The Victoria HarbourCats left more people stranded Thursday night than the S.S. Minnow.
The HarbourCats were twice unable to score with the bases loaded, including one occasion with none out, in an 8-6 West Coast League loss to the Bend Elks at Wilson鈥檚 Group Stadium at Royal Athletic Park.
That was after Bend starter Sam Muskat from Montana State had handcuffed the HarbourCats鈥� batters with eight strikeouts, while allowing only two hits and one run over five full innings.
As happens in the jack-of-all-trades WCL, Victoria catcher Hayden Jaco was called in to pitch for two-thirds of an inning, allowing one hit and one run.
鈥淚 love catching and hitting, but being a veteran, I鈥檒l do anything to help this ball club,鈥� said Jaco, who also played for the Cats in 2016.
鈥淚鈥檝e done some pitching in junior college and when I was growing up, so it鈥檚 not new to me.鈥�
It was the missed opportunities on offence that hurt the most, however.
鈥淚t鈥檚 about us finding our groove at the plate and stomping on it,鈥� said Jaco, out of NCAA Div. 1 Indiana State.
鈥淲e still won the series but the ideal would have been to sweep.鈥�
The Elks snapped a five-game losing streak.
Victoria is 2-4 in the second half of the season and 16-17 overall. The Elks are 4-5 in second half and 11-25 overall.
The HarbourCats now hit the road for a three-game set beginning tonight in Cowlitz, Washington, against the Black Bears that will lead into the all-star break.
Following the two-day all-star break, the HarbourCats are back at Wilson鈥檚 Group Stadium on Wednesday for the first three games against the Corvallis Knights.
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