Jake Stone鈥檚 bat has been as hot as a Fresno summer.
The six-foot outfielder has hit a team second-best .429 in the four games since joining the Victoria HarbourCats of the West Coast League from the Fresno State Bulldogs of the NCAA.
鈥淚 like to think I play hard and I play smart,鈥� said the criminology major.
鈥淎nd I try to swing the bat.鈥�
Which he does well.
Stone鈥檚 Victoria totals include six hits, three RBIs, three runs scored, two walks and three strikeouts in 14 at-bats. He hit .312 at Fresno State in starting all 58 games as the Bulldogs went 36-22 and made the Mountain West tournament. Fresno State in recent seasons has provided the HarbourCats with a pipeline that has also included Austin Guibor and Torin Goldstein.
鈥淵ou can鈥檛 beat it here in Victoria,鈥� said Stone.
鈥淭he crowds and the city are both awesome.鈥�
Even though he was overlooked as a junior this month in the 2016 MLB draft, Stone feels he has the best of both worlds.
鈥淚 definitely want to sign a pro contract [after his NCAA career ends next season],鈥� he said.
鈥淏ut if it doesn鈥檛 work out, I鈥檒l have my education and degree to fall back on.鈥�
Meanwhile, there hasn鈥檛 been much raining on the HarbourCats鈥� baseball parade this season. But it did Wednesday night at Royal Athletic Park as the wet stuff shortened an exhibition game to five innings with the Victoria Selects leading the HarbourCats 3-2 at the time. The Selects are senior players, mainly from the Mavericks League.
The HarbourCats鈥� highlights came on a solo-shot homer by Matt Smith from Sacramento State and a double by Matt Lautz of UC-Santa Barbara.
The HarbourCats used five pitchers, tossing one inning each, with the best of them on the night being Jack Wolger from UC-Berkeley who fanned the Selects鈥� side in order in the top of the fifth inning.
The non-league outcome does not affect the HarbourCats鈥� franchise-record, 11-game West Coast League winning streak, which is three shy of the WCL record of 14 set by the Wenatchee AppleSox in 2011. The HarbourCats will continue chasing that Friday night when they begin a three-game league series against the Kitsap BlueJackets at Royal Athletic Park.
WCL NOTEBOOK: Adrian Sampson, the 2011 WCL MVP pitcher with the Bellingham Bells, made his MLB debut this week at Fenway Park by going five innings for the Mariners in a 6-2 loss against the Red Sox.
