The summer night was nearly flawless.
So was Victoria HarbourCats pitcher Ty Provencher, as he put his own spin on the adage about how the last will be first.
Normally the Victoria closer, Provencher started Saturday night and went all the way in fashioning a five-hit win as Victoria (9-4) defeated the Bend Elks (12-5) by a 6-1 count before 1,640 fans at Royal Athletic Park.
It was the first complete game pitched in Victoria鈥檚 inaugural season in the West Coast League. That it should come from Provencher was ironic. His 22 appearances this year in the NCAA with Long Beach State, and previous six with Victoria, have all come out of the bullpen. This was his second win of the season with the HarbourCats.
The coaches鈥� game plan was to have him go six innings, he said.
鈥淚 took that as a slap in the face,鈥� Provencher quipped, as he looked back at the dugout with a chuckle, addressing the crowd with a post-game interview over the stadium鈥檚 loudspeakers.
鈥淚 definitely wanted to go back out there and finish it off.鈥�
Provencher just completed his freshman season at Long Beach State, which is a common refrain on this HarbourCats team. That鈥檚 how you build a team in the WCL, which features collegians who dream of eventually playing pro, with some already having been drafted by MLB teams.
With a roster loaded with freshman and sophomores, it鈥檚 evident Victoria manager Dennis Rogers prefers a certain kind of collegian.
鈥淭here鈥檚 no question that鈥檚 what I was looking for [in building the inaugural HarbourCats roster],鈥� said Rogers, the former Vancouver Canadians manager, who managed in both the A鈥檚 and Pirates organizations and now coaches Riverside City College.
鈥淲e want sustainability, with players who are eligible to come back next year and who will go back to their various colleges and spread the word about playing in Victoria. We want to create a culture. Freshmen and sophomores are not as set in their ways. Juniors, who have already had three years in college play, may not be as receptive to instruction. We want to win the game, but we also want to develop the players.鈥�
Multifaceted UC-Santa Barbara freshman Rob Nesovic, who took the loss on the mound for Victoria on Friday against Bend, started as the DH Saturday and pounded a soaring two-out, two-strike, three-run homer off the scoreboard in the first inning.
The defensive gem came from another freshman, Justin Berba from the University of Oklahoma, whose diving catch in centre-field in the eighth inning would have done even a Sooners football receiver proud.
Bend and the HarbourCats meet in the matin茅e rubber match today at 1 at RAP.
