Hawks Even Series in Comeback, Hold Playoff Potential

2026-07-29

Riverhawks surge late to battle past Kamloops and take a 7-6 win

By Cody F. Schmidt

The Edmonton Riverhawks looked to bounce back from last night’s loss as they faced off against the Kamloops NorthPaws again. While the Edmonton team took an early lead in the 2nd, the NorthPaws turned it around in the bottom half of the inning then continued the onslaught in the 3rd and 5th. Facing a 6-1 deficit, the Hawks fought back in the 7th and 8th to plate the leading run and turn it over to reliever Bryce Intagliata to finish off a phenomenal 4.2 innings of work. With just a hit allowed to his first batter, Bryce retired every other NorthPaw he faced in order, not allowing any base runners from the 5th inning onwards.

Starter #15 Jack MacIntosh hit the mound in the bottom half and after fielding a foul pop up himself, he surrendered the first hit of the game up the middle. Thankfully, a quick infield tapper secured the frame and stranded Kamloops’ runner.

The Riverhawks earned a bit of luck in the 2nd as they were the first to break onto the scoreboard. With two outs #36 Mitchell Middlemiss was plunked, then a pitch later #23 Justin Heffler smacked a double that would push Middlemiss to third base. #3 Devin Simonton caused the run to score off an error, as he made contact in what should have been an inning-ending ground ball, but it tied up the Paws’ 3B and allowed Simonton to reach and sent Middlemiss home.

Things were progressing safely enough for MacIntosh’s second inning, but with two outs, the Paws pulled off back to back singles to put a threat on the base paths. Up against a deep drive to the wall Middlemiss reached back, and while the ball stayed in the park he couldn’t come up with it on the catch. Both runners scored on the triple to give Kamloops a lead in response to the Hawks. Macintosh then struck out his next batter swinging to stop any more resurgence from Kamloops.

More trouble followed in the 3rd, as an E6 allowed an initial runner then another E6 on a single sent runners to the corners. Another single served for an RBI, then a fielder’s choice RBI followed while the batter advanced to second on the third error of the frame, this time an E4. Another single pushed the NorthPaws up 5-1 before a grounder to first retired the side.

While the next few innings were quiet for both teams, in the bottom of the 5th, MacIntosh ran into a one-out jam with a walk and a single given up. Coach Lanferman made the call to swap arms for #34 Bryce Intagliata. With another single loading the bases, a sacrifice fly allowed Kamloops to add another run onto their total before Intagliata got out of the inning.

In the top of the 7th, the Hawks finally had another offensive chance as Simonton led off the inning with a double off the wall, then a single from #4 Aden Munoz put him on third. Munoz would then nab second base before #24 Cale Clark walked to load the bags. After a fly out and a strikeout, both Simonton and Munoz would score on back-to-back wild pitches. The next pitch would plunk #32 Jason Green, the third errant toss in a row to put Hawks on the corners. A strikeout with the tying run at the plate would spoil the chance, but the Riverhawks headed to the stretch having cut down the NorthPaws’ lead to 6-3.

In the 8th the Hawks would make another attempt as #52 Max Stagg led off with a full count walk, followed by another free base to Heffler. A Simonton ground out was enough to move both runners into scoring position before a walk to Munoz loaded the bases. The Kamloops reliever seemed rattled as he continued to miss the zone, walking Clark on four straight pitches, making it 11 balls thrown in a row. A #13 Jaxon Fox sacrifice Fly brought the Hawks within a run, before a #53 Gianluca Montanaro single tied the game 6-6. Green whiffed on a single pitch in the dirt before re-centering and hitting an infield ball that he beat out the throw to first, gifting the lead to Edmonton for the first time since the 2nd. As the Hawks ran through the lineup in the 8th, a deep fly out would stop the rally with Edmonton up just a run.

Intagliata returned for the bottom of the 8th, and kept his sterling relief appearance going as he made it ten NorthPaws in a row retired. While the batters couldn’t make any insurance happen in the 9th, Intagliata came back out and shut down the Paws in eleven pitches to secure the win and even the series.

This win helps hold the Riverhawks in the second seed playoff spot for the WCL North Division, still half a game above the Bells, HarbourCats, and NightOwls. The Riverhawks wrap up this series tomorrow night, then head to face the same Kelowna Falcons that got swept at RE/MAX Field last weekend. The Hawks’ season concludes next week with a series in Bellingham Aug 3-5.