VICTORIA 10
YAKIMA VALLEY 3
Kevin Collard took a bit of a gamble when he opted out of this year鈥檚 Major League Baseball draft.
Touted to be a seventh- to 10th-round selection and with visits from 15 big-league clubs, the Vista, California, native will instead wait until he completes his junior year as he gets set to join the University of San Diego at the end of this month.
If the 18-year-old puts up the numbers he has posted with the Victoria HarbourCats, it will be a gamble that pays off. Collard 鈥� who cracked his sixth home run of the season in the HarbourCats鈥� 10-3 win over the Yakima Valley Pippins at Royal Athletic Park on Tuesday 鈥� is carrying a hot bat.
Following the team鈥檚 sixth-straight victory, the six-foot, 205-pounder is hitting .313, 14th best in the West Coast League, just behind teammate Austin Guibor at .315.
Collard leads the HarbourCats in a number of statistical categories including home runs; doubles (12); triples (four); and runs batted in (32).
鈥淚 just thought going to college first, getting an education and developing might help me get drafted higher out of college and it would be a better option than just going straight out of high school,鈥� Collard said.
鈥淥ut of high school, you鈥檙e only 18-years-old and getting all that money 鈥� you really don鈥檛 know how to handle yourself,鈥� he added. 鈥淥ut of college you鈥檙e more mature, more well-rounded as a person, not just a baseball player.鈥�
And he鈥檚 doing his part in keeping Victoria鈥檚 hopes of a first playoff spot alive. Two games back of the Corvallis Knights in the race for the West Coast League wild card, the HarbourCats remained in that position after a Knights鈥� 6-3 win in Kelowna. The HarbourCats might be better served to focus on Bellingham as the Bells鈥� West Division lead is now down to three games as they lost yet again.
On Tuesday, Victoria twice trailed by one but Collard鈥檚 solo blast in the third and Alex DeGoti鈥檚 two-run shot in the fourth gave the hosts a 3-2 lead. Four more runs in the fifth 鈥� two freebies on a hit batsman and a walk on bases-loaded situations, and a two-RBI single by Scott Jarvis 鈥� broke it open.
Collard finished 3-for-5, while Matt Blais earned the win on the mound going eight innings.
The HarbourCats may be playing their final home game of the season tonight against Yakima, unless they can wiggle their way into a position where they need to make up a rainout against Walla Walla. That game would be played on Monday.
