PORT ANGELES — The Lefties got great pitching from starter John Vaara but the bullpen couldn’t hold a 3-1 lead and Port Angeles lost to Kelowna 6-3 on Friday, the team’s eighth loss in a row.
Vaara (Port Angeles High School, Edmonds Community College) was outstanding, going five innings, allowing five hits and one earned run. He walked three and struck out two. But the bullpen allowed eight hits, three walks and five earned runs over the final four innings to let the lead slip away. Vaara improved his season ERA to 2.57.
Jeremy Giesegh (Cal State, San Bernardino) remained hot for the Lefties at the plate, going 2-for-4 with a double to raise his season batting average to an even .400, second best in the West Coast League.
Ethan Kodama (University of California, Berkeley) was 2-for-4 with a three-run home run in the fifth inning. But that was the only scoring Port Angeles could manage as the Lefties were held to seven hits.
Despite the eight-game losing streak, the Lefties have been in nearly every game until the late innings. Two of those losses were by one run and another was by two runs. Another loss came when Corvallis scored three runs in the ninth.
Port Angeles (3-13) played Kelowna (6-10) on Saturday night and play the Falcons again at Civic Field at 1:35 p.m. Sunday.
Kelowna 6, Port Angeles 3
Kel. 0 0 0 0 1 2 1 2 0 — 6 13 0
PA 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 — 3 7 1
Pitching
PA — Vaara 5 IP, 5 H, ER, 3 BB, 2 K; Schumann IP, 2 H, 2 ER; Joyce I.1 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 3 Bb; Wike 0.2 IP, H; Bebaout IP, 2 H.
Kelowna — Luna 4 IP, 3 H, BB, K; Sinclair 3 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, BB; Rattie IP; Godard IP, BB, K.
Hitting
PA — Giesegh 2-4, 2B; Kodama 2-4, HR, R, 3 RBI; Arriaga 1-2, R.
Kelowna — Gray Jr. 2-5, 2B, 2 R; Devenny 3-5, RBI; Flores 2-4, 2B, BB; Pena 2-4, 2B, R, BB; Sewell 2-5, HR, 2B, R, RBI.
