Victoria HarbourCats pitchers, including tonight’s scheduled starter Cooper Crompton, will need to be mindful of Cowlitz slugger Ben Zeigler as the HarbourCats open a three-game set against the Black Bears (10-11) at Wilson’s Group Stadium at Royal Athletic Park.
Zeigler was named West Coast League player of the week on Monday for going 14-for-24 at the plate with eight runs scored in Cowlitz’s six previous games. Zeigler is riding a nine-game hitting streak onto the Island and is third in league batting at .404 after William Fuenning II of the Walla Walla Sweets (.432) and Trent Prokes of the Ridgefield Raptors (.421).
Zeigler, a native of Wailuku, Hawaii, was conference second team all-star as a freshman after hitting .386 for Yavapai College in Arizona. He is supported at the plate by Black Bears slugger Calyn Halvorson from NCAA Div. 1 Utah Valley University of the WAC, who leads the WCL with 22 RBIs and co-leads the league with four home runs.
The Black Bears, from Longview in southern Washington state, are 10-11 and feature two players from the University of Washington Huskies and two from the Gonzaga Bulldogs. This will be Cowlitz’s first appearance in sa国际传媒 since 2019 due to the pandemic. The American teams in the WCL played in 2021 but not the Canadian teams. No teams played in 2020.
The HarbourCats answer Zeigler and Halvorson at the plate with their leading hitter, Grady Morgan out of Chico State, who is ninth in league batting at .356 and tied for fifth with 15 RBIs.
Meanwhile, Joseph Redfield had three hits, including a double, with two RBIs and a run scored as the HarbourCats edged Ridgefield 8-7 on Sunday afternoon in 33-degree temperature to salvage something out of their three-game road series in southern Washington state after the Raptors won the first two games 13-11 and 12-0.
Redfield, the son of former MLB player Joe Redfield showed why he is headed from junior college to NCAA Div. 1 Sam Houston State, and is batting a WCL 13th-best .343 on the season. Morgan added two hits, an RBI and run scored Sunday with Colton Moore from the Pac-12 University of Arizona Wildcats adding a triple, RBI and run scored and Jake Skipworth from Cal-Baptist via Pac-12 Cal-Berkeley and Hudson Shupe from Seattle University two hits, an RBI and run scored each.
The Raptors fell to 12-8 in the South Division while the HarbourCats moved to 9-11 in the North Division.
