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WCL Victoria HabourCats

HarbourCats Remain Stingy, Win Second Game in Bend

June 15, 2014 - West Coast League (WCL)
Victoria HabourCats News Release


It's hard to lose games when you don't surrender runs -- giving up one is good, but none is better.

The Victoria HarbourCats, who gave up runs in bunches in the season's early days, have become a stingy lot -- both pitching-wise and supporting the arms -- in building a three-game winning streak. The latest victory, a 4-1 triumph over the host Elks in Bend, further showcased a wealth of pitching depth and a team that can play strong defence.

The HarbourCats had a 29-inning scoreless streak stopped in the eighth inning on Saturday -- a goose-egg roll that started Wednesday with the final four innings of a sloppy 11-4 loss to the Cowlitz Black Bears at Sports Traders Diamond at Royal Athletic Park. Shutouts on Thursday (at home over Cowlitz) and Friday (in Bend), both by 3-0 counts, motivated Saturday's starter, righty Alex Rogers, to provide his second strong start of the season, and he did just that.

Rogers, a Nanaimo native who was the top pitcher in the B.C. Premier League in 2013 before moving on to college baseball at Trinidad State junior college, needed just 86 pitches to complete seven scoreless innings, surrendering five hits with two walks and three strikeouts. Mark Marinch came in to pitch the eighth and gave up the lone run, before Preston Ryan notched his first save of the season with one hit allowed and one strikeout. (Note, the boxscore link attached is incorrect on those pitching numbers and will be adjusted on Sunday.)

Bend (2-7) outhit Victoria 9-7, but the Elks either threw away or booted four plays, providing much of the difference. Losing pitcher Adrian Martinez gave up four runs, three earned, in five innings.

Alex DeGoti (Long Beach State) had two hits and two runs for the HarbourCats, who scored twice in the second inning, once in the third, and once in the fifth in building a 4-0 lead. Only in the eighth inning did the Elks really pressure, though they did strand runners on third base a couple of times.

The HarbourCats will go for the road sweep on Sunday, a 5:05pm start -- you can catch all the action through www.harbourcats.com on the PPV live streaming video offering, with the call by Jordan Smith. Tim Peabody (Loyola Marymount) gets the call on the hill for the HarbourCats, who have now won two straight series after dropping two of three in the season-opening set in Kelowna. The HarbourCats won two of three at home against the Cowlitz Black Bears earlier this week.

The odd stat of the night comes from the standings -- in the ultra-competitive West Division of the West Coast League, the HarbourCats aren't just tied for first, they're also tied for last as all four teams (Victoria, Bellingham, Kitsap and Cowlitz) have identical 5-3 records. Only the Medford Rogues, at 6-2, have a better record than the quartet of West Division clubs. Last season, the HarbourCats started 7-1 but floundered in the second half and finished with a 22-32 mark, out of the playoffs.

The HarbourCats have also set their rotation for the upcoming series with the Bellingham Bells at Sports Traders Diamond, which goes Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday, all 7:11pm starts. Logan Lombana (Long Beach State) will start Monday (The Finishing Store Cowbell Giveaway Night) and Andrew Nelson (Kentucky) goes Tuesday (Fisherworks Irrigation Services Bobblehead Night, Kelly Norris-Jones). On Wednesday, Mikey Wright (San Jose State) goes to the hill on Island Savings Night.

After that, the HarbourCats have two days off and then host the Langley Blaze PIL team in an exhibition game as part of Baseball Day in Victoria festivities on Saturday, June 21. The next day, the HarbourCats and Blaze will meet at Evans Park in Duncan, a 1pm first pitch.

Youth camps start on June 21 as well, with information available on the website or by calling/visiting the office.

Reminder -- tickets are a great Father's Day gift, buy 10-packs and single-game tickets at www.harbourcats.com/tickets.

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West Coast League Stories from June 15, 2014


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