Victoria HarbourCats head coach Graig Merritt鈥檚 plan, personnel wise, for the playoffs was set in place several weeks ago and he isn鈥檛 about to sway over these last few games of the West Coast League season.
On Wednesday, the HarbourCats again beat up on the Kitsap BlueJackets, the worst team in the 11-team circuit, this time by a 4-1 count. Victoria improves to 15-9 in the second half, and a league-best 38-13 overall. It has already clinched first place overall and home field throughout the playoffs. Kitsap falls to a dismal 7-20 in the second half and 15-39 overall after this sweep.
The HarbourCats head home for the final regular-season series beginning Friday against a strong Yakima Valley Pippins club at Royal Athletic Park.
鈥淲e scheduled it out about three weeks ago so that Bellingham would never see [Austin] Dondanville or [Josh] Mitchell. They saw [Will] McAffer. We plan on going Dondanville in Game 1 of the playoffs and Mitchell in Game 2,鈥� Merritt said of his pitching.
鈥淲e went 2-4 against Bellingham. If we throw Dondo and Mitchell in those games, we feel we go 4-2. Going forward we feel we鈥檙e set up for the playoffs and the Yakima series, just like it was a mid-season series.鈥�
Merritt said he鈥檒l throw Cam Schneider in Game 1 vs. Yakima and then he鈥檒l decide on either Indigo Diaz or Kyle Mora in Game 2. He wants to end the campaign with Blake Hannah out of UC-Davis on Sunday.
鈥淲e鈥檒l use Schneider out of the bullpen in the playoffs. So if he goes against Yakima he鈥檒l have three full day鈥檚 rest to come out of the pen and be ready to go,鈥� said Merritt. 鈥淏oth Diaz and Mora have made huge strides in the last few weeks. Blake鈥檚 been outstanding the last three or four times out. Hannah can arguably be our No. 3 starter.鈥�
Merritt says the HarbourCats will go after Yakima like any other series.
鈥淲e won鈥檛 need Hannah for Game 1 of the playoffs out of the pen when we have a Schneider and Holden Lyons and Greg Casper. We will need Hannah in Games 2 or 3 and then Games 1, 2 or 3 in the championship series,鈥� added Merritt. 鈥淭he only game we see that we don鈥檛 need him is Game 1. We鈥檒l keep him on a shorter pitch count [on Sunday].鈥�
Asked if there is a delicate balance to ponder over the next few games, Merritt was straightforward.
鈥淣ot when we have the league all-time record before us. I鈥檓 disappointed in a lot of the guys who decided to leave for various reasons. I鈥檒l just leave it at that,鈥� he said of departures of the likes of Joe Prior and Dakota Dean, who drove in 25 and 13 runs, respectively.
In total, Merritt has lost 10 players and will lose two more after the Yakima series as Austin Guibor and Jake Stone will depart for the start of school at Fresno State.
鈥淲e still have a lot of great pitching. I still think we have a chance to be the best West Coast League team of all time,鈥� he said.
Victoria needs just two more wins to set that mark.
On Wednesday, the HarbourCats opened with a run in the first, added two more in the third and another in the eighth.
Mitchell lasted six innings in establishing a franchise record seventh win in one season (7-0), allowing five hits before Casper pitched the seventh and Lyons tossed the eighth and ninth. Tommy Jew was 3-for-4 with a run scored for the victors.
Kitsap scored its run in the ninth.
