The Big Guy Lake Kings of Prince George began their quest for the Canadian senior men's fastball championship and as they learned in their 5-4 loss to the Irma Tigers in their opener Wednesday afternoon in Grande Prairie, they face some stiff competition.
Trailing 3-0 after facing just four batters in the first inning, the Kings scored three runs in the top f the seventh to tie the game 4-4, but the Tigers got to Kings' reliever Bo Thomas in their half of the inning and scored a walk-off run for the victory.
Randy Potskin scored two runs for Prince George and Chad Ghostkeeper and Nicholas Potskin also crossed home plate.
Josh Anderson of Vancouver three five complete innings for Prince George and the Tigers led 4-3 heading into the sixth, when Thomas took over. Thomas, a pickup from Regina, was the the top pitcher and most valuable player at the Canadian native fastball championship a few weeks ago in Winnipeg. The Kings have also added pitcher Tyler Kunz of Kelowna to their roster.
Nicholas Potskin played for Irma at the International Softball Congress world championship in Denmark, Wisc., Aug. 10-12. He was named a Second-Team All-World infielder and led the tournament in runs batted in with 12. Irma finished 13th in the 36-team tournament.
The Kings were due to face the host Grande Prairie Pirates later Wednesday at 6 p.m. PT.
Big Guy Lake is the first team to represent Prince George at the senior nationals since 2006, when the Prince George Black Bears hosted the event and lost 4-3 in the final to St. Thomas (Ontario).
