It was roughly one year and one day in the making, but the Kamloops NorthPaws won their first ever game in franchise history Wednesday night.

Kamloops native Jared Sucro had a walk-off base hit in the ninth inning to give to the expansion West Coast League team an 8-7 win over the Edmonton Riverhawks at Norbrock Stadium.

“I’m speechless, I got no words. The crowd was amazing. The boys were amazing. That couldn’t have gone any better for the first night,” Sucro, one of three Kamloopsians who played a big role, said. “What a special moment for Kamloops and baseball.”

“The city just showed us the support from night one. I hope this gets the ball rolling and that we can continue it from here.”

Fellow Kamloopsian Nolan Austin was credited with the win. He struck out one batter and walked another in two scoreless innings of work. Austin also went three for four at the plate with one run and three hits.

“That was crazy. The whole thing about that [ninth] inning was just wild to me,” Austin said. “Just the opportunity to walk it off, and the guy who did it was a Kamloops guy too.”

“To do it in front of everybody, it was absolutely insane.”

Tyrelle Chadwick – another Kamloopsian – was named the NorthPaws first ever starting pitcher. He struck out three batters but gave up four runs in 2.1 innings of work.

Chadwick – the son of TRU WolfPack baseball coach, Ray Chadwick – also scored the first ever run in NorthPaws history in the bottom of the second inning. He finished the game with two runs, two hits and two RBIs.

“That is exciting stuff,” he said. “I think it is a huge night for the town. We had a great atmosphere out here, people showed up. People came with energy and its a lot of fun.”

Founded in 2020, the NorthPaws were scheduled to begin West Coast League play in June 2021, but they did not take the field because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

“We’ve been talking baseball for about two and half years now but to see it to come to fruition today and have the kids out there and then seeing them jumping when they won, that is what its all about,” co-owner Jon Pankuch added.

They were scheduled to play their first game Tuesday night, but was postponed due to rain. Next up for the NorthPaws is a scheduled doubleheader against Edmonton Thursday with games at 4:30 p.m. and 7:15 p.m..

– With files from Jon Keen

And the @northpawsbb with a walk off win on opening night 8-7 over @EdmRiverhawks #Kamloops pic.twitter.com/Jjkl1UYYnZ

— Jon Keen (@JonKeenNLSports) June 2, 2022

Last tweet on @northpawsbb opener…great ending. Good crowd. Beautiful venue. Kamloops products deliver. A Kamloops home plate umpire in Matt Hicketts…and 1B ump Blaise Levay – who as a kid won the Jr. Oilers name the team contest in 1984 when they became the “Blazers”. Wild. pic.twitter.com/TLDvvYihW3

— Jon Keen (@JonKeenNLSports) June 2, 2022