COWLITZ 3
VICTORIA 2
Shortstop Alex DeGoti from Long Beach State, a West Coast League all-star during his previous two seasons with the Victoria HarbourCats, made his 2015 debut Monday with a hit and stolen base.
But it wasn鈥檛 enough as the Cowlitz Black Bears (2-5) held the HarbourCats (4-6) to three hits in a 3-2 victory in Kelso/Longview, Washington.
鈥淒eGoti brings a lot of energy and is really going to help us,鈥� said Victoria head coach Graig Merritt, of the seamless fielder, who also hit .296 with four home runs, 34 RBIs and 11 stolen bases last year for Victoria.
Merritt described the Monday outcome: 鈥淲e had nine hard hit balls but Cowlitz made some diving infield plays and nothing fell for us tonight. It was a very tough loss.鈥�
Especially since the day before in Oregon, the HarbourCats edged the Bend Elks 4-3 to complete a rather methodical rebound from Friday鈥� 24-5 blowout loss to the Elks. Victoria lost the second game of the series 5-1 Saturday before finally besting Bend (7-2).
鈥淭his is a scrappy bunch that is getting better every day. We鈥檙e turning into real dirtbags [a baseball term of endearment denoting players who hustle, dive and fight for every base]. This was a game we really needed to win and they went out there and won it,鈥� said Merritt, following Sunday鈥檚 game.
First baseman Gabe Clark, selected last week in the MLB draft by the Toronto Blue Jays, homered to highlight the Victoria offensive output Sunday.
鈥淚t was a huge hit and gave us momentum,鈥� said Merritt, of his team鈥檚 rally from a 3-0 deficit.
Victoria, meanwhile, closes out the series in Cowlitz with games tonight and Wednesday. The HarbourCats will get their fill of Black Bear, as they return home Friday to begin a three game set against Cowlitz at Royal Athletic Park.
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