Baseball season started in Nanaimo this weekend with the crack of the bat.
The Vancouver Island University Mariners baseball club played its home openers on Sunday, April 7, hosting a Canadian College Baseball Conference doubleheader against the Victoria Golden Tide.
The M’s lost the first game, 9-2, but responded with a 5-4 win.
“We started off slow, but we did a good job of recognizing our shortcomings early rather than letting it be a problem all day long, so that was good to see,” said Nathan Wedgewood, the team’s coach. “I think what makes a good ball club is being able to have a slow start and then turn it around mid game.”
Robinder Dhut threw seven scoreless innings for the win, giving his teammates time to build up a 5-0 lead that they were able to preserve. He said he focused on throwing strikes and letting his defence take care of the rest.
“Every win matters, beginning of the year, end of the year, but to win the last game on a Sunday feels good heading into the rest of the week,” Dhut said.
The Mariners (4-4) have been playing .500 baseball to start the spring, and Wedgewood said they have a solid base with which to start building consistency.
“The things that we’re struggling with right now are approachable, adjustment-wise,” the coach said. “I think they’re outdoor-type things that you kind of expect to see, whether it be defence, quality of at-bats, and just getting back to being outside more consistently.”
Wedgewood is new to the head coaching role, but not to the program, as he is a former player and was pitching coach the past two seasons.
“I’m pretty comfortable not only in the stadium with the players and the program, [but] I’ve been blessed with a lot of older guys this year that have helped me lead the team,” he said. “It takes a lot of the pressure off me as far as [leadership] goes because I’ve got guys in the dugout that can keep tabs on things.”
Wedgewood said it seemed like a long wait for conference play to start and has been fun to get into meaningful games.
Dhut suggested that the Mariners have the elements they need – pitching, hitting and defence – as well as some other intangibles.
“Right from Day 1, we’ve been working really hard and I love the group of guys we have this year…” he said. “There’s something special about this group. There’s a lot of guys who believe in each other and moving forward, I’m excited.”
Dhut gave up only two hits over his seven innings of work, and Connor Dawson threw 1 2/3 innings for the save. James Joyce was 2-for-3 with two RBIs and Alex McLauchlan and Dillon Bowie were also 2-for-3.
GAME ON … VIU hosts the Fraser Valley Cascades for a doubleheader Sunday, April 14, with game times at noon and 3 p.m. at Serauxmen Stadium.
