A three-hit shutout from Jake Polancic highlighted a weekend which saw the Langley Blaze win three of four games.
Polancic struck out seven and walked just three in facing just two batters over the minimum as the Blaze turned a trio of double plays in the 8-0 win over the Nanaimo Pirates on Saturday at Nanaimo’s Serauxmen Stadium.
The Blaze sit at 10-7 in the B.C. Premier Baseball League.
Offensively, Austin Hardie had a two-run home run, part of a two-hit, three-RBI game.
Cole Cantelon had an RBI double and Quintin Nakamura, Jake Kristensen and Corey Jackson each drove in one run apiece.
The Pirates had won the opener of the doubleheader, 2-1 in 11 innings.
Rhys Cratty had the lone Langley RBI.
Langley returned to McLeod Park on Sunday, sweeping the Parksville Royals by scores of 3-2 and 11-1.
Trailing 2-0 in the third inning of the opening game, the Blaze got a two-run double from Dawson Gray. Two batters later, Gray scored on a passed ball for the winning run.
Nick Iverson threw a complete game five-hitter, allowing just a pair of unearned runs while striking out six.
Game two was a one-sided rout with only five innings played.
Daniel Berg had a pair of doubles and three RBIs while Gray and Cantelon each drove in another pair of runs. Yi-An Pan and Aiden Mordecai had an RBI apiece.
Jackson earned the win, striking out eight over five innings and allowing just one run on three hits.
Next up for Langley is a home game May 17 against the Abbotsford Cardinals.
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The Langley Junior Blaze saw their three-game win streak come to an end as they dropped the second part of a doubleheader with the North Shore Twins.
The U16 baseball teams squared off at McLeod Park on Saturday with Langley winning the opener 9-6 before losing the rematch 3-2. The Blaze lead the B.C. Junior Premier Baseball League with a 9-3 record.
The Blaze used a six-run third-inning to break open the first game.
Jayden Knight had at two-run double in the inning while Michel Saulter and Justin Lanigan both came through with RBI singles. Saulter and Terrell Rogers both had two RBIs in the contest.
Langley would add another three runs in the next inning which would prove to be the difference as the Twins scored the game’s final four runs in the 9-6 game.
Colby Ring picked up the win, allowing six runs — but just two earned — while finishing one out short of a complete game.
Game two saw the Twins score three runs in the top of the fifth inning to erase a 1-0 deficit in what would turn out to be a 3-2 final score.
Brendan Wining and Daniel Martin had a double apiece while Lanigan had the lone RBI.
Brett Jackson was tagged with the loss, allowing all three runs, but just two of them earned.
He struck out five in 5.1 innings of work.
Langley’s next league game is not until next week (May 26) when they host the White Rock Junior Tritons at McLeod Athletic Park.