Riverhawks post season berth in limbo, drop 2nd straight to Falcons

2026-08-02

Kelowna succeeds by another late-inning surge

By Larry Read

KELOWNA, BC—You can’t say the 2026 version of the Edmonton Riverhawks don’t have a flare for the dramatics. Many times this West Coast League season, the Riverhawks have had to battle back from deficits or fight through the elements. When it comes to whether or not they will secure a WCL North Division post season berth, their fans will have to wait until the final three games of the season to find out.

The Riverhawks dropped the second of three games against the Falcons in Kelowna as they fell 10-8 at Elks Stadium on Sunday (Aug 2). The defeat dropped Edmonton’s record to 27-24. Kelowna improved to a 27-24 record as well. With two playoff berths up for grabs, the Riverhawks are 13-12 for the second half. Nanaimo—who beat Port Angeles 8-0 on Sunday have moved into the third playoff position. The NightOwls are 28-23 overall and 13-11 in the second half. Victoria HarbourCats were shut out 5-0 by Bellingham on Sunday. The Bells—who have won their last eight in a row and secured the second North Division berth on Friday, are 34-17 (15-9 in the second half). Victoria is 26-25 (12-12 in the second half).

Back to the Sunday tilt against The Falcons: things started off well for Edmonton. They scored three runs in the top of the first inning. The Falcons scored a run in the third, added three in the fourth to go ahead 4-3.

The Hawks had a big fifth inning when they scored five runs on three hits powered by a #19 Luke Krull double who scored both #36 Mitchell Middlemiss and #32 Jason Green. The inning saw Edmonton load the bases before a Middlemiss walk brought in #13 Jaxon Fox to tie the game at four. #32 Justin Heffler scored the 5-4 run on a sacrifice fly to centerfield by catcher #53 Gianluca Montanaro. That inning put the Riverhawks up 8-4.

Kelowna though, battled back with two runs in the bottom of that fifth inning, added one in the sixth and then capped things off with three runs in the bottom of the eighth inning. In that eighth, # 8 Finley Buckner hit a three run homer off Riverhawks reliever #12 Riley Starko to score the winning and insurance runs.

Buckner led the Falcons offensively going 2 for 4 with four runs batted in and two runs scored. #33 Jadin Moreno was 1 for 4 with two runs batted in and a run scored. Moreno hit a two run dinger in the fourth.

Krull was 1 for 4 for the Riverhawks with two RBI and a run scored. Fox was 1 for 3 with two runs scored. Middlemiss went 1 for 3 with three RBI and a run scored. Heffler was 1 for 4 with two runs scored. #51 Easton Andrews went 1 for 4 at the dish and had a run batted in.

#25 Cade Webber, the third of four Falcon pitchers was the winner. He is 2 and 0 on the year as he pitched three innings of one hit ball striking out five. # 34 Aiden Ennis collected his third save striking out one in an inning of work.

Starko saw his record fall to 1 and 1. He pitched two and two thirds innings surrendering four runs on five hits and striking out 1.

“It was great to get off to a good start,” said Riverhawks head coach Jake Lanferman about Sunday’s contest. “ Unfortunately, our bullpen kept falling behind. Kelowna has some good hitters who can do damage and that is exactly what they did.”

Looking ahead to the Bellingham series: the Bells hold a 17-13 advantage historically over Edmonton in head-to-head meetings. This year though, the Riverhawks have won all three games against Bellingham. Game one tomorrow (Mon Aug 3) has a 7:35 PM MDT start time. You can watch the game on WCT TV https://wcleague.watch.pixellot.tv/.

Coach Lanferman knows his club in tough against the Bells, who have qualified for the WCL post season for a sixth straight season. “It’s a tough matchup for sure, but all year we’ve been a team that does a good job at matching the competition on the other side.”

Edmonton will send # 7 Jack Becker to the hill in game one on Monday. Becker has made eight appearances this season and carries a record of 1 and 1 into the contest. His earned run average is 0.67 in 13.1 innings pitched. He has 13 strikeouts.

The Falcons will finish the season with three games in Port Angeles against the Lefties.

Home Playoff Tickets:

Riverhawks season’s ticket holders are reminded of the possibility of the team hosting playoff games August 7-9th. All 2026 season’s ticket holders (suites and grandstand) will receive complimentary ticket access to their seats for any potential home games. Access will be provided on a game-by-game basis as playoff games are confirmed. Season ticket holders will receive a complimentary ticket officer to claim their seats within a specified window, while season suite holders will have their tickets directly loaded into their accounts. The Riverhawks ticketing team can be reached by emailing tickets@gohawks.ca.