PORT ANGELES — Port Angeles managed one extra-inning comeback but couldn’t muster up a second in a 5-3 loss to Portland in 15 innings, the most ever played in the Lefties’ four-season history, Wednesday night at Civic Field.
Locked at 1-1 at the end of nine innings, the Lefties answered back in the bottom of the 12th after the Pickles took a 2-1 lead on a Carter Monda RBI single.
Javi Espinoza came home to score for Port Angeles on a Zach Thomas RBI single.
But Portland took the lead for good when Joseph Sinclair walked the leadoff hitter, and Jacob Jablonski followed with a two-run home run on a 3-0 count.
The Pickles added another run on a wild pitch.
Garrett Lake singled to bring home Jaden Matthews with two outs in the bottom half of the 15th for Port Angeles, but the Lefties’ attempt at a rally ended when Nick Oakley struck out.
Oakley was a hard-luck figure in this contest, going 0 for 7 and seeing his team-high batting average fall from .302 to .286.
The game was completed in four hours and 42 minutes.
Port Angeles played its final game late Thursday.
The Lefties (12-35) will return in late spring 2022, hopefully, with a chance to meet up with existing cross-Strait rival Victoria HarbourCats and the new Vancouver Island franchise, the Nanaimo Night Owls. Other expansion teams set to debut in 2022 include the Kamloops NorthPaws, Edmonton Riverhawks and Springfield Drifters.
Portland 5, Port Angeles 3, 15 innings
PDX 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 3 — 5 14 2
PA 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 — 3 10 1
WP: Ruffo. LP: Sinclair.
Pitching
PDX — Leibold 4.2 IP, 3 H, ER, 7 K; Baytosh 2.1 IP, H, 2 BB, K; Tomlinson 0.1 IP, 2 H, BB; Snyder 1.2 IP, H, 2 BB; Mollerus 3 IP, 2 H, ER, BB, K; Ruffo 3 IP, H, ER, 3 BB, 4 K.
PA — Jewett 5 IP, 3 H, 2 BB, 7 K; Wike IP, K; Ediger 3.1 IP, 4 H, ER, BB, 4 K; Z. Thomas 4.2 IP, 3 H, ER, 2 BB, 5K; Sinclair 0.0 IP, 2 H, 3 ER, BB; Flaugher IP, 2 H, 2 K.
Hitting
PDX — Jablonski 3-6, R, 2 RBI; Sundburg 1-3, RBI; Hirose 1-3, RBI; Skoro 4-7, 2B.
PA — Holman 2-7 2B, R, HR, RBI; Z. Thomas 1-2, RBI; Schmidt 2-5, 2 BB; Flodstrom 1-6, 2B; Lake 1-4, BB, SB, RBI.
