It was a time far before that of the players on the Victoria HarbourCats, but they can certainly relate to the sentiments of the Beatles’ song With a Little Help From My Friends.
That’s what the HarbourCats will need to win the North Division first-half championship in the West Coast League of baseball and playoff berth and first-round home-diamond advantage that goes with it.
The HarbourCats (19-8) concluded the first half of their season by beating Bellingham 8-2 on Sunday at Wilson’s Group Stadium at Royal Athletic Park to sweep the Bells three straight in their sa国际传媒 Day weekend set.
But it might have been a sweep too far as Bellingham and the Wenatchee AppleSox have yet to finish their first halves. Victoria needs Bellingham (17-7) to lose at least once in its final three games of its half tonight, Wednesday and Thursday against the Kamloops NorthPaws (7-20) and for Wenatchee (18-6) to lose all three of its remaining first-half games this week in Port Angeles against the Lefties (8-19).
The first-half championship of the South Division is also still to be decided with the Ridgefield Raptors of suburban Vancouver, Washington, and Portland Pickles and annual powerhouse Corvallis Knights, associated with the Knight family of Nike fame, the clubs still in contention.
Eight teams of the 16 will make the WCL playoffs — the first- and second-half winners in each of the North and South divisions — plus two wild cards teams in each division.
Although the HarbourCats have been powered mostly by their offensive prowess at the plate, it was their pitching that was the highlight Sunday as starter Sean Heppner struck out 12 Bellingham batters over five innings while allowing just two hits. Victoria Relievers Brett Harvey and Logan MacNiel allowed no hits the rest of the way before 2,109 fans at RAP.
The HarbourCats’ pitching held touted Bells player Dean West, headed to the NCAA Pac-12 with the UCLA Bruins as Baseball America’s 98th ranked high school prospect for the 2023 MLB draft, to a combined no hits in eight trips to the plate in Victoria wins Saturday and Sunday.
The WCL is among several summer collegiate leagues across North America in which NCAA players can extend their seasons into the summer after their university seasons end in the spring.
Although the ultimate prize of the first half is likely to elude Haney’s squad, the HarbourCats have proven themselves to be among the elite teams in the WCL with the Bells, AppleSox, Raptors, Pickles and Knights.
“We are playing good baseball and I’m excited about the direction we are taking,” said Victoria head coach and former major-leaguer Todd Haney.
The final three North Division playoff spots are on offer for the HarbourCats in the second half of their season. It opens with a three-game set beginning tonight against the Sweets (8-16) in Walla Walla in southeastern Washington state, whose official slogan boasts it’s “A town so nice they named it twice.” Among the Walla Walla jerseys, have been those featuring the letter W squared and others featuring the famous sweet onions of the region after which the team is named.
The HarbourCats move on to south central Washington state to begin a three-game set Friday against the Yakima Valley Pippins (10-17), named after a brand of apple from that region.
The HarbourCats return to Caledonia Street on July 11 to begin a six-game home stand against Port Angeles and Wenatchee.
The Nanaimo NightOwls, meanwhile, finished above .500 in the first half at 14-13 by sweeping Port Angeles in their three games over the sa国际传媒 Day weekend at Serauxmen Stadium. The NightOwls, whose clever third jersey features the Harbour City delicacy Nanaimo Bar, opens the second half of its season Friday in Walla Walla.
