No matter how the West Coast League鈥檚 North Division playoff race turns out for the Victoria HarbourCats, the true value is in the chase, say the players.
The experience in summer collegiate ball this year proved full value, says HarbourCats infielder/pitcher Noah Prewett of the University of San Diego Toreros.
鈥淪ummer ball is made for next-level development,鈥� said the five-foot-10, 185-pound native of Woodland Hills, California, who is heading into his sophomore season with the Toreros.
Especially in terms of travel, where the grinding minor-pro-type bus trips can prove wearing on both mind and body for NCAA players mostly used to weekend-only play.
The simple sail across the strait for the regular-season ending games tonight and Sunday in Port Angeles against the Lefties is a piece of cake for a HarbourCats team used to having the ferry ride followed by lengthy bus rides for road games deep into both Washington and Oregon states.
鈥淪ummer league trips can be long, so you have to get your mind ready on the mental side of things, too,鈥� said Prewett, as he prepared for a game earlier this week at Royal Athletic Park.
鈥淵our bodies are tired, but you have to keep pushing through, and that鈥檚 where the mental side helps.鈥�
The highly-useful Prewett has proved the very picture of versatility this season for Victoria, hitting .342 in 27 games and 79 at-bats, while recording a 2-0 record and 2.79 ERA in 92脷3 innings pitched over six games.
The home fans have helped lift the HarbourCats鈥� spirits this season, he said, as the team crossed the 50,000-spectator threshold in attendance for the second consecutive season. That has only been done twice in the WCL and both times by Victoria.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been an awesome experience,鈥� said Prewett.
Canadians tend to romanticize NCAA sport and to give it an outsized sense of importance compared to Canadian university sports. They tend to forget, that outside of the big crowds and media hype of NCAA Div. 1 football and basketball, the rest of NCAA sport can be pretty modest by comparison.
鈥淚鈥檝e never experienced playing in front of 2,000 people in a game before,鈥� said Prewett.
鈥淗aving done that in Victoria this summer is something I will never forget.鈥�
Prewett and company are going down to the wire this weekend against the Lefties (9-16) in the WCL North Division second-half playoff race. Victoria is 14-11 in the second half (28-24 overall) and tied for first place with Bellingham, which is 14-11 in the second half, after the Bell鈥檚 pivotal 7-3 home victory Friday night over the Wenatchee AppleSox (13-11). The AppleSox are half a game behind Victoria and Bellingham and close out Saturday and Sunday in Bellingham against the Bells. The AppleSox had a home game not played this week against the Corvallis Knights due to smoke from the forest fires in the sa国际传媒 Interior. If that game is needed to break a tie for first place in the North Division, it will be played Monday
The North Division second-half champion will play the first-half champion Kelowna Falcons in the divisional playoff final beginning Tuesday.
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