Hawks Thump Lefties 9-2 in Rain-Shortened Game
2026-06-26
Riverhawks ‘First to Respond’ and beat Lefties to open weekend series
Box ScoreBy Larry Read
EDMONTON, AB—The Edmonton Riverhawks love being at home. Not only is RE/MAX Field a friendly place for them with large crowds, but traditionally the Hawks have been successful there. Friday night was no different.
The Hawks kicked off a six game West Coast League home stand taking the Port Angeles Lefties 9-2. It was a contest which was called in the bottom of the eighth inning because of rain. The victory improved Edmonton’s record to 10-12 on the year. Their lifetime record against the Lefties improved to 20-5. Port Angeles fell to 5-20 this season.
The Riverhawks scored nine times on nine hits and committed one error. The Lefties had two runs on four hits.
This was First Responders and Healthcare Heroes Night-a presentation of James H. Brown and Associates where members of the EPS, EFRS, EMS, RCMP, AHS, Stars and Strathcona County Emergency Services were honoured. Announced attendance was 5,137.
The Lefties opened the scoring in the top of the second inning. #39 Caden Young took a #17 Carter Fink offering straight up the middle for a single. He scored one batter later when #13 Carter Enoch stroked the ball into the gap in left centre field and wound up with a double. Enoch scored on a one out fly ball to right field off the bat of # 2 Garrett Patterson which was caught by #31 Kotaro Wakui.
in the bottom of that inning. Edmonton’s #51 Easton Andrews and #48 Max Stagg were both hit by Lefties starter #14 Gabe Buranasiri. With one away, #36 Mitchell Middlemiss hit a triple to right field which plated both Andrews and Stagg. Two batters later, Middlemiss scored on an RBI single to left by #2 Drew Veatch and the homeboys led 3-2.
The Riverhawks added another run in the third. Wakui led off the inning with a single to center. After Stagg sacrificed to deep right field, Wakui -from Nilgata, Japan beat the throw to the plate to make it 4-2.
In the bottom of the fourth: Middlemiss and Veatch reached base before Wakuki hit a single to left field which scored them both and gave the Riverhawks a 6-2 advantage.
With two out in the bottom of the fifth, Hawks catcher #32 Jason Green stepped in and hit the ball down the right field line for a double off Lefties reliever #33 Casey Julkowski. Green scored on a Middlemiss single into center field to up Edmonton’s lead to 7-2.
With rain threatening in the bottom of the eighth, Riverhawks add two more runs. Veatch was hit by a #5 Diego Reilly-Bell delivery and later scored on a wild pitch. #39 Chris Parkin walked and scored on a wild pitch as well to make it 9-2 Edmonton.
Fink (2-1) was the winning pitcher, tossing six innings of three hit ball, giving up two runs and striking out four. Buranasiri was tagged with the loss (0-3). He surrendered six runs on six hits through four innings while walking one and striking out one.
Middlemiss was named the Riverhawk player of the game going 2 for 3 at the plate with two runs scored and three runs batted in. Wakui was 2 for 4 with 2 RBI and a run scored. Veatch went 2 for 3 with two runs scored and a run batted in.
Enoch led the Lefties offensively. He was 1 for 3 with a run scored and a run batted in. Young was 1 for 3 with a run scored.
The teams continue their series Saturday (June 27) at RE/MAX Field with a 7:05 PM opening pitch. It is Yeee-Kawwwww Country Night! Presented by Daisy’s Saloon/Media Sponsor is CISN Country 103.9.
The teams will close out their series on Sunday (June 28th). The Riverhawks will entertain the Bellingham Bells at RE/MAX for three starting June 30th.
Looking for tickets in advance? Go to tickets.gohawks.ca to secure yourself a seat. Follow along with the game at @RiverhawksGames on X and keep up with everything happening with the Hawks on Instagram, Facebook, @EdmRiverhawks, and TikTok. See all the latest news at riverhawksbaseball.com.