Kacy Clemens snapped a 3-3 tie with a bases-loaded walk in Boise Friday.
The Vancouver Canadians had to put in some overtime to win their sixth consecutive game as they needed 10 innings to down the Boise Hawks 7-3 at Boise Memorial Stadium Friday night.
A throwing error by former Canadian Ryan Metzler at short opened the door for the C’s to rally in the 10th. Metzler’s mistake allowed Matt Morgan to get on base before singles by Reggie Pruitt and Kevin Vicuna—his of the infield variety—loaded the bases for Kacy Clemens. He drew a walk against Boise reliever Mike Bunal to score Morgan with the go-ahead run.
Kevin Vicuna had three hits and scored three times in Vancouver’s victory over Boise Friday.
Pruitt was thrown out on a force play at home by Metzler on a ground ball by Riley Adams but Hawks catcher Austin Bernard threw the ball away trying to complete the 6-2-3 double play at first as the ball went all the way down to the right field corner, allowing Vicuna and Clemens to score. Bernard’s night got worse when his passed ball on a pitch by Kyle Cedotal allowed Adams to cross the plate.
Miguel Burgos entered the game in the bottom half of the 10th and worked around a leadoff single by Cole Anderson with a pair of strikeouts to help him get the final three outs of the ball game.
The winning pitcher was Orlando Pascual who kept the Hawks off the board with three scoreless frames. He retired faced the minimum six batters in the first two innings thanks to Morgan throwing out Anderson trying to steal second to complete the seventh inning. An infield single to short by Sean Bouchard and a catcher’s interference was charged to Morgan to allow Danny Edgeworth to get on base. Morgan would redeem himself by throwing Bouchard out at third after a bunt by Bernard. Pascual proceeded to strike out Daniel Jipping and induce a ground ball to first from Aubrey McCarty to send the game into overtime.
Reggie Pruitt had three hits out of the leadoff spot for the C’s Friday evening.
Vancouver drew first blood when Pruitt began the game with a single up the gut before Vicuna moved him over to third with another base hit. A wild pitch by Hawks starter Rico Garcia allowed Pruitt to score the game’s first run. Any chances of more runs being added on ended when Vicuna was thrown out trying to steal third. They tried to add more runs in the second when Cullen Large doubled with one out and made it to third on a Deiferson Barreto base hit. Barreto would steal second to put two runners in scoring position but Morgan grounded out to first to end that threat.
Donnie Sellers pitched the first three innings against Boise Friday.
C’s starter Donnie Sellers had a double play ball to end the first and got the first two men he faced in the second before a Bernard single, a Jipping walk and a McCarty base hit scored Bernard with Boise’s first run. Morgan would gun down McCarty trying to steal second to conclude that frame.
Vancouver regained the lead in the top of the third when Vicuna singled and made it to second when Bret Boswell was charged with an error for allowing Vicuna to make it to the keystone bag. Adams then doubled with two outs to bring in Vicuna. Adams then made it to third on a wild pitch but Brock Lundquist struck out to leave Adams 90 feet away.
Sellers retired the side in order in the third before Matt Shannon took over in the fourth, stranding Bouchard at second after a one-out single and throwing error by Barreto at third with a pair of inning-ending strikeouts.
Vancouver had two doubles and one single in the fifth but it only resulted in one run and two runners thrown out at the plate. Pruitt doubled with one out and tried to go all the way home after Vicuna reached on a fielder’s choice at short but Metzler threw him out at the plate. While that was going on, Vicuna made it into second. Clemens would double home Vicuna to restore the C’s two-run lead. Adams then singled to right but Clemens was tossed out at the plate by Anderson.
Shannon mowed down the Hawks for a second scoreless inning in the fifth that included another inning-ending K. Brayden Bouchey entered the game in the sixth and the Hawks greeted him rudely when Steven Linkous singled and scored on a Boswell double to cut Vancouver’s lead to a single run. A Metzler bunt advanced Boswell to third and he would score on a base hit by Bouchard to tie the game at 3-3. A walk to Edgeworth pushed Bouchard into scoring position but Bouchey was bailed out when Bernard lined into an 8-4 double play as Pruitt threw to Large at second to double off Bouchard.
Other than a two-out base hit by Norberto Obeso with two-outs in the ninth, Boise kept Vancouver off the board before the C’s rallied in the 10th. Pruitt and Vicuna had three hits apiece in the first two spots in the batting order while Adams and Large had two each. Clemens reached twice with a hit and a walk. The C’s were 2-for-9 in the RISP category, leaving six men on base.
C-Notes
It appears there is more roster shuffling in the works. This story by Steve Ewen in The Vancouver Province suggests righthander Kyle Weatherly is on his way to the Lansing Lugnuts. There is also speculation from Ewen on where 2017 Blue Jays first round pick Logan Warmoth will end up. Will the North Carolina Tar Heels shortstop actually make it to Vancouver or will he be heading to Lansing instead? The other scenario has Warmoth heading to the West Coast and Kevin Vicuna getting bumped up to Lansing instead. Warmoth is currently playing in the Gulf Coast League. There is no word on whether Nate Pearson—the Jays other first round pick this year—will eventually head to Vancouver. As of now, the College of Central Florida product has not been assigned to a minor league affiliate yet.
2016 C’s first baseman David Jacob has finally been assigned to a team for 2017 as he will begin the year again with the GCL Blue Jays. He started last year in the GCL before getting a two-game trial with the C’s in which he hit .300.
The Northwest League transactions column shows outfielder Lance Jones has retired. The 2015 36th-round pick of the Jays hit .423 in eight games with Vancouver this season after spending part of last year with the C’s. All the best to the former Southern University Jaguar in his future endeavours.
Vancouver—with a three game lead over Tri-City for first place in the North—has three more games in Boise before heading back home. All games are at 6:15 pm Pacific and can be heard at CanadiansBaseball.com.
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