From Petco Park in San Diego to Royal Athletic.
It鈥檚 been quite the whirlwind June for six-foot-eight, 250-pound pitcher Dalton Erb, tonight鈥檚 Victoria HarbourCats starter for the West Coast League home opener against the Wenatchee AppleSox.
Erb threw for San Diego Padres scouts last week, and the next day headed to Victoria, wondering what will become of him in this week鈥檚 MLB draft. He was no sooner on the Island than the HarbourCats left the next day for the season-opening series in Walla Walla, Washington, in which they went 0-3, against the Sweets.
Tonight represents a chance to turn it around before a home-opening audience at Royal Athletic Park that is expected to approach 5,000.
鈥淚鈥檓 stoked and super excited,鈥� said Erb, who was 6-3 in 12 starts with a 3.62 ERA, and two complete games, as a junior at Chico State.
鈥淭he last time I played in front of such a big crowd was in Japan during a USA-Japan friendship series. It鈥檚 going to be awesome,鈥� said the native of Torrance, California.
What better stage to begin the turnaround, he asked.
鈥淲e鈥檝e got the hitters and we鈥檝e got the pitching,鈥� said Erb.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a matter of us putting it all together.鈥�
Half of that equation has been there.
鈥淲e鈥檝e pitched well. But we struck out 35 times in our first three games and we鈥檙e hitting .196 as a team. That says it all,鈥� said HarbourCats head coach Graig Merritt.
Even while pitching as been an early strength, Merritt said the team still needs a monster outing on the mound to really get the team going: 鈥淲e need someone to throw a dominating game.鈥�
What better candidate for that than tonight鈥檚 starter?
鈥淎t six-foot-eight, Erb throws downhill . . . he has a big-league breaking ball,鈥� said Merritt, a scout for the Tampa Bay Rays.
The AppleSox, meanwhile, are also 0-3 and having their feeling-out issues.
EXTRA BASES: Cody Snider led the HarbourCats in hitting in the series in Walla Walla. The outfielder from Chico State is hitting .231 after the first three games. . . . Following the three-game set with Wenatchee, the HarbourCats head back out on the road this weekend with games in Kelowna Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
HarbourCats vs. Applesox, June 7, 6:35 p.m., Royal Athletic Park
