It was a bittersweet—but mostly celebratory—weekend of baseball for the Kelowna Sun Devils.
The defending B.C. champs saw their season-long unbeaten streak come to an end, but then made amends by clinching top spot in the 18U AAA for the second straight year.
On Saturday in Cowichan, Kelowna (30-2-1) suffered its first two league losses of 2018 at the hands of the Mustangs.
In the opener, the Sun Devils managed just six hits in a 6-5 loss. Jackson Sowerby and Matt Fuchs had two hits apiece for the Devils who scored three times in the seventh inning to make the game close.
In Game 2, Ethan Soroka tossed five innings of three-hit ball with seven strikeouts but the offense again came up short in a 3-1 loss to Cowichan (25-8).
“He (Soroka) was fantastic,” coach Rob Law said of the Sun Devils’ starter. “Errors and lack of timely hitting were the clubs downfall.”
Offensively Tyson Lamb(.446 avg) and rookie sensation Blake Badger had two hits apiece.
On Sunday in Victoria, Kelowna rebounded to secure top spot in the B.C. 18U AAA circuit with a 7-2 win over the Eagles.
Rookie Brady Renneberg (3-0) went six innings and struck out a season-high 10 batters for the decision. Matt Fuchs led the offense with a single, triple and a RBI, while Jackson Sowerby added a pair of hits.
In the weekend finale, the Sun Devils’ offense supported another solid pitching performance from Nathan Ringness-Law in 10-0 win. Ringness-Law (8-0, 0.28 ERA) struck out seven in the shutout effort.
Brady Renneberg led the attack with a double and four RBIs, while Adam Renneberg also collected a double and an RBI, as the Sun Devils head into the final week of the regular season.
“Now we begin to prepare for the provincial championship,” said Law. “Fine tune a couple of things over our last five games and head into the provincials on a roll.”
The final weekend of the regular season for the Sun Devils has the Victoria Eagles in town on Saturday, July 21, with the Cowichan Valley Mustangs at Edith Gay here to wrap up the schedule on Sunday at Edith Gay Park.
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