From the videotaped exhortations of 鈥淕o Cats Go,鈥� from hometown hero Steve Nash on the scoreboard screen to the wryly diverting dance routines performed by the grounds crew to the fireworks nights, the inaugural-season presentation was pitch perfect.
On the diamond, however, not quite so by the home side. The curtain dropped Sunday on a revealing first Victoria HarbourCats season in the West Coast League that featured rousing numbers at the Royal Athletic Park ticket gate but lowly figures in the tables as the HarbourCats finished 22-32 and missed the playoffs.
They closed the season on a positive note Sunday with a 4-3 win over the Bellingham Bells, who wind up the year out of the playoffs themselves with a .500 record at 27-27.
鈥淥ff the field, tremendous. On the field, a work in progress,鈥� said HarbourCats owner John McLean.
Saturday night was a case study. The HarbourCats, simply unable to string together the hits when needed, again lost amid a wonderful atmosphere created by 2,513 fans.
The Bells defeated the HarbourCats 4-1 as the Bells鈥� former Canadian national junior team slugger Alex Calbick of Burnaby pushed his league-leading batting average to .385 by going two-for-four. Victoria had no answer.
鈥淲e had some moments this season, but had more bad streaks. Yet we had the support of the city and the fans throughout it all,鈥� said HarbourCats field- manager Dennis Rogers.
Victoria wound up second in WCL attendance with a per game average of about 1,400.
鈥淭he support from the community was everything we were told it would be and more [based on past track record],鈥� said McLean, a Vancouver private equity investor.
鈥淰ictoria loves its baseball and we saw that.鈥�
And the HarbourCats are one of the few teams in any league in any sport that are meticulous about accurate counts and don鈥檛 inflate their attendance figures.
鈥淚 believe in transparency when it comes to announcing what the real attendance numbers are,鈥� said McLean.
It was probably far more crucial this first season that the WCL 鈥� featuring top U.S. collegiate players 鈥� be a good league than for the HarbourCats to have a winning season.
This league proved its credibility.
鈥淟ook at our roster. We had eight players this season that were drafted by MLB teams but who chose to go the college route at this point of their careers,鈥� noted McLean.
A total of 57 current or alumni WCL players were selected this year in the 2013 MLB draft.
Other interesting stories abound during each series. For instance, Victoria鈥檚 Brett Urabe and Bellingham鈥檚 Trent Chatterton and Chase Radan were teammates earlier this year on the 2013 College World Series champion UCLA Bruins.聽
