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The old punchline is that Walla Walla is a town so great they named it twice.
Twice indeed proved the operative word as the Walla Walla Sweets beat the Victoria HarbourCats for the second consecutive night to open the West Coast League baseball season.
A bright spot for Victoria has been Corey Snider, who looks to be a keeper as the HarbourCats continue their feel-out process. Snider may be diminutive, but the five-foot-nine junior outfielder from Chico State carries a big bat. He had a hit, run and walk, but it still wasn鈥檛 enough as the Sweets defeated the HCats 8-3 Saturday. Snider also led Victoria, with two hits, in the season-opening 2-1 loss Friday in Walla Walla.
The touted Matt Smith had a hit, RBI and run for Victoria on Saturday. Smith led all high school players in the U.S. with 14 home runs in 2015 and hit .289 in 51 games this spring as an NCAA freshman at Sacramento State. Junior College World Series MVP Dakota Dean from New Orleans had two hits and an RBI for the HCats.
Saturday was competitive at 4-3 before the Sweets, named for a famous onion grown in southeastern Washington state, touched Victoria reliever Holden Lyons for four runs in the seventh inning to break it open.
The season-opening series continues today in Walla Walla before the HarbourCats board the bus for the journey back for their home opener Tuesday against the Wenatchee AppleSox at Royal Athletic Park.
