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Victoria HabourCats

HarbourCats See Six-Game Streak End, Still Alive for Wild Card

August 6, 2015 - West Coast League (WCL)
Victoria HabourCats News Release


VICTORIA, B.C. -- Right to what could've been the end, Alex DeGoti wanted to keep it going -- there he was, as teammates Zach Bonneau and Kevin Collard prepared to hit in the bottom of the ninth, talking to them about the pitcher's pitch selection.

The Victoria HarbourCats saw their six-game winning streak snapped on Wednesday in front of 1,968 at Sports Traders Diamond at RAP, falling 8-5 to the visiting Yakima Valley Pippins.

It could very well be the last game in Victoria for DeGoti, a third-year HarbourCats infielder who was recognized before the game as the franchise's first member of the "Ring of Honour" and his name and familiar number 24 will have a permanent place at Victoria's first-rate baseball stadium, perched above the press box.

If that was his last game in Victoria, then DeGoti, "Mr. HarbourCat," went out in style, 1-3 with a run, a double and in his last plate appearance, he was hit by a pitch.

His close friend Bonneau, meanwhile, had the best game of his collegiate career by finishing a triple shy of the cycle -- 3-4 with two driven in, a run, a double and a blast of a two-run home run in the fifth inning.

Kevin Collard was 2-5, and Scott Jarvis was 1-4 with a double as the HarbourCats were outhit 15-11 by the Pippins. Neither team made an error.

A sharp line drive by Austin Guibor with two runners on in the bottom of the seventh was snared by the first baseman, more in self-defense than anything -- a drive that could have turned the game around.

Henry Omana took the loss with five runs allowed in 4.2 innings, giving up six hits, striking out three and walking a pair. Tei Vanderford, Calvin Christiansen and Shawn Kennedy each gave up a run in relief stints.

Yakima first baseman Jake Manson was the HarbourCat-killer going 3-4 with four driven in, including a key double.

The loss drops the HarbourCats to 27-23 on the season, the fifth-best record in the 12-team league and the best mark the HarbourCats have posted in their three season in the West Coast League. The team is 19-7 since bottoming out at 8-16 and seemingly on the way to a last-place finish in the West Division.

Wednesday's loss, combined with Bellingham winning in Cowlitz, clinched the West Division title for the Bells for the second-straight season.

The HarbourCats remain mathematically alive for the wild card playoff spot, but it's a tough chore -- win all three games in Bellingham this weekend (Friday-Saturday-Sunday), and have Corvallis lose in Kelowna on Thursday, and then back at home against Medford on Saturday and Sunday (a scheduled season-ending double-header). That would give the HarbourCats the last playoff spot on percentage points since the WCL has now decided that the recently rained-out game with Walla Walla, washed out on a Sunday afternoon in Victoria, will not be replayed.

The HarbourCats finish the season leading the WCL in attendance with 49,647, or an average of 1,910 per game up considerably from last season when 42,563 (average of 1,576) came through the gates in the regular season. That's without one scheduled home date (the Walla Walla rainout). That's a single-season increase of 7,084 (262 per game) over 2014 and 10,854 over the team's inaugural season (473 more per game than in 2013).

Before the game, the team caught up on history by awarding the Player of the Year awards dating back to the first year -- that was never done in 2013 or 2014. The 2015 Player of the Year is second baseman Griffin Andreychuk, while 2014's co-winners were Nathan Lukes and Alex Rogers. The 2013 award winner was Alex DeGoti. With so many great individual performances over the first three seasons, it was hard to select just one (or co-) winner.

The HarbourCats and Tesseract 2.0 Computers jointly presented Kool Aid Society with five refurbished computers and the team and Flight Centre are offering a Spring Training trip to Phoenix area for March -- contact the office for details.

Also, 2016 Season Tickets are available now for 2015 prices, saving the taxes and service charges for a limited time. Great seats are going fast and there will be some pricing increases going into 2016 to account for the US Dollar/Canadian Dollar, that has increased team operating costs this summer. More details on ticketing options and special offers will come in the days and weeks ahead.

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West Coast League Stories from August 6, 2015


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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