Riverhawks Win 14-12 Barn Burner Against Nanaimo
2025-07-04
Hawks claim victory after two separate 5-run comeback innings!
Box ScoreBy Ryan Johnson
In their first game of the 2nd half of the WCL season, the Edmonton Riverhawks posted a miraculous comeback win over the Nanaimo NightOwls in front of 5,812 fans. RE/MAX Field was rocking as the ball game included 5 lead changes. The Riverhawks got the better of the game’s big swings, erasing leads as high as 5-1 and 12-8 heading into the 8th inning.
Nanaimo struck early in the 1st inning off an RBI single, their two-hole hitter came home from second base to give the NightOwls an early lead. The Riverhawks enforced a quick response, #13 Grant Yzermans slapped a double into the gap, and got moved over to third base from a #48 Max Stagg single. The catcher #32 Jason Green hit a high fly ball to tie the game with a sac fly. The very next at bat, #36 Mitchell Middlemiss crushed another double and Stagg showed off his blazing speed, scoring all the way from first to give the Riverhawks an early 2-1 lead.
To kick off the bottom of the 2nd, first pitch swinging… AND FIRST PITCH CRUSHING! #25 Royce Hale extended the lead for the Riverhawks in the 2nd with his first home run of the season.
Nanaimo responded swiftly with a home run of their own. After a single and a hit by pitch, it was the catcher #11 Nathan Davis that crushed it over the right field wall to give the NightOwls a 4-3 lead in the 3rd.An action-packed 5th was kicked off by Nanaimo as # 28 Jacob Hayes crushed a 2 run bomb.
The Riverhawks did not go without a response in the bottom of the 5th. After Yzermans labelled a single,Stagg absolutely crushed a ball into right. After hesitating with the thought of going home, Max Stagg was held at 3rd with an RBI triple to make it 6-4.
Starter#34 Jesse Kaphing was relieved for #30 Spencer Mueller in the top of the 6th. Kaphing finished his outing allowing 9 H, 6 ER, and 3 Ks across 5.0 innings.
The NightOwls added onto their lead in the 6th. #9 Andrew Nykouk made his way around the bases off a walk, ending up on the 3rd after an error by the Riverhawks. Hewas hit home on a Sac Fly by #3 Talan Zank, increasing the lead to 7-4 for Nanaimo.
Nanaimo starting pitcher #43 Aidan Boice was relieved in the bottom of the 6th by #56 Richtter Castillo after Boice gave up base hits to Hale and #1 Shiryu Sato. Boice went 5.0 IP, with 9 H, 4 ER, 4 Ks.
The Riverhawks took advantage of the pitching change and lit up the 6th inning! #28 David Ossanna cracked a single to load the bases with no outs. After falling into an 0-2 count #4 Jaxon Fox destroyed a ball into left for a grand slam and an 8-7 lead! #6 Robert Phelps followed up with a single to maintain the momentum and picked up his 11th steal of the season moving over to 2nd. Stagg followed up with a walk to put two on with only 1 away. After converting a rare double steal, Phelps was sent home on a sacrifice fly from Green to extend the Riverhawks lead to 9-7.
#27 Mitchell Heinrich came out of Edmonton’s bullpen for the 7th. After the 5-run, 6th inning by the Riverhawks, the NightOwls responded against Heinrich. After loading the bases with one out, the NightOwls hit a single into left to score one and cut the lead to 9-8. #33 George Naramore relieved Heinrich shortly after with the bases remaining loaded. The Riverhawks forced an 0-2 count with two gone, however a wild pitch scored the runner from 3rd to tie the game 9-9.
Nanaimo continued their tally against Naramore in the 8th. Receiving a leadoff walk, the NightOwls capitalized sending a long home run over the left field. After following with back-to-back singles, Nanaimo cushioned their now 12-9 lead. #18 Mason Chamberlain took over on the mound for Naramore with two outs, and capped Nanaimo’s scoring at three runs.
In the bottom of the 8th, the Riverhawks sparked a miraculous rally. Fox kicked off the inning with a single, followed by a Yzermans walk. The Aussie power hitter Max Stagg came through with a single of his own, scoring Fox and cutting the lead down to 2. AfterMiddlemiss forced a full count walk, Sato converted and slaps a single over the short stops head to score two and tie the game again! Wow!
Royce Hale completed the 8th inning rally by cranking a single and scoring Middlemiss to reclaim a Riverhawk lead at 13-12! Nanaimo swapped arms with a runners on the corners situation and two away, however, the Riverhawks kept raking! David Ossanna joined the RBI party by slapping a single, scoring Sato to increase the Edmonton lead to 14-12!
#14 Tate Dearing completed the comeback, ending the barn burner of a ball game with 1-2-3 inning for a save, including a strikeout! RIVERHAWKS WINNNNNNN!
The Riverhawks look to continue their hot start of the second half of the 2025 campaign tomorrow against the Nanaimo NightOwls! After completing this series against Nanaimo, the Hawks are back on the road in Bellingham starting on Tuesday!
Tune in tomorrow at 7:05pm MT, as your Edmonton Riverhawks will rep their Green Onion cake uniforms tomorrow evening! Make sure to get your tickets at tickets.gohawks.ca