On a rare weekend of quiet bats for the home side, the Kelowna Sun Devils pitching staff and defense stepped up in a big way.
Despite managing just 11 hits over two games, the Sun Devils shutdown the Cloverdale Spurs to take both ends of a doubleheader Sunday at Edith Gay Park.
With a 13-1 record, Kelowna remains comfortably atop the B.C. midget AAA baseball league.
“When our bats go quiet, our pitchers and defense really take over,” said Sun Devils head coach Rob Law. “Defensively we only committed three errors in total in both games.
“We are getting better every game and once we get some of our key players back from minor injuries, they can get to that next level we are looking for.”
In Game 1, starter Gavin Barrett (4-0, 0.71) delivered another gem with a three-hit shutout in a 3-0 Sun Devils win.
Jaimes Guidon and Spencer Klassen each had a hit and an RBI to pace the Sun Devils who finished with seven hits.
In Game 2, Kelowna generated just four hits but scratched out a 5-2 win.
Kensington Renneberg picked up her first win of the season going three innings. Nathan Ringness-Law took over in the fourth, allowing just two hits, no earned runs and striking out eight to preserve the win.
Hits were hard to come by in another great pitching performance by both teams.
Jaimes Guidon once again led the way with a run-scoring double, while Noah Ringness-Law added a single and two stolen bases.
The Sun Devils now look forward to a well-earned break, before returning to action May 27 and 28 when they take to the road for a pair of twin bills against the South Fraser Giants.
Kelowna will serve as host for the B.C. U18 AAA provincial championship in late July.