The University of the Fraser Valley baseball club played the Prairie Baseball Academy Dawgs tough on the road, but the seven-time defending CCBC league champs nevertheless earned a weekend sweep of the Cascades in Lethbridge, Alta.
Three of the four games on the Cascades’ longest road trip of the season were decided by two runs or less – Saturday’s games ended 13-12 and 9-7 in favour of the Dawgs, and the hosts completed the sweep by scores of 12-3 and 4-3 on Sunday.
The UFV club wraps up the CCBC regular season in fourth place with an 11-15 record, while the Dawgs sealed the league’s best record at 21-7. The league championship tournament runs this week in Kamloops.
DAWGS 13, CASCADES 12
The opening game of the weekend was a heartbreaker for the visitors. UFV scored the go-ahead run in the top of the ninth when Riley Jepson came through with a single and Brandon Ludwig scored on a PBA error. But the Dawgs scored twice in the bottom of the inning to steal the victory. With the bases loaded and one out, Chris Ewanik smacked a two-run single for the walk-off win. Matt Legg (four RBI) and Josh Berenbaum (three RBI) came through with clutch hits for the Cascades, and Markus Gregson went 3-for-5.
DAWGS 9, CASCADES 7
UFV built a 7-4 lead after exploding for four runs in the top of the fourth, but the Dawgs rallied for the victory behind a four-run inning of their own (bottom of the sixth). Berenbaum had a big game at the top of the Cascades’ batting order, going 2-for-5 with three runs and an RBI, and Jepson, Gregson, Brody Vogel and Liam Campbell also contributed two hits apiece.
DAWGS 12, CASCADES 3
PBA plated eight runs in the second inning to turn this game into a rout. Jepson was once again a bright spot offensively, going 2-for-3 with two walks, Colin Kellington banged out three hits, and Dan Rogers drove in a pair of runs.
DAWGS 4, CASCADES 3
The Dawgs pushed the winning run across in the bottom of the eighth, and PBA reliever Kale Penner struck out the side in the top of the ninth to seal the sweep. Stephen Horner had a pair of hits for the Cascades, and Jepson reached base three times (1-for-3, two walks).
UP NEXT
The Cascades are off to the CCBC championship tournament this week in Kamloops. The event consists of a round-robin tourney, with the first-place team advancing directly to the final and the second- and third-place finishers playing a semifinal.
UFV’s schedule is as follows, with all games at Norbrock Stadium unless otherwise noted.
Thursday, May 10
- UFV vs. Okanagan College, 10 a.m.
- UFV vs. Thompson Rivers, 1 p.m.
Friday, May 11
- UFV vs. Calgary, 1 p.m. – Canada Games Field
- UFV vs. Prairie Baseball Academy, 4 p.m.
Saturday, May 12
- UFV vs. Vancouver Island University, 9 a.m.
- Play-in game (if necessary), 9 p.m.
Sunday, May 13
- Semifinal (2nd vs. 3rd), 10 a.m.
- Final (1st vs. semifinal winner), 1 p.m.
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