WCL Victoria HabourCats

HarbourCats Close Season with a Win

August 9, 2015 - West Coast League (WCL)
Victoria HabourCats News Release


BELLINGHAM, Wash. -- It was poetic, having Alex DeGoti single in his last Victoria HarbourCats at-bat, then come around to score Sunday's winning run.

"Mr. HarbourCat," who was the first player put on the team's Ring of Honor on Wednesday, finished his third season for Victoria helping his team to a 6-4 win in 10 innings, defeating the Bellingham Bells at Joe Martin Field in front of 1,130 fans.

The Bells advance to the playoffs and will likely face the Kelowna Falcons, while the HarbourCats head home with their heads held high, a 29-24 record, the best in franchise history thanks to an 8-2 mark in their final 10 games. The season was punctuated by winning streaks of nine and six games -- the team was once 8-16, but went 21-8 from that point to put a serious scare into the playoff-bound teams, even climbing to within shouting distance of the West Division lead with a week to go.

Previous versions of the HarbourCats won 22 and 25 games respectively, and never truly pushed for a playoff berth.

On Sunday, Ben Polshuk was 2-3 with a double and three driven in, while Jake Pries and PJ Floyd had the other RBIs. Floyd was 2-5, and DeGoti finished 3-5 with three runs.

Matt Blais was strong as the starter on the hill, going four innings with two hits, no walks, no runs and five strikeouts. Brett Irvine, Mikey Wright and Sean O'Toole each pitched an inning from there, with O'Toole giving up one run, before Calvin Christiansen surrendered three runs on two hits and a walk in the eighth inning, allowing Bellingham to tie the game at 4-4.

Sean Kennedy worked two innings to earn the win, improving to 3-2 on the season.

The HarbourCats outhit the Bells, the two-time West Division champs, 10-7, and both teams made two errors.

Victoria ended the year second in the WCL in runs and first in home runs with 36, the second-highest mark of all time (Walla Walla had 44 last season).

The HarbourCats players will now disperse for their hometowns to get a few days of rest before going back to college baseball in the fall.

The HarbourCats ended up leading the WCL in attendance with an average of 1,910 per game, and 2016 season tickets are now on sale at 2015 pricing, for a limited time. Recruiting for next season is under way.



West Coast League Stories from August 9, 2015


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