This Gem threw a gem.
But he鈥檚 such a Dirtbag.
Not that it鈥檚 a bad thing.
Nick Sabo 鈥� who plays NCAA baseball for the wonderfully named Long Beach State Dirtbags 鈥� pitched a six-hitter over eight innings as the Klamath Falls Gems (23-22) beat the Victoria HarbourCats 11-6 in a West Coast League game before 1,179 fans Thursday at Royal Athletic Park.
The Gems, down to seven pitchers through attrition, were fortunate to have their ace available and started the six-foot-four lefty Sabo (6-2). That was too bad for the HarbourCats (19-25), whose own pitching wasn鈥檛 up to the occasion.
Victoria starter Joe Navilhon (3-5) gave up a grand-slam to the Gems Adam Daymude and a solo homer to Ryan Clark. That was after Klamath Falls unloaded three home runs the night before in a 9-6 victory.
鈥淚 told our guys this is a hitter鈥檚 park and the ball really flies here,鈥� Gems slugger and WCL home-run leader Cody Hough said before the series, which Klamath Falls won 2-1.
And he should know, after winning the WCL all-star game home-run derby last week at RAP. Hough鈥檚 teammates certainly listened. Hough wasn鈥檛 able to homer in his return to Victoria this series but had three hits Thursday.
Victoria鈥檚 John Schuknecht hit two homers to push his series total to three and season total to four on a five-RBI night. Alex Real鈥檚 solo shot to deepest centre gave him the Victoria lead in homers with five.
鈥淚t was personally a good night, but I would have loved it more if the team had won,鈥� Schuknecht said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 heartbreaking to lose in front of our fans, who have given us such great support.鈥�
The H-Cats are 4.5 games out of first place in the North Division and four games behind a playoff spot.
AROUND THE BASES: It was a Dirtbags reunion as Sabo got to meet up with fellow Long Beach State pitchers Logan Lombana and Ty Provencher of the HarbourCats and LBS-Cats infielder Alex DeGoti . . . At RAP, the HarbourCats are down to their season-ending three-game homestand Aug. 9-11 against Bellingham . . . Victoria embarks on a seven-game road trip beginning tonight in southeast Washington against Walla Walla . . . Klamath Falls, 38 kilometres from the California border in southcentral Oregon, is the WCL city farthest removed from Victoria, and the Gems have a long trip home before facing Kitsap Saturday . . . The greatest athlete out of Klamath Falls is 1996 Atlanta Olympics decathlon champion Dan O鈥橞rien . . . The city鈥檚 WCL team is named after the pro Klamath Falls Gems, who were the farm team of the Phillies from 1948-1951 . . . Hough, who has seven homers, said his goal is to get drafted. His fall-back is U.S. Navy Seal or personal trainer . . . The season series between the Gems and H-Cats ended 3-3.
