The Nanaimo Pirates found a way to bounce back, as usual.
The Hub City Paving Pirates defeated the Victoria Eagles 5-4 on Sunday at Serauxmen Stadium after losing the early game 10-3.
“It was good to see the guys kind of man up…” said Doug Rogers, Pirates manager. “The second game of doubleheaders we usually play better and that’s something we need to correct because we want to start taking series now.”
Rogers said Sam Baker’s steady pitching led the way in Sunday’s win. Baker said Nanaimo’s defence started making more plays as the day went on, and the bats came around.
“I think our team has got a lot of gutsy guys. We’ve got a lot of leaders on the bench,” Baker said.
He struck out six over 6 2/3 and Cole Warken went 3-for-4 at the plate.
In the early game, the Pirates led 3-0 most of the way before things went wrong.
Nanaimo split with the Victoria Mariners the day before on the road, winning 6-5 and then losing 5-1.
North Rainey was the winning pitcher that day, with Shawn Arabsky leading the attack with a single, a double and two runs scored.
In Saturday’s loss, Shane Rogers hit a single and a double.
The Pirates play a tournament in Langley starting Thursday (May 28).
sports@nanaimobulletin.com