VICTORIA 5
BELLINGHAM 2
A well-rested Harrison Bragg wasted little time in showing why he鈥檚 one of the West Coast League鈥檚 top hitters.
After missing a week with an injury 鈥� and enjoying a three-day all-star game break 鈥� Bragg promptly hit a solo home run in his first at-bat Wednesday to propel the Victoria HarbourCats to a 5-2 victory over the Bellingham Bells at Joe Martin Field.
Bragg, from the NCAA鈥檚 Mississippi State, came in as a pinch-hitter in the fourth inning and smashed a shot over the centre-field wall for his third round-tripper of the season that put the HarbourCats up 2-0 and sent Victoria on its way to its seventh win of the second half of the WCL season. The HarbourCats (7-4) moved a half-game in front of the Wenatchee AppleSox in the race for the North Division鈥檚 second-half playoff spot. Bellingham drops to 4-6.
D.J. Porter got the 鈥機ats offence started in the sixth inning, hitting a solo home run off Bells starter Ragelio Reyes. But Bragg鈥檚 night wasn鈥檛 done. The first baseman hit a two-RBI single in a three-run eighth inning for Victoria to blow the game open. Bragg finished the night 2-for-2 and is now hitting .284 on the season. Andrew Shaps also had a big night at the plate for the HarbourCats, finishing 3-for-4 with a run scored.
All-star Jack Owen (4-1), out of the NCAA鈥檚 Auburn Tigers, went six shutout innings for Victoria, while striking out eight Bells. Owen lowered his minuscule ERA to 1.20. Fellow all-star Travis Kuhn, out of the University of San Diego, pitched a scoreless ninth inning for his league-leading eighth save.
Reyes, from Cal-Berkely, went 6 1/3 innings, allowing two earned runs.
The HarbourCats will play the second of three games in Bellingham tonight. And following Friday鈥檚 series finale, Victoria will head south to Gresham, Oregon, to face the GreyWolves on Saturday in the first of a four-game series.
The next home game for the HarbourCats is July 25 when the Kelowna Falcons pay a visit to Royal Athletic Park for the first of three games.
