If this is Saturday, it must be Klamath Falls, which 鈥� factoring in ferries, border waits and the long bus ride 鈥� is about 15 hours鈥� traveling time from Royal Athletic Park.
The Victoria HarbourCats (14-13) defeated the Klamath Falls Gems (15-16) 5-3 with a three-run ninth-inning in a West Coast League baseball game to begin a three-game set in the southern Oregon community.
Victoria鈥檚 ninth inning was keyed by Alex Real鈥檚 double.
鈥淚 thought our pitching was really good tonight, and it allowed us to stay in the game and then come back and win it in the ninth,鈥� said Victoria manager Dennis Rogers.
After Klamath Falls, its across to Medford, where the HarbourCats will finish their six-game road trip with a 10 a.m. game Thursday before busing up I-5 to be back in time for a Friday night game against the Wenatchee AppleSox.
The pace is demanding, but that鈥檚 what these young players have signed up for in the WCL, summer training ground for top collegians getting acclimatized for what life will be like in the minor-pros.
鈥淭hey are learning how to play every day,鈥� Rogers said.
The NCAA collegiate season consists of only two, sometimes three, games a week. In the WCL, these players will play 54 regular-season games in basically two months.
鈥淲e are the youngest team in the league 鈥� 90 per cent of our players just completed their freshman seasons, and we even have two [2013 spring graduated] high schoolers 鈥� and this is a huge learning curve for all of them,鈥� Rogers said.
鈥淭hings are coming faster at them. Learning the mental skills of baseball need to become as important as learning the physical skills.鈥�
鈥淭his is definitely a different type of game [than college],鈥� said Alex DeGoti, one of the HarbourCats steadiest players.
鈥淭he guys are growing mentally,鈥� added the infielder from Long Beach State. 鈥淚f you want to play a long time in this game [as a pro], you have to learn how to play every day.鈥�
Denzel Washington won the Academy Award for Training Day. For the HarbourCats, consider this Training Summer.
