NANAIMO, B.C. — The playoff push just got real.
The Nanaimo NightOwls made a statement that the last six regular season games are going to be must-watch baseball by completing a three-game series sweep over visiting Port Angeles, trouncing the Lefties 12-2 at historic Serauxmen Stadium on Wednesday night.
The NightOwls pounded out 12 hits, and the Lefties helped by making four errors, in improving Nanaimo’s second-half record to 12-9 and within shouting distance of the automatic home-field-advantage playoff berth for having the North Division’s best record in the latter half of the season.
Nanaimo won the first two games of the Port Angeles series in a doubleheader on Tuesday, necessitated by a rainout on Monday.
The NightOwls are on a three-game win streak and have won four of their last six to get to the .500 mark at 24-24.
The hot bat continues to belong to Taiwanese second baseman Hsu He-Chieh, who was 3-3 with a double, triple, run and RBI. Aaron Marsh was 2-3 with three runs driven in, Sammy Kahler was 2-5 with a double and three runs scored, Wylie Waters was 2-4 with three RBIs, Drew Rutter was 2-5 with three driven in.
The NightOwls ran away with the game with three runs in the fifth, four in the sixth, and three more in the seventh. With scoring 12 runs, the NightOwls still managed to strand 11 runners, an indication of how effective hitters were at getting on base.
The start on the mound by Joshua Torres set the tone, going five innings and giving up two runs, while striking out seven. Jake Schumacher came on for two impressive innings before Fareed Ahmed and David Stewart posted clean innings, Stewart with a couple of strikeouts, to close out the game.
Where does that leave the playoff hunt? The NightOwls (12-9 in the second half and 24-24 overall) are two games back of Wenatchee for that second-half title — and Nanaimo travels to Wenatchee on Friday for games that evening, Saturday evening, and Sunday afternoon, and a chance to make up ground with head-to-head matchups at Paul Thomas Sr. Field.
The other target is the Edmonton Riverhawks, who have fallen two games in a row in Victoria, can still be reeled in by the NightOwls for a wildcard berth — especially since the Riverhawks close their season with seven more road games, and three of those are next Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday in Nanaimo, the last regular season games for both teams.
