VICTORIA 11 BELLINGHAM 1
It’s a potential sweep that comes with an asterisk of sorts. The Victoria HarbourCats remain a longshot to win the first-half North Division championship of the West Coast League, and playoff berth that goes with it, despite two consecutive wins over the Bellingham Bells on Friday and Saturday at Wilson’s Group Stadium at Royal Athletic Park. The HarbourCats go for the sweep this afternoon at RAP.
Victoria (18-8) moved half a game behind Bellingham (17-6) and one game behind Wenatchee (heading into the AppleSox’s game Saturday night against the Edmonton Riverhawks) but have completed the first half of the season.
To win the divisional first-half title, the HarbourCats will have to beat Bellingham today, then hope the Bells lose at least two of their three remaining games to end the half and that the AppleSox (17-5) lose four of their next seven games to their halfway point.
That’s faint hope, but the HarbourCats have done well to at least stay relevant into the final game of their first half.
Hudson Shupe, from NCAA Division 1 Seattle University, swatted a three-run homer and added another hit and Russell Young added a home run, three hits and three RBIs as Victoria’s dynamic offence overwhelmed Bellingham 11-1 Saturday afternoon after outlasting the Bells 6-4 on Friday night as Tyler Davis of Fresno State had four hits before 4,059 fans on Fireworks Night to move to 13-1 at home.
The HarbourCats’ pitching held touted Dean West, headed to the NCAA Pac-12 with the UCLA Bruins as Baseball America’s 98th ranked high school prospect for the 2023 MLB draft, to no hits in four trips to the plate Saturday.
The WCL is among several summer collegiate leagues across North America in which NCAA players can extend their seasons into the summer after their university seasons end in the spring.
“It’s exciting to see the talent and prospects in this league,” said HarbourCats head coach Todd Haney, a former five- season MLB infielder.
Although the ultimate prize of the first half is likely to elude Haney’s crew, the HarbourCats have proved themselves to be among the elite teams in the WCL with the Bells, AppleSox and South Division contenders Ridgefield Raptors, Portland Pickles and Corvallis Knights.
“There have been some bumps, but we continue to play hard daily,” said Haney. “We are playing good baseball and I’m excited about the direction we are taking. Our veteran guys really know what they are doing at the plate.”
The Nanaimo NightOwls also made themselves at home on sa国际传媒 Day in moving to 13-13 with a 9-1 rout of the Port Angeles Lefties (8-18) at Serauxmen Stadium in the Harbour City.
Elijah Ickes of the NightOwls, an infielder headed to his home state NCAA Div. 1 University of Hawaii Rainbows as the top-rated Grade 12 player in the state, had two hits and a run scored.
