WENATCHEE 1
VICTORIA 0
As Canadian fans discovered Saturday at sa国际传媒 Place, games in any sport come down to just a few deciding moments.
Sometimes only one.
On Saturday night at Royal Athletic Park, it was a solo homer by Evan Douglas in the second inning of a 1-0 West Coast League baseball victory by the Wenatchee AppleSox over the Victoria HarbourCats before 1,475 fans.
The game was taut and tight. In terms of the HarbourCats, it was about as well as a team can play and still lose.
In doing so, Victoria squandered a three-hit performance with nine strikeouts over eight innings from starter Dominic Topoozian (2-2), among a trio HarbourCats players this season hailing from a pipeline to the Fresno State Bulldogs.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 know what to say. It鈥檚 tough. Everybody competed hard,鈥� said Topoozian, heading into his senior season at Fresno State.
But again, the clutch hits just weren鈥檛 there for Victoria.
鈥淚t鈥檒l come. We have talent here. We鈥檒l get on our streak,鈥� predicted Topoozian.
Wenatchee starter Hunter Wells is from Gonzaga. The Zag also had his zig going with a three-hitter and no runs allowed with nine strikeouts and just one walk through six innings. Brian Gadsby was also tough in three innings of relief.
P.J. Floyd, from Sacramento State, had a double for Victoria鈥檚 hitting highlight.
鈥淲e ruined a great pitching performance [by Topoozian],鈥� said Victoria head coach Graig Merritt.
鈥淭opoozian was awesome. He is going to have a great season for Fresno State. And their guy [Wenatchee鈥檚 Wells] was just as good.鈥�
Victoria wasted a one-out, bases-loaded opportunity in the bottom of the fifth inning.
鈥淭he hitting was just not there for us . . . we especially had a couple of bunts go bad on us,鈥� said Merritt, who is also a pro scout for the Tampa Bay Rays.
鈥淏ut we鈥檒l get it right. We鈥檒l be here a 10 a.m. [today] for batting practice.
鈥淲e鈥檒l keep grinding it out.鈥�
With the AppleSox winning the first two games, the HarbourCats (7-13) have now lost six of the their seven three-game sets this season.
Victoria and Wenatchee (7-10) close out their series with a matin茅e at RAP today at 1 p.m.
DIAMOND DUST: Danny Amaral of the AppleSox, heading in the fall to the UCLA Bruins, is the son of former Seattle Mariner major-leaguer Rich Amaral . . . Wenatchee and the sa国际传媒 capital will be sporting rivals in more than just the WCL, with the Wenatchee Wild about to join the sa国际传媒 Hockey League this season to play the Victoria Grizzlies and rest of the Island Division clubs . . . It was a hot, humid evening at RAP. But just be glad the game wasn鈥檛 played in Wenatchee, where temperatures reached 39 C on Saturday in central Washington with the mercury forecast to rise to 43 C today.
