VICTORIA 10
KITSAP 0
For the Victoria HarbourCats, it took the haze to get out of their daze.
The HarbourCats bats finally came alive as the sun, an eerie-looking orange, set behind the Royal Athletic Park home-plate grandstand on Monday night.
The HarbourCats returned home after being swept three games over the weekend by the Corvallis Knights in Oregon. If the travel had taken a toll 鈥� or even the smoke from the forest fires 鈥� the HarbourCats didn鈥檛 show it as they jumped to a 10-0 lead by the third inning. That鈥檚 all they needed as that stood as the final scoreline over the Kitsap BlueJackets before 1,034 fans.
Victoria came into the game 11th in both runs scored and batting average in the 12-team West Coast League. Not coincidentally, the HarbourCats are also 11th overall in the standings at 9-16.
鈥淢aybe it was the new bats I ordered,鈥� joked Victoria GM Jim Swanson, happy to see the losing streak snapped and his team break out at the plate.
The highlight hit of the night was A.J. Alcantara鈥檚 two-run homer.
鈥淭here were two out, I was sitting on a fastball, and that鈥檚 exactly what I got,鈥� said the UC-Irvine Ant Eater, who went three-for-four.
鈥淲e got 12 hits tonight. It鈥檚 great to be back home. We play hard each game, and it will come.鈥�
Austin Dondanville from Cal Poly took the win for Victoria with a five-hitter over six innings. Josh Walker preserved the shutout by allowing just two hits over three innings with four strikeouts. The Victoria pitchers combined to allow just three walks.
The BlueJackets (10-15) are also struggling and lost their fifth consecutive game.
Meanwhile, Grade 12 standout Kevin Collard powered out his fourth home run of the season for Victoria in Sunday鈥檚 4-2 loss to the Knights in Corvallis. Collard bypassed the 2015 MLB draft 鈥� he becomes eligible again in 2018 鈥� and will play NCAA at the University of San Diego. Alcantara started his strong two-game stretch by going three-for-four Sunday as well.
Victoria and Kitsap conclude their three-game set tonight and Wednesday at RAP.
