BREMERTON 5
VICTORIA 4
The road to ruin in the last two seasons for the Victoria HarbourCats has actually come at home.
With records of 12-15 and 13-14 in 2014 and 2013, respectively, the less than .500 marks have spelled an inability to get into the West Coast League post-season. They wasted another one again on Wednesday night, blowing an early 3-0 lead in a 5-4 10-inning loss to the visiting Kitsap Bluejackets at Sports Trader Diamond at Royal Athletic Park.
鈥淚 thought we were an easy place to come in and play last year, for sure,鈥� said HarbourCats general manager Jim Swanson.
鈥淥ur home record didn鈥檛 help us and when you get the support of as many fans as we get you should turn that into an advantage.
鈥淲e talked about it with our guys. This is a great place to play and we want to make it unfriendly for teams to come in here.鈥�
They played before an announced crowd of 1,380 at RAP on Wednesday as Kitsap won it on Brett Bautista鈥檚 sacrifice fly that scored Caylen Clardy. Bautista had three hits and two RBIs. Victoria falls to 2-3 (all at home) while Kitsap is also 2-3.
Jackson Thoreson, a freshman at St. Mary鈥檚 College, led the HarbourCats in hitting for average coming into the game (.333), ahead of Chris Fougner鈥檚 .313. Thoreson鈥檚 five runs batted in were tied for fourth in the league.
Fougner, a former Victoria Mariner, beat out an infield hit, stole second and scored on Thoreson鈥檚 single to open the scoring. Victoria added a pair of runs in the third as Kevin Collard and Kyle Francis recorded RBIs.
Kitsap tied it at 3-3 in the fourth before the HarbourCats scratched out another run in the bottom half. Mitchell Robinson then tied it at 4-4 when he crushed a Josh Mitchell offering 370 feet to dead left-field in the ninth to force extras. Pitcher Josh Walker took the loss for Victoria and Nate Simmons earned the win.
The HarbourCats wrap up their three-game series with the Bluejackets with a 1:05 p.m. matin茅e today before heading out on the road to Bend to begin a three-game set with the Elks.
EXTRA INNINGS: Former HarbourCats pitcher Logan Lombana was selected by the Minnesota Twins in Round 25 of the MLB Draft on Wednesday and Gabe Clark was taken in Round 26 by the Toronto Blue Jays. Quentin Torres-Costa went in the 35th round to Milwaukee. Outfielder Nathan Lukes was chosen by the Cleveland Indians in the seventh round on Tuesday and Brett Helton went in the ninth to Pittsburgh.
