EDMONTON (AP) - Edmonton fans at the Tuesday, May 12th game, were in for an extra treat as the Orcas faced the Bora Bora Surfriders in an afternoon affair. It promised to be a good pitcher's duel as Bora Bora's crafty veteran southpaw Heath Murray toed the rubber against young Orca fireballer Lee Valdez. Attendance was good for a mid-afternoon game at 23,512, as many faithful fans came to not only watch the team, but explore the updated facilities and see how the new grass field looked and performed.

Newly acquired shortstop Alex Gonzalez didn't use the field in the bottom of the first. He belted a solo home run off Murray on a 2-2 pitch over the left field wall. A good start, especially since Edmonton's team average is a paltry .232. That was the only action until the sixth, as both pitchers kept goose eggs on the board.

In the sixth, Gonzalez's counterpart, Surfrider Rip Raffo, matched performances, lining a homer down the left field corner that hit the foul pole for their first run. Escaping further damage that inning, Gonzalez answered back in the bottom half, drilling an opposite field dinger. "Not bad for a forty year old, eh?" remarked Gonzalez, who had five total hits, scored three runs, and turned four double plays.

The seventh passed uneventfully, and in the eight, Edmonton added an insurance run with replacement outfielder Chuck Isbell, who came in for a limping Rick Randolph, crushing a home run of his own.

Fans were on their feet as Edmonton closer Pete Komminsk came into the ninth to gather his 5th save of the season. He promptly served up a first pitch fastball to Bora Bora's DH Bobby Tettleton, who tattooed it into the center field seats. The next batter, Tris Speaker, sat dead red on the fastball, got it, and served it down the right field line into the stands there. Niether batter is known for their power, by the way. So, while Speaker rounded the bases, Komminsk threw his glove on the ground and screamed some epitaths at the top of his lungs, which reportedly carried to where the upper deckers could hear him. After a lengthy consultation with pitching coach Jimmy Key, as well as home plate umpire John Riggleman, Komminsk settled down and pitched out of the inning. Despite the blown save, fans cheered his enthusiasm and reaction. The bats were silent in the ninth against Bora Bora's Charlie Baker, meaning extra innings, where the Orcas were 3-3 on the season. It was anybody's game, and nobody was going home yet.

Edmonton's lefty knuckleballer C.J. Veau came out for the tenth and, although the knuckler was dancing enough to strike out two batters, his fastball was flat. That yeilded four hits, including a 2 run home run to left fielder Ryu Nobeoka. Veau closed it out though, and now, up 2 runs, the Surfriders went to their rookie closer Alan Moran to face the top of the Orca order. Center fielder Jake Mills hit safely on a single, and Alex Gonzalez drilled a double into the corner, but Nobeoka played it cleanly off the wall to prevent a run from scoring. Third baseman Kris Kotsopalous was intentionally walked so Moran could face an ailing Isaac Wyndorff, who strained an abdominal muscle on a diving play at first base. With a full count, Wyndorff slapped at a low slider the opposite way over a drawn in infield, scoring both Mills and Gonzalez and tying the game. However, like his alter-ego Komminsk did, Moran settled down after the blown save and pitched out of two base jam. The game was tied again at 5-5, which meant more extra innings.

Veau took care of Raffo in the eleventh, then sat down for Red Kahl, who finished that inning and the next two. Meanwhile, Brian Rodriguez of Bora Bora looked like he was ready to go the distance, however long that took. It was for six total, finishing after Orcas' Braggo Franco did. Nobody gave up a run during this stretch, although pleanty of hits, walks, and double plays kept fans interested and on the edges of their seats. It was also at the top of the fifteenth inning that consession stands reopened and beer became available again, much to the delight and praise of the crowd.

Edmonton brought in lefty Bill Goltz then, who comment, "when I went out there, coach told me that I was here until it was over and that we didn't have anyone else who could pitch. I said 'ok' and got comfortable. I think that brief talk helped the most, because I was relaxed, the adrenile left, and I just threw strikes." What Goltz didn't realize is that he would pitch as many innings as starter Lee Valdez did, eight. "I really didn't think it would go THAT long," said coach Robin Yount about the situation. So, eight plus fifteen is...twenty-three? Yes, twenty-three (23) innings. That's two full games, plus enough to make another one official. In the bottom of the twenty-third, the Surfriders' Brad Bishop, pitching into his 5th inning after taking over for lefty Joe Struve, made a mistake. He left a 3-1 fastball in the middle of the plate and Jake Mills, in his eleventh at bat, hit it out of the ball park, ending the six hour, seventeen minute marathon. Fans cheered while teammates mobbed Mills at home.

The final tally for the game was 34 players used, 515 pitches thrown, 165 at bats, 37 hits, 11 runs, 28 runners stranded, 8 walks, 11 strikeouts, 7 double plays, 1 error, 7 groundcrew appearances, 10,425 beers drunk, 16,221 hot dogs consumed, and 28,350 peanut shells left to be cleaned up.