D'Backs split with Blacksox

The Vernon ANAF Diamondbacks hosted the Kamloops Black Sox on Saturday at Marshall field.  Game 1 went to the Black Sox 11-0 as Vernon struggled to find their bats and made costly mental errors on the basepaths and in the field.

Game 2 was a different story.  Vernon sent their ace, Kyle Anderson, to hill who threw his second complete game in as many starts.  Anderson fanned 4 and gave up 6 hits in the 7-3 win.  "I felt good.  I hit my spots and felt I threw hard.  My defence was flawless behind me" (Kyle Anderson). 

In the 1^st inning, Geoff Cleaveley denied Kamloops a run by ending the inning with a sensational diving catch in left field.  That seemed to spark the D'Backs as they scored twice in their half of the first.  One of the runs was on the sole effort of Pete Ortman who smacked a ball in the right field corner, then turned on the jets for an in the park home run.  Josh Wade drove in Ryan Boe with a 2 out double to add to his RBI total.

Vernon continued to pour it on, scoring 3 more times in the 3rd with RBI from Oggie Ortman, Wade, and McInnis.  Pete Ortman would then collect RBI in the 4^th and 7^th to give the ANAF Diamondbacks the win, 7-3.  The newly acquired Jarrod Sochan and Ron Ashby picked up their first hits of the season for Vernon.

With the conclusion of the weekend, the OMBL regular season comes to a close with Vernon finishing in 3^rd.  The D'Backs will travel to Trail next weekend to tune up for the OMBL playoffs on July 17, 18, and 19.

Vernon will host this year's OMBL playoffs at Marshall field.  The first game goes at 5:30pm on Friday night (17^th) when Vernon hosts the last place Black Sox.  A full weekend schedule can be found at www.vernondbacks.com.  There will be games going on all weekend and we hope to see our fans come out to support us.  There will be a beer garden and concession all weekend.  On Saturday night, the D'Backs newest sponsor, the Army Navy Air Force will hold a banquet dinner for all the teams.  Photo courtesy Lisa Vandervelde/Vernon Morning Star.