A recap of the season opening games...

Langley 1 North Shore 0
It was a beautiful sunny day at McLeod Park in Langley as the Blaze edged out the North Shore Twins 1-0 in the season opener. Both pitchers went the distance with Blaze RHP Marc Andre Habeck getting the shutout win allowing 5 hits and with 3 Ks. Twins RHP Kyle Olver took the loss while only allowing 3 hits and striking out 7 Langley batters. DH Josh Wray knocked in the only run with a single in the 4th. Lachlan Fontaine and George Upton had two hits each for the Twins.

Langley 2 North Shore 1
In the 2nd game, Blaze LF Nick Rutckyj hit the first home run of the season in the 3rd to get Blaze going with the lead. The Twins tied the game in the 6th when Riley McDonald started the inning off with a single, stole second and scored on a George Upton sac fly. The winning run was scored by Langley's SS Michael Dagg in the bottom of the 7th inning. Dagg led off the inning with a walk and later scored on Rutckyj's single. Rutckyj led Blaze batters going 3 for 4 with 2 RBI. RHP Justin Geerts allowed just one hit in 6 2/3 innings. Jon Bauer was the winning pitcher coming at the top of the 7th with two out. Twins Jordan Kellof allowed just 4 hits but took the loss.

The Victoria Eagles swept a doubleheader from the Parksville Royals winning 5-4 and 8-2. The Eagles won the first game 5-4 despite getting only 3 hits off of Royals LHP Clayton Isherwood. Isherwood had 10 strikeouts and his team had 10 hits but the home team scored 5 runs in the bottom of the 7th inning led by Brandon Feldman who hit a two-run triple. In the 2nd game, the Eagles started with 6 runs in the bottom of the 1st inning and that was the game.

The Okanagan Athletics took two games from the Vancouver Cannons, 9-3 and 7-5. The Athletics scored 9 runs on only 4 hits in an error filled first game. The Cannons had 6 errors while the Athletics had 5. In the second game, the Athletics were led by SS Josh Croft who went 3 for 4 with 2 RBIs and 2 runs scored. C Morgan Lofstrom went 2 for 3 with a double and 2 RBIs, and two walks.

The Victoria Mariners and the Nanaimo Pirates split their games (3-2 Mariners and 8-3 Pirates). In the opening game the Mariners scored an unearned run in the 12th inning. Mariners starting pitcher Nathan McKinlay threw 7 shutout innings before relief pitching took over. Pirates starter Alex Rogers threw 10 innings with 7. In game 2, the Pirates pounded out 12 hits led by CF Brendan McCarthy who went 3 for 4 with two doubles, 3 RBIs, and 4 runs scored.

Abbotsford Cardinals and  Whalley Chiefs each won a game on opening day with Cardinals winning 6-2 and the Chiefs followed with a 4-2 win. In game one, 2011 league batting champion Cardinals Brandon Todoruk started the season where he left off last season going 3 for 4. The Cardinals pounded out 12 hits with Koo Daniel, Luke Cooke, Ryan Green and Coleton Besse each with two hits.
The Chiefs came back to win the second game behind the strong pitching of Brandon Chernoff. Chernoff threw a complete game allowing just one earned run.