It took overtime but the Prince George Knights have their first win at the B.C. Minor Baseball Association championship in Kamloops.
The Pacific Western Helicopter single-A bantam Knights earned a 2-1 win in extra innings Friday over Aldergrove to even their record at 1-1 in round-robin play.
Knights coach Gary Allbee has a few less hairs on his head after the nine-inning thriller.
"It was a little tough on the nerves but a great ball game," said Allbee.
Bryan Allbee and Kieran Leboe shared pitching duties for the Knights. Allbee had 14 strikeouts over six innings before Leboe came in to pitch the final three innings. Leboe had seven strikeouts and allowed three of the five hits the Knights gave up.
Ethan Donison recorded the winning run when he hit an RBI double in the top of the ninth inning to score Craig Budskin who had reached base on a walk before stealing second. Allbee was three-for-three at the plate.
In the bantam skills competition Bailey Mcfaul won the throwing accuracy contest.
The Knights played their third game against Campbell River late Friday.
Peewee Knights split Friday games
In an error-filled game the Prince George Lomak Knights lost to the Ladner Red Sox 14-11 on Friday at the B.C. Minor Baseball Association double-A peewee championship in Chilliwack.
Knights assistant coach Darrell Gervais said it's hard to comprehend why the team has fallen to 0-2.
"We're really not sure where the mistakes are coming from," said Gervais. "This team is too prepared and battle tested for the way we're playing. We got 12 hits. We worked a lot of walks but we scored most of our runs with two outs.
"We're not out of the playoff hunt yet, but we need to win our last two games and hope for some help," he added.
Dustin Aldana led the Knights against the Red Sox going 3-for-3 at the plate while banging home three RBIs. On his fourth at-bat, Aldana earned a free pass to first base when he was hit by a pitch.
Jordan Arnett took the loss for the Knights after taking over from starter Jarin Sutton. Zach Swanson also took a turn on the mound.
The Red Sox scored five runs in the third inning and six runs in the sixth inning mainly due to several fielding errors.
The Knights played Nanaimo in their second game Friday and earned a 19-8 victory. Michael Taylor had a home run for the Knights in the win, while Nigel Thompson had four runs on three hits. Cole Beacom pounded a pair of doubles and a single and Jarin Sutton also produced three hits.
Thompson earned the win on the mound for the Knights.
In order to advance to the playoffs the Knights need to beat Burnaby today at noon and will also need a little help from other teams to bring in the tie-breaking formula. Beacom will start on the mound for Prince George.
In three games, the Knights have left 39 runners stranded on base.
