still a one-run game. Wenatchee scored two in the bottom of the eighth to put the game away.
Nanaimo starter Aidan Boice was masterful with five strong innings, striking out seven with no walks, one earned run and just three hits. Paul Montgomery, Fareed Ahmed and David Stewart threw in relief.
Noah Hata had two hits and Kurt Felix had a triple in the seventh inning, one of his two hits.
The NightOwls are now done with road games for the season and have three home games left — Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday will give fans the chance to see this team one last time and thank them for their hard work. This was a scrappy NightOwls team with character all the way through, never giving up.
