Maybe the next time a Victoria team wins the regular-season championship, it should just take a knee and defer.
Following the script of the Victoria Royals of the Western Hockey League from earlier in the year, the Victoria HarbourCats of the West Coast League of baseball won the regular-season crown before being dispatched in the playoffs.
Yet, every piece of success makes for positive ripples.
鈥淏anners hanging from your ball park or arena create expectations, and we will now have two hanging from [Royal Athletic Park] for our 2016 overall WCL and North Division [regular-season] championships,鈥� said HarbourCats managing partner Jim Swanson.
But something still gnaws, despite the WCL regular-season record 40 wins for Victoria in 2016.
鈥淚t still digs at me, 24 hours later, that we are still looking for our first playoff win. That will drive us through the winter,鈥� said Swanson.
The Bellingham Bells, who finished eight games behind Victoria at 32-22, swept the HarbourCats 2-0 in the best-of-three North Division playoff series following an emphatic 12-1 victory Wednesday night at Royal Athletic. That followed the 3-2 Bells win in Game 1 on Tuesday in Bellingham.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 the nature of a short series,鈥� said Swanson.
鈥淏est-of-threes can be cruel things. We lost the first game on a broken-bat single, and then in the second game, we picked a bad time to come up with our worst performance of the season.鈥�
Key late-season player losses also affected Victoria鈥檚 chances.
Swanson said Dakota Dean had to leave because of an academic issue that needed addressing while catcher Joe Prior has an injury history related to concussions. But Swanson added having Austin Guibor and Jake Stone leave before season鈥檚 end 鈥渨asn鈥檛 helpful.鈥�
The one thing about a league of NCAA players in summer ball is that depth is paramount because of late-season attrition caused by academic issues, early classes starting and some players just wanting time off before the fall semester begins.
Meanwhile, HarbourCats head coach Graig Merritt said after Wednesday鈥檚 game that he would be back if asked. Swanson would love that, but thinks Merritt could be getting offers from higher levels because of what he has accomplished in Victoria over two seasons.
鈥淕raig did an amazing job,鈥� said Swanson.
鈥淚 think the world of Graig Merritt. But I wouldn鈥檛 be surprised if he got a phone call from a higher level. This league is about developing players and coaches for the next level. We have [HarbourCats alumni and rising minor-pros] like Nick Pivetta and Nathan Lukes and it鈥檚 no different for coaches to move up from our league, too. We鈥檒l take a couple of days off, recharge, and talk later with Graig and see how it plays out for next year.鈥�
The HarbourCats had another major achievement in 2016 by winning the league attendance crown for the third consecutive season, and this time doing it by becoming the first WCL team to crack the 60,000 level in attendance over 27 home games.
鈥淭he Victoria fans have been so supportive,鈥� said Swanson.
The playoff failure will be a slow burn in the mind all winter. But so will many of the accomplishments in what was, in the balance, a memorable 2016.
鈥淚n many ways, it was a dream season and something to build on,鈥� said Swanson.
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