HYDE CREEK—It was a tough weekend for the Port McNeill Rangers in North Vancouver Island Baseball League play.
Curtis Martyn and Chris Lamothe both homered at bat and combined on a six-hit shutout Saturday as the Port Hardy Cubs rolled to a 15-0 win over the Rangers in an unusual 6-on-7 game at the local ballpark.
The following day, Ivan Hall homered and scored four runs as the Hyde Creek Hillbillys blasted the Rangers 19-5 in a more traditional 9-on-9 tilt.
Lamothe stroked a three-run blast in the top of the first inning as the Cubs (3-1) reached the five-run limit for the inning and set the tone of the game by batting around three times in the contest.
Martyn, leadoff hitter Jordan Campbell and Tony Knighton each had three hits for the Cubs in the game, which was halted after five innings due to the 15-run rule.
Martyn (2-0) scattered five hits — all singles — in four innings on the mound. Lamothe relieved in the fifth and struck out a pair before the Rangers’ Brandon Proc legged out an infield single.
Proc (0-1) took the loss in his first appearance on the hill for the short-handed Rangers (1-3). Newcomer Tyler Robson provided a bright spot on offence, going 3-for-3 to provide half of Port McNeill’s hits.
On Sunday, Proc led off the top of the first inning with a single and scored on Harold Hosken's hit to stake the Rangers (1-4) to an early 1-0 lead.
But it was all Hillbillys after that, as Hall, Taylor Galeazzi and Ryan Rushton each scored four times and reached the five-run limit in both the fourth and fifth innings.
Play resumes this weekend with a pair of games, at 6 p.m. Saturday and 4 p.m. Sunday.