If at the beginning of an expansion season, a genie were to tell a team it could be .500 at midpoint of the season, its owners, coaches and fans would probably jump at the offer.
That鈥檚 exactly what the expansion Victoria HarbourCats (13-13) are, heading into tonight鈥檚 27th contest of the 54-game West Coast League season in Klamath Falls against the Gems.
But when you start the season 7-1, observers only seem to focus on why that heady pace wasn鈥檛 maintained and wonder why the team is 3-9 in its last 12 games.
鈥淲e鈥檙e in a bad stretch, quite simply, and it鈥檚 on us,鈥� said Victoria manager Dennis Rogers, before his team departed for a six-game road trip to southern Oregon with three games in Klamath Falls (15-15) followed by three in Medford against the Rogues (12-18 heading into Friday night).
Rogers is not glossing over, but looked at the bigger picture.
鈥淵et, we鈥檙e only at the halfway point and we鈥檙e right around the .500 mark. We鈥檙e in control of our destiny, as most of the teams still are,鈥� he said.
There is still all to play for in the second half of the season. But certain things need to improve. Especially in fielding, in which Victoria ranks last in the league with an almost comical amount of errors, and in team pitching, in which Victoria ranks third-to-last in the WCL.
鈥淲e haven鈥檛 pitched very well,鈥� admitted Rogers.
鈥淎nd all those errors act as a multiplier, allowing a lot more opposition runs to come across.鈥�
The exceptions on the defensive side of the ball have been hurlers Ty Provencher from Long Beach State, 14th in WCL pitching at 3-1 with a 2.84 ERA, and Scott Kuzminsky out of the University of Hawaii, 18th in the league at 2-1 with a 3.21 ERA.
The first-half Victoria highlights have mostly come on offence, where sturdy Atlanta Braves draft-pick Alex Real is fourth in WCL batting with a .360 average, Austin Russell is tied for 10th at .324 and fellow HarbourCats Alex DeGoti (.313) and David Schuknecht (.309) are also in the league top-20.
鈥淟ack of concentration has hurt us,鈥� said Miami-native DeGoti, of the recent HarbourCats swoon.
鈥淲e have to find a way to play with more consistency.鈥�
The HarbourCats return to Royal Athletic Park next Friday for a three-game set against the Wenatchee AppleSox.
