You just know this trip up I-5 felt really, really long.
The Victoria HarbourCats (15-17) return to Royal Athletic Park tonight to face the Wenatchee AppleSox after having lost four consecutive games and 11 of the last 15.
The Medford Rogues (17-19) completed a three-game sweep of the HarbourCats with a 3-1 West Coast League baseball victory Thursday morning in the southern Oregon community. Victoria finished its road swing through Medford and Klamath Falls at 2-4, dropping the last four games.
鈥淭here is a level of frustration, especially because the effort is there and the guys are playing hard,鈥� said Victoria assistant coach Bob Miller.
The HarbourCat highlight Thursday was Dylan Lavelle鈥檚 first WCL home run.
鈥淭he home run is a nice personal stat but winning is the whole point of the game,鈥� said the Detroit Tigers 18th-round 2012 draft pick.
Until that shot in the ninth inning, Victoria had been held scoreless for 22 innings.
鈥淭his is baseball and there are going to be hot streaks and cold streaks,鈥� said Lavelle, who didn鈥檛 sign with the Tigers and will re-enter the MLB draft next year in hopes of going higher than the 18th round.
鈥淲e never feel like we鈥檙e out of it.鈥�
Victoria left nine runners on base Thursday after stranding 13 the night before in an 8-0 loss in Medford.
鈥淲e鈥檙e getting guys on base but can鈥檛 cash in,鈥� said Lavelle, an Everett Community College freshman, who was one of the top 2012 Grade 12 high school players in Washington state despite being hampered by a shoulder injury.
鈥淸When runners are on base], we鈥檙e hitting the ball hard but right at people.鈥�
Victoria is the league鈥檚 most error-prone team and committed three more Thursday, including two costly errors that turned the game in the bottom of the fourth inning and led to two unearned runs on a two-run single by Spencer Smith.
鈥淲e鈥檙e the worst fielding team in the league, but we have really good fielding players and that shouldn鈥檛 be the case. The ball just hasn鈥檛 bounced right for us,鈥� said Lavelle.
The fielding problems are fixable, say the coaches.
鈥淲e鈥檙e searching for answers. There is some individual work to be done,鈥� Miller said.
Victoria starter Joe Navilhon (3-3) allowed five hits and all three runs, only one of them earned, over six innings Thursday. Reliever Ryan Keller allowed three hits in two innings of work.
鈥淓veryone is trying their best and we鈥檙e all giving it 100 per cent,鈥� said Navilhon, a six-foot right-hander from Cal State-Fullerton. 鈥淏ut this can be a very gruelling and unforgiving game and you just have to roll with the punches. I didn鈥檛 feel I had my best stuff today but you have to grind through it. I think we鈥檙e going to find the right mix to get some wins.鈥�
University of Washington Huskies junior Mac Acker (4-2) took the win for Medford and was sailing along with eight strikeouts and six hits allowed until Lavelle鈥檚 homer in the ninth. Acker鈥檚 night was done with Hector Lujan coming in to mop up. A Chris Lewis single brought the tying run to the plate but Lujan put down the Victoria threat.
Medford won the season series 4-2 between the two 2013 WCL expansion franchises, meaning HarbourCats general manager Holly Jones lost a bet between the teams and will have her picture taken wearing Rogues gear during the all-star break next week in Victoria.
