After a pair of losses to the Ridge Meadows Royals last weekend, the Prince George Knights couldn't wait for another shot at their newly-found rival.
The Knights, a bantam double-A all-star baseball team, got their opportunity on Friday in Burnaby and made the most of it.
In their first game of the B.C. Minor Baseball provincial championship tournament, the Knights edged the Royals 1-0. The hard-fought victory made up for 8-2 and 9-3 losses to Ridge Meadows at the Valley of the Champions tournament in Kelowna. The second of those setbacks came last Sunday in the gold-medal final.
Within the bantam double-A division, the Royals are considered the top contender for the B.C. title.
"It was a 1-0, great pitching duel, great ball game," Knights assistant coach Russell Pratt said from Burnaby.
"It was a little more stressful than the coaches wanted for an opening game but to come out winning that is so huge."
On the mound, Kolby Lukinchuk started for the Knights and, after 45 pitches, gave way to Richard French. In the bottom of the seventh inning, the Royals had a runner on second base with one out but French struck out the last two batters to end the game.
"He was dealing," Pratt said. "He was throwing so well."
As per B.C. Minor Baseball pitch-count rules, Lukinchuk is eligible to pitch again today. French must wait until Monday, which marks the start of playoffs.
Offensively, the Knights got the only run they needed in the fourth inning. Lukinchuk - the man who crossed the plate - smacked a double, advanced to third base on a passed ball and scored on a ground-out by Brennan Bott.
The Knights will face Ladner at 9 a.m. today and will play Cowichan Valley at 6 p.m. On Sunday, they'll finish pool play with a game against Vernon.
