The Nanaimo Pirates had the sort of weekend they hope will inspire them to bigger and better things.
The city's B.C. Premier Baseball League club won two of four games at Serauxmen Stadium, losing 9-3 and winning 11-7 against the Whalley Chiefs on Saturday and then losing 4-2 and winning 3-2 against the North Delta Blue Jays the next day.
The weekend finale featured an exciting finish that saw the teams trade leads late before Pirates catcher T.J. Mah hit a walk-off RBI single to score baserunner Connor Jones for the win.
"We stayed positive, stayed up," said Mah. "We weren't out of it till the last out."
It was the sort of drama that has been common at Serauxmen Stadium the past few season.
"It was kind of like the old teams, wasn't it, coming back? It was kind of nice to see," said Doug Rogers, Pirates manager. "All we're looking for now is improvement. Winning two of four, it's not up to the coaches' standards; we don't want it to be up to the players' standards, but it's a sign that we're improving a little bit."
The first game of the weekend was an ugly one, said the manager, as the Pirates made five errors. Offence came from James McDonough, who was 2-for-4 with an RBI, and Shawn Arabsky, who also went 2-for-4.
In the barnburner win, North Rainey was the winning pitcher, throwing a complete game and allowing four earned runs while striking out six. Tristan Olsen had a single, a triple and two RBIs, Zach Diewert hit a single, double, walked twice and scored three runs and Josh Carless-Jones singled, doubled and drove in two runs. Tom Negrin and Garrett Goodall also had two RBIs each and Arabsky doubled and scored three runs.
In Sunday's early game, Aaron Page was 2-for-3 at the plate.
Goodall was the winning pitcher in the walk-off win, throwing a complete game, giving up two earned runs and striking out five.
GAME ON … The Hub City Paving Pirates play rematches against the Jays on Saturday (June 14) on the Lower Mainland and then visit the North Shore Twins on Sunday.
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