It was a tough end to a tough road trip for the Trail U18 Orioles on the weekend.
After losing their first two-games to the league leading North Fraser Nationals on Saturday, Trail played a North Shore team Sunday, the same team they had swept in a four-game series at Butler Park in Trail June 17-18.
In Game 1 of the doubleheader, the Orioles were up 3-0 in the bottom of the seventh, with two out and nobody on. However, North Shore rallied to tie it, scoring three runs to force the extra inning.
“We turned a double-play and thought we had the game in the bag, but a couple of infield hits, and a bomb to the fence, and a balk, and all of a sudden it was 3-3,” said Orioles coach Jim Maniago.
After three straight outs to Trail, North Shore then scored on back-to-back doubles to win the game 4-3.
Logan Bradford went seven innings for the Orioles, giving up 11 hits and three runs, while striking out five and giving up no walks. Owen Dickson took the loss coming in for the eighth inning and giving up two hits.
Scott McLaren and Julien Knelsen each had two hits, while Raiden Dobie went 1-for-3 with two RBIs.
A deflated Orioles squad couldn’t muster much offence in the final game of the doublebill, falling 9-1 to the home team.
Trail fell to North Fraser in the opening match up 13-7 and came up short in the second game 9-4. With the wins, the Nationals improve their record to 25-8, and sit a game ahead of Chilliwack for the top seed in the College Prep League.
At 9-24, Trail is chasing North Shore (11-26) and the 10-20 Kamloops River Dogs for the final playoff spot. The Orioles will have a chance to move up the standings when they play a five-game series against Kamloops at Jason Bay Field at Butler Park in Trail this weekend.
“These games are huge for the team,” said Maniago. “We now sit in ninth and need to win some games and get some help to catch up and make playoffs.”
Trail hosts the seventh place Dogs starting with a make up game on Friday at 6 p.m., a doubleheader at 3 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. Saturday, and at 10 a.m. and 12:30 on Sunday.
On the bright side, two Orioles baseball players were chosen to try out for Team B.C. Selects.
Raiden Dobie for U16 and Owen Dickson for U17 stayed for a four-day high performance camp from July 3-6 at Whalley Ballpark in Surrey. The Selects camp will determine which players will represent the province at a Canada wide tournament.
The two were selected after zone camps were held in Trail at Butler Park in April.