Victoria, BC

Victoria Traveller's Inn opened their 2004 home schedule against 
Portland DeMarini at Royal Athletic Park this weekend.   On Saturday night, in Norwest League action, Traveller's Inn defeated Portland 3-2 in 10 innings in the opener, then took the nightcap by a 5-1 score.

Saturday, May 15/04
Game 1
R H E
Portland 100 001 000 0 - 2 8 3
Traveller's Inn 002 000 000 1 - 3 7 2
Kevin Careless & Kevin Rasmussen.
Rick Smith & Tyler Werbowski.
Home Run: Port.: Dave Carlton.
Umpires: P - Jim Hubbard, B - Rico Powers.
Time: 2:33 (6:37-9:10 P.M.).

The opening game of the weekend needed three extra innings before
Traveller's Inn could eke out a 3-2 win in front of a crowd of 600 fans.
SS Brian Ree got Portland off to a fast start - he led off the game with a knuckling liner to third which handcuffed 3B Glenn Ormsby and rolled down the left-field line, allowing Ree to advance to second base. After a pair of groundouts, RF Rob Gehrke stroked an RBI single to put Portland ahead 1-0 with Traveller's Inn still to bat. Traveller's Inn claimed the lead with a pair of runs in the bottom of the 3rd inning. C Tyler Werbowski led off with a walk, then moved to third base on a wild pitch and a sacrifice bunt. With two out, Ormsby atoned for his earlier error by plating Werbowski with a single. Another walk put Ormsby in scoring position, and he came around to give the home team the lead when CF Jeff Hurford singled.

On the mound, Rick Smith was pitching a nice game for Traveller's Inn. Portland had chances against him, but Smith had good control all night and, until the 6th inning, kept Portland off the board after that initial unearned run. In the top of the 6th inning, with two out, Portland 1B Dave Carlton caught up to a Smith offering and hammered it over the centre-field fence to tie the game at 2-2. Both Smith and Portland hurler Kevin Careless buckled down and sailed quite easily through the next three innings, until the bottom of the 10th inning. Hurford led off the bottom of the 10th inning by drawing a walk, Careless' 6th walk of the game.

Gerry Kennedy then laid down a sacrifice bunt. The ball was fielded cleanly, but the throw to first base was in the path of the runner (Kennedy) and 2B Brett Breece was unable to hold onto the ball as Kennedy ran through the bag and his arm at the same time. When the play ended, Traveller's Inn had runners at the corners and still nobody out. Careless issued another walk to load the bases, then LF Marc MacDonald punched a liner into right field just out of the reach of RF Rob Gehrke and Hurford trotted home with the winning run. Smith earned the complete-game victory for Traveller's Inn with a 1-walk, 18-strikeout performance. Careless went the distance for Portland, fanning eight batters, but the seven walks he allowed eventually came back to cost him the decision.
 

Game 2
R H E
Portland 001 000 0 - 1 7 2
Traveller's Inn 000 212 x - 5 5 0
Roberto Bahler & Kevin Rasmussen.
Collin McKenzie & Brian Banner.
Home Runs: Port.: Rob Gehrke.
T.I.: Jeff Hurford, Pat Walsh.
Umpires: P - Rico Powers, B - Jim Hubbard.
Time: 2:04 (9:32-11:36 P.M.).
 

The nightcap saw Portland again take the lead only to have Traveller's Inn come back for the 5-1 win. Portland went ahead 1-0 in the top of the 3rd inning when RF Rob Gehrke belted a 2-out solo home run which glanced off CF Jeff Hurford's glove as he tried to reach over the fence to make an acrobatic catch. Traveller's Inn grabbed the lead for good in the bottom of the 4th inning with two unearned runs. 3B Glenn Ormsby and 1B Kevin Bobroske led off the inning by drawing back-to-back walks. After a pop-out, DP Doug Cain lofted a fly ball to left field that was dropped in the swirling wind, and Ormsby just beat the throw to third base, leaving the bases loaded with one out. LF Pat Walsh then slapped what looked like a double-play grounder to short, but a good slide by Cain forced the relay throw to first base to go wide of the base - Ormsby scored on the groundout, and Bobroske followed him home on the error for a 2-1 Traveller's Inn lead. 

Traveller's Inn scored another run with two out in the bottom of the 5th inning when RF Harvey Stevenson singled, moved up on a wild pitch, then scored on Ormsby's single. CF Jeff Hurford led off the bottom of the 6th inning by slamming the first pitch he saw over the fence down the left-field line, then, after a strikeout, Walsh lined the first pitch he saw over the right-centre field fence to put Traveller's Inn ahead 5-1. Collin McKenzie also threw a complete game to earn the win, walking four and striking out 13. Roberto Bahler took the loss for Portland, although he only gave up three earned runs.

Al Duddridge

Scorekeeper