VICTORIA 8
KLAMATH FALLS 5
After spotting the hosts a 4-0 lead in the second inning, the visiting Victoria HarbourCats took the shine off the Klamath Falls Gems by way of an 8-5 win in the first game of a rare West Coast League doubleheader on Saturday night in Oregon.
A six-run fourth inning propelled the come-from-behind win in the seven-inning affair at Kiger Stadium. In Game 2, the HarbourCats led 5-1 in the top of the fifth with a final score unavailable by press time.
The HarbourCats improve to 12-16 with their fourth straight victory, while the Gems tumble to a lowly 5-23 with eight consecutive defeats. It was the first doubleheader at home in the Gems鈥� five-year history.
Playing the worst team in the 12-team league, the HarbourCats got off to an awful start in Game 1 as Harrison Ramey鈥檚 RBI-single was followed by a three-run home run to right-centre field by Reid Penney as the Gems built up a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the second.
Three straight singles with two outs led to the first Victoria run in the third and the visitors then sent 10 men to the plate in the fourth to record six runs, highlighted by four straight singles by Michael Gretler, Scott Jarvis, Torin Goldstein and Griffin Andreychuk. After a sacrifice bunt, Austin Guibor and Kevin Collard recorded doubles.
Victoria starter Dominic Topoozian gave up his second homer of the game, a solo shot to Ty Wyatt in the bottom of the fourth to cut the HarbourCats鈥� lead to 7-5. Gems starter Garrett Alvarez was replaced in the fifth inning by Jackson Watt.
Shawn Kennedy took over the pitching duties for Dominic Topoozian for the HarbourCats in the bottom of the fifth and earned the win after three innings of no-hit ball.
Guibor, Collard, Pries and Jarvis all had two hits in Game 1 for Victoria. Guibor and Collard also had a pair of RBIs each. Victoria added an unearned run in the sixth.
Game 3 of the series goes today at 5:05 p.m.
