Hawks Squeeze Berries in Extras

2026-07-12

A 10th inning 10-9 win gives Edmonton the series

By Larry Read

EDMONTON, AB—The Edmonton Riverhawks took their first ever West Coast League series with the Marion Berries. The Hawks won two of three at RE/MAX Field including the deciding contest Sunday (July 12) 10-9 in ten innings.

The 6,368 fans on hand saw the Riverhawks improve their second half record to 5 and 3 (19-16) overall. The Berries fall to 1-7 in the second half (14-21) overall. The contest started an hour late after a power failure hit most of the downtown core of Edmonton Sunday morning.

The Riverhawks have won 4 of eight-day games they have played in this season and are now 13-6 at home.

“No quit from the hitters and the offense is always really fun,’ stated Riverhawks head coach Jake Lanferman. “Our pitchers need to do a little bit of work on minimizing walks and allowing the opposition to prove themselves as hitters. We really struggled in games two and three of this series.”

The Riverhawks ‘got on the sticks’ early. Bottom of the first tinning, #13 Jason Fox hit a blooper to right field off Marions starter # 31 Colten Amai Nakagwawa. Two batters later, #36 Mitchell Middlemiss found a hole in right center and brought Fox in with a single. Middlemiss was 3 for 3 with a run scored and two runs batted in. Fox went 3 for 6 with two runs scored.

Edmonton started #15 Jack MacIntosh. The Summerland, BC resident was making his West Coast League debut . He got into trouble in the third inning. He walked four straight batters including #33 Colin Linteo who scored the game tying run when #7 Matthew Major walked. That prompted MacIntosh to be removed in place of #41 Trey Nance.

The Riverhawks took the lead back in the bottom of the third. With one out, Middlemiss hit the ball to the warning track in left center winding up with a triple. He promptly scored on a passed ball giving Edmonton a 2-1 advantage.

In the top of the fifth, Nance loaded the bases led by singles from #3 Danny Wideman and #15 Aukai Araujo-Waiau. Wideman was thrown out trying to come home on a fielders choice. Araujo-Waiau was successful though as Nance delivered a wild pitch. The game was tied at 2.

In the bottom of that inning, Edmonton vaulted back into the lead. Fox singled to left field and scored on an RBI single to center by Middlemiss.

The Riverhawks made it 5-2 in the sixth. Initially # 37 Connor Cavnar drove a # 34 Daniel Camou offering deep along the rightfield line for a double. He stole third and then scored on # 39 Chris Parkin’s RBI single to left field. Parkin did his fair share base theft in the inning: stealing second and third before plating on #25 Matt Vanslyke’s sacrifice

The Berries got a run back in the seventh. Linteo walked and scored on an RBI single to right field by Major. And they added three more in the top of the eighth to take the lead. It was an inning where Marion would send nine men to the plate. The visitors were up 6-4.

In the bottom of the 8th, #53 Gianluca Montanero walked and later scored on a wild pitch to tie it up once again at 6-6.

The teams went to extra innings with two runners on base to start. Marion didn’t take long to regain the lead. Major led it off and hit it back to Riverhawks pitcher # 59 Christian Garcia. Garcia went to third to try and get #Araujo-Waiau but his throw was wide and the Berries runner scampered home (7-6) That brough up #18 Karson Barney. He stroked the ball up the middle which brought in Dunning making the score 8-6. The Riverhawks brought in # 7 Jack Becker. However, he threw #22 Gavin Price’s hit ball into center field. That brought in Major from third base to up the count to 9-6.

In the bottom of 10 th: the Riverhawks turn to make the fans cheer. Parkin led it off with a single to right field to load the bases. That brought up Montanaro. He hammered the ball to left field scoring base runners Cavnar and Andrews. Montanario, a catcher/designated hitter from Aurora, Ontario was 2 for 4 with a run scored and two RBI.

Still in the 10th, #32 Jason Green pinch hit and singled to right field which scored Parkin. The score was deadlocked again 9-9. Green would score the winning run when Krull hit the ball to Marion second baseman Lanteo who threw the ball widely to first base.

“It’s hard coming off the bench as a pinch hitter,” Green said. “You just try to do what you can. It was really resilient of us to come back. We didn’t play our best baseball but it was huge for us to come back at that point.”

Becker was the winning pitcher. He was the last of nine Edmonton pitchers. It was his first win of the season as he pitched the last inning. # 16 Lucas Plenert-the sixth Berries pitcher was given the loss. He tossed an inning and a third of three hit ball giving up four runs. He is 3 and 2 on the year.

“We will take the series win,” Lanferman explained. “ It was grindy but we will accept it. This was a huge win for us. In both of our victories, we had comebacks. “

When asked about bringing in pinch runners and hitters in the late innings, Lanferman stated. “We just wanted to put our guys in the best spot to be successful. If we liked a match up better or somebody that has proven it before, we would use them. We tried to give some rest days to guys but that doesn’t mean we can’t utilize them at the end of a game when we need it.”

Lanferman credited Krull’s late performance as another key in the victory.

It was the final game for both squads before the West Coast League all-star break. The home run derby will go July 14th, with the game itself set for July 15th at Wilson’s Group Stadium at Royal Athletic Park in Victoria.

The Riverhawks will be represented by pitchers Carter Fink (Niagara) and # 38 David Sheppard (Utah Tech) along with shortstop # 1 Shiryu Sato (Hawaii) and designated hitter/first baseman # 51 Easton Andrews (Arkansas-Pine Bluff).

“ I am really excited about the experience,” Sheppard said. “I am super thankful for the selection. Victoria is a nice city and I will try and do my best in my one inning of work.” Sheppard is tied for the second most wins in the WCL with 4. He leads Edmonton in strikeouts (35) and innings pitched (30). He returns to Utah Tech for his second season after the all-star game.

Marion players taking part are catcher #11 Martin Serrano (Ohio State), and second base/shortstop/third base # 5 Sawyer Nelson (Loyola Marymount).

Edmonton resumes the back half of the WCL season meeting the Lefties in Port Angeles on Friday, July 17th. Their next home stand starts Monday, July 20th when the Kamloops North Paws pay a visit to RE/MAX Field. It is a 7:05 PM MDT start time.