There is a military adage about never fighting a war on two fronts. But it鈥檚 quite all right when chasing records in sports. The Victoria HarbourCats will be looking to set new standards both on and off the diamond in a three-game series beginning tonight at Royal Athletic Park against the Yakima Valley Pippins that will conclude the West Coast League regular season for both clubs.
Victoria is 38-13 and one more victory will tie the all-time WCL record for wins in a season set by the 2011 Wenatchee AppleSox. Two wins this weekend and the HarbourCats will become the sole holders of the record.
鈥淭ying the record would be awesome, but getting the big 40 wins to reach a level that鈥檚 never been reached before in this league would be amazing,鈥� said HarbourCats head coach Graig Merritt.
鈥淲e鈥檒l see how it goes, because we have the Big 3 of our pitching staff [Will McAffer, Austin Dondanville, Josh Mitchell], who are a combined 19-3, resting for the playoffs next week.鈥�
Cam Schneider (4-0 with a 3.07 ERA) will start tonight for Victoria, Blake Hannah (3-2 with a 2.91 ERA) on Saturday and six-foot-two Kyle Mora, a Grade 12 graduate headed to his freshman season in the Pac-12 with the UCLA Bruins, on Sunday.
鈥淚 like our chances this weekend [for the league record]. And knowing we have these guys in the bullpen for the playoffs, makes us even stronger,鈥� said Merritt.
The HarbourCats, the North Division first-half champions, will meet the second-half representative, likely the Bellingham Bells, in the best-of-three divisional playoff next week.
Meanwhile, Victoria (currently at 48,536 for attendance after 24 games) is also on pace to become the first team in WCL history to surpass the 50,000 plateau in total regular-season attendance.
鈥淭he Seahawks have their 12th man and we have our 10th Man,鈥� said Merritt. 鈥淲e feed off our fans. No one has a travel schedule like we do, because of the ferries. But when you drive through the night after an away game, get to the ferry terminal in the morning, and back to RAP in time for a home game, the guys aren鈥檛 tired because of the 2,000 or so fans who show up to lift them.鈥�
The final series this weekend is also looming large for the Pippins (31-20 overall), who are 16-8 and looking good in the race for the second-half South Division title and the playoff berth that goes with it. The Pippins have a 21脷2-game lead on the Gresham GreyWolves and Corvallis Knights (both 13-10 in the second half heading into Thursday night鈥檚 late-finishing game between the GreyWolves and Knights). Corvallis is irrelevant in the race because the Knights won the first-half championship to already earn a playoff spot. Corvallis will meet either Yakima Valley or Gresham in the best-of-three South divisional playoff next week.
Merritt said he had Yakima Valley tabbed as a playoff team from the start, noting both the Pippins and HarbourCats came close and barley missed the playoffs last season.
