WENATCHEE 7
VICTORIA 2
听
The biggest sporting connection between Victoria and Wenatchee, Wash., is that pro cyclists Ryder Hesjedal and Tyler Farrar, native sons of the respective cities, are teammates on the Garmin-Sharp team and have ridden together in events such as the Tour de France.
The West Coast League baseball teams from Victoria and Wenatchee met for the first time to begin a three-game set in the central Washington city known informally as the apple capital of the world.
The Victoria HarbourCats (11-7) continued the first real down-spin stretch of their inaugural season by dropping their third game in four outings with a 7-2 loss to the AppleSox (12-10) on Tuesday night.
The HarbourCats have committed 11 errors over those last four games, including four on Tuesday against the AppleSox.
鈥淲e pretty much played poorly in all aspects of the game and were not sharp mentally,鈥� said Victoria head coach Dennis Rogers, whose team left Cowlitz County in southern Washington state听in the听morning for the nearly five-hour bus ride to Wenatchee.
Victoria is playing 12 consecutive games, with six on the road, before six at home starting Friday night at Royal Athletic Park. But this is what summer ball in the WCL is all about 鈥� to acclimatize collegians to the rigours they will face in minor-pro baseball 鈥� complete with games nearly daily and exhausting bus travel.
Victoria starter Scott Kuzminsky went into Tuesday's game 2-0 but the University of Hawaii Rainbows hurler was rocked by the AppleSox for 12 hits and seven runs over 51脷3 innings for his first loss.
Ryan Keller, out of the University of San Diego, came on in relief with Wenatchee leading 7-2.
Victoria loaded the bases with none out in the seventh inning but wasted the opportunity with all three men left stranded and no runs scored.
Brandon Smith, who was drafted by the Washington Nationals, had a hit, run and RBI in the game for Victoria to snap a 0-11 streak at the plate. The best of the HarboutCats on the night was John Schucknecht, who contributed two doubles and a run.
A familiar problem continued to plague Victoria, which fell to 2-5 in series-opening games.
The HarbourCats, however, have proven resilient and are 5-1 in the second game of sets and have lost only one of six previous series this season. They get two more cracks at the AppleSox tonight and Thursday.
Rogers, however, said he doesn鈥檛 subscribe to stats or theories about when games are won within series 鈥� as long as they are won.
Infielder Brett Urabe, a 2013 college World Series champion with the UCLA Bruins, made his HarbourCats debut Tuesday by striking out in his lone plate appearance.
鈥淟ike everybody on this [HarbourCats] team, he will be fighting for at-bats,鈥� said Rogers.
Victoria returns home Friday to open a six-game homestand beginning with three against the Kelowna Falcons followed by three against the Walla Walla Sweets.
