By Pierre LaBossiere
Peninsula Daily News
KELOWNA, B.C. — A pair of first-inning home runs from Jake Portaro and Joey Galeno helped spur the Port Angeles Lefties to their second straight win 5-2 over the Kelowna Falcons.
Sunday night’s win evened the Lefties’ record at 2-2. The Lefties returned to Port Angeles for a six-game homestand that began Monday night.
While the Lefties used speed on the base paths to beat the Falcons Saturday night, they used power Sunday night. Third baseman Portaro hit a solo shot to give the Lefties a quick 1-0 lead just minutes into the game. After a Sean Roby single, first baseman Galeno smacked a two-run home run to make it 3-0.
The Lefties added two more runs in the third inning. Roby hit a single, then Marten Pauwells walked. Galeno picked up his third RBI of the game with a single, driving in Roby. Pauwells later came in on a sacrifice fly by John Burghardt.
From that point on, Lefties’ pitchers Nick Bonniksen and Luke Freely slammed the door, allowing just two earned runs on five hits. They combined for eight strikeouts and four walks, and they also got solid defense behind them as the Lefties played errorless ball. Bonniksen went 5 1/3 innings to pick up the win.
Galeno ended the game 3 for 4 with 3 RBIs, a stolen base and a run scored. He is now batting .417 on the season. Roby was 2 for 4 with two runs scored. Portaro, Pauwells and Hooper also all had hits.
The Lefties play Kelowna in the second of a three-game series at 6:35 p.m. today at Civic Field (Monday night’s game was after press deadline). More than 3,000 people attended the Lefties’ inaugural game Thursday. This Thursday, the Walla Walla Sweets make their first trip to Port Angeles.
Port Angeles 5, Kelowna 2
PA 3 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 5 8 0
Kelowna 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 2 5 2
WP: Bonniksen LP: Garica
Pitching
PA — Bonniksen 5.1IP, 4H, 1ER, 4K, 1BB; Freely 3.2IP, 1H 1ER, 4K, 3BB.
Kelowna — Garica 8IP, 5H, 5ER, 3K, 1BB; Meiklejohn, 1IP, 0H, 1BB.
Hitting
PA — Galeno 3-4, HR, 3RBI, SB; Roby 2-4, 2R; Portaro 1-5, HR, RBI; Pauwells 1-3, R, BB; Burghardt 0-3, RBI; Hooper 1-3.
Kelowna — Wright 2-3, R; Gumik 1-4; Daniels 1-4, Todosichuk 1-4, R, RBI.
