Cardinals Show No Signs of Slowing Down Against the Padres; West Coast Pounds Out 16 Hits En Route To a Blowout Victory Over North Shore

The West Coast Cardinals showed no signs of a "tournament hangover" in this one, the championship loss against Okotoks left a bitter taste in their mouth and they were eager to shake that off with a clean win against North Shore. Tonight's Wednesday night showdown turned out to be more of a beatdown as the Cardinals pounded out 16 hits including 5 extra-base hits.

CARDINALS 11 NorthShore 2

With 3 of the 4 season games vs. North Shore being played at Bird, North Shore was home for this game. Gatzke got the ball to start in this contest, the slim lefty did a good job of shutting down a Delta lineup in round-robin play at the 2017 RCBA Queen Victoria Invitational. Gatzke was looking to do the same, but ran into early trouble as Turnbull and Sugi both hit hard singles to lead off the ballgame, Turnbull and Sugi would then combine to execute a double steal after a Powell strikeout. Hendriks would then single through the left side to plate Turnbull, but Yam would make a mistake by agressively sending Sugi to challenge Shan's arm in left field there was no cut-off man in sight, the throw was on-line and two hopped the plate as Laroche picked the ball up and tagged Sugi for the second out of the inning, Baybay would then try to take 3rd but the Padres also threw him out as just like that Gatzke who was on the ropes was out of the inning due to some poor baserunning and coaching decisions. Sugi got the start for West Coast in this one, who were wearing their red button-ups for the first time in almost a month since losing to Richmond back on April 29th. Sugi would retire the Padres' side in order in the first with ease. 1-0 Cards after 1.

With Edmonds now on the hill for the Shore, Turnbull would get the Cards going in the 3rd inning with his second hit of the ballgame, a double to the left field corner. Sugi would then get jammed but hit a slow roller to the second baseman, Yam would aggressively send Turnbull to score from 2nd on the infield single, while everyone was occupied with the play at 1st, Turnbull would cross home uncontested. 2-0 Cards after 3. Hendriks would lead off the 4th with a single and would watch the two batters after him strikeout then flyout respectively. Although there was 2 out, the Cardinals wouldn't let Edmonds back in the dugout without putting a hurt on, back-to-back walks loaded the bases, Crozier would plate 1 with a single, Turnbull would record his 3rd hit of the day with an RBI single making it 4-0. Then the big blow, with 2 outs, full count on Sugi and runners off on the pitch, Sugi lined a shot to left-centre clearing the bases for a 3 RBI double, his 4th RBI of the day. 7-0 Cards after 3 1/2 innings. Sugi seemed to be settling in on the mound; however, a leadoff error by the Cardinal first baseman and a two out by the Cardinal shortstop brought up Edmonds with runners on the corners and 2 outs. Edmonds got himself some revenge by smacking a double plating two runs to bring the Shore back within 5, but that's as close as they would come.

Noel Blackwood would come in to relieve Edmonds, the first pitch delivered by Blackwood would be deposited into the forest as Baybay mashed a meatball well over the left field fence at Bird breaking branches on its way down for his first home run of the year. Two batters later, Kang would hit an RBI double plating Hendriks. 9-2 Cards after 5. Sugi would record his 4th hit of the ballgame with a double to left, he and Powell would come around to score on a hard hit ball by Baybay that almost went through the shortstop, that 2 RBI single made it 11-2 for the Cardinals. Miles would come in for the 6th and 7th to put this game to bed. 

Offensive Standouts: Sugi with a 4 hit, 4 RBI, 4 SB night; Turnbull and Hendriks both with 3 hits while Kang also recorded a multi-hit night.

Whalley Prep visits Bird Field Saturday evening for a friendly exhibition game, West Coast will get a chance to pitch the guys who haven't got a lot of innings this year and give the everyday starters a rest. The Cardinals will play Armistead's Padres two more times, back-to-back starting Sunday a 10am start at Eldon Park. The schedule starts to lighten up for West Coast but with a number of exhibition games scheduled throughout the month of June, it should keep West Coast busy enough until July where all-important tournaments and provincials will fill the schedule.