NANAIMO, B.C. — The first college-level home run for Kurt Felix went to waste.
The Nevada high school baseball player of the year, a cacher with the Nanaimo NightOwls before he heads to Cal Poly (SLO) in fall, went deep over the left field wall for a two-run shot in the fifth inning on Thursday in a non-league exhibition game played at historic Serauxmen Stadium.
The Nanaimo Selects, a team made up of many current and former college players from the mid-island area, many of whom played for the PBL Pirates, earned a 5-3 victory in the second of two non-league games played this week to provide more baseball value to Nanaimo fans during the WCL all-star break.
The NightOwls outhit the Selects 7-6 but made the only error. The NightOwls scored their three runs in the fifth inning, almost erasing a 4-0 Selects lead.
Taiwanese second baseman Hsu He-Chieh had two hits for Nanaimo.
Former NightOwls infielder Brandon Nicoll had two hits for the Selects, who got quality pitching contributions from Jordan Moffat, Darren Kolk, Steve McKinnon, Liam Goodall and Garrett Goodall.
Cole Carmichael had a strong start on the mound for the NightOwls, with two scoreless innings, including two strikeouts.
The NightOwls now head out on a road trip that will give the team a chance to keep pace for the second half North Division championship, with three games in Kamloops starting on Friday, and three games in Edmonton on Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday before a day off next Thursday. The next home action for the NightOwls is a weekend home set against the division-rival Bellingham Bells next Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
