Canada Day weekend turned out to be an opportunity lost for the Abbotsford Cardinals.
The Cards won just one of three, and failed to gain any ground in the British Columbia Premier Baseball League playoff race.
Abbotsford opened the weekend in Langley against the second-place Blaze and fell behind early. The Cards trailed 7-0 after four innings and went on to lose 8-2.
The club managed just four hits and pinch hitter Kieren Finn was the only Cardinal to drive in a run. Pitcher Parker Wakelyn was tabbed with the loss.
The Cards returned to the friendly confines of DeLair Park for doubleheader against the Victoria Eagles on Saturday, and a seventh inning rally proved to be too little, too late for the home team.
Abbotsford lost 8-7 to Victoria, and it was a disastrous fourth inning, in which the Cardinals allowed seven runs that sealed the team’s fate. The Cards jumped out to a 5-0 lead, but couldn’t battle back despite scoring a pair of runs in their final at-bat.
Dylan Ohlsen and Kyle Stewart each had two RBIs, with Ohlsen and Massimo Peranio each having a team-high two hits apiece. Starting pitcher Dallas Teichrob was charged with the loss.
The Cards bounced back later that afternoon, beating the Eagles 4-3 with a crucial run in the bottom of the sixth. Abbotsford jumped out to a 3-0 lead after four innings, but Victoria evened the game up in the top of the fifth. Jayson Smith then sent Damiano Palmegiani home on a sacrifice fly to centre field to put the Cards up for good.
Kaiden Cordoso and Palmegiani each had two hits to lead the team. Tasei Yahiro picked up his ninth win of the season after coming on in relief.
Abbotsford’s record sits at 20 wins and 18 losses in BCPBL regular season action, and they sit in seventh place in the 12-team league. The best the Cardinals can hope to finish now is fifth, but that will require a lot of help from other teams.
The top eight teams in the BCPBL qualify for the postseason, which beings on July 15. The final four championship, which runs in Coquitlam, gets underway on July 20 in Victoria.
Meanwhile in the British Columbia Junior Premier Baseball League, the Abbotsford Junior Cardinals return to action today (Wednesday) when they host the North Delta Blue Jays at DeLair Park at 7 p.m. The Cards then host the Coquitlam Redlegs for a doubleheader on Saturday, with games at noon and 2:30 p.m.
The Junior Cardinals have a record of 20 wins and 14 losses, and sit in fifth place in the league. The top eight play-ins for the BCJPBL occur on July 22, with the final four on July 28 in Victoria.
The Junior Cards have six games to go, and the best they can hope to finish is fourth overall.
One win in their remaining six contests will clinch a playoff berth.
For more on both teams, visit abbotsfordcardinals.com.