Summer Collegiate
Victoria HarbourCats – HarbourCats late rally falls short, lose 5-3 to the Lefties
Todd Haney’s team were unable to complete the sweep on Taylor Swift Night (Photo: Christian J. Stewart)
June 28, 2024
For immediate release
VICTORIA, B.C. – The Port Angeles Lefties will leave the island with a win, beating the Victoria HarbourCats 5-3 to avoid the sweep.
It was Taylor Swift Night at the ballpark with one lucky fan going home with a pair of Eras Tour tickets, thanks to Maxxam Insurance.
The Lefties jumped on Cats starter Ryne Palmer (Cal Baptist) early scoring two runs in the top of the first inning. Palmer settled down after giving up two runs in the first, retiring eleven straight batters to complete his fourth start of the season. The Peoria, Arizona native pitched four innings giving up two runs on three hits while striking out four.
Cam Schneider went 1-4 with an RBI (Photo: Christian J. Stewart)
The Cats continued to be haunted by infielder Roberto Nunez who went 3-5 with two RBIs on Friday, his third straight multi-hit game against in this series.
Two HarbourCats errors in the fifth gifted the Lefties a run making it 3-0.
Garrett Teunissen’s (Cal State San Marcos) perfect bunt in the bottom of the fifth caused an errant throw, allowing Kyle Micklus (West Texas A&M) to score, getting the Cats on the board. A Cam Schneider (Fresno State) RBI groundout made it 3-2 later in the inning.
The Lefties added a single run in the sixth and seventh innings, extending their advantage to 5-2.
Sparks flew off the bottom on Ny’Zaiah Thompson’s (Cal State Fullerton) cleats as he stole four bases on the night. He is now tied with teammate Teunissen for the WCL lead with 13 steals.
Ryne Palmer pitched four strong innings in his fifth appearance of the season (Photo: Christian J. Stewart)
Brandon Bertsch (Texas) and Kade Douglas (CSU Pueblo) pitched two innings each, the sixth appearance of the season for both.
Jacob Thompson (Minot State) pitched a scoreless ninth inning for the HarbourCats, a feeling he knows all too well. The North Saanich native has pitched 11.2 innings over seven games giving up zero runs.
A Kerim Orucevic (UCSD) RBI single in the bottom of the ninth made it 5-3 and put the winning run on base. However, the HarbourCats rally came short as Connor Dykstra (George Mason) grounded out with the bases loaded to end the game.
The HarbourCats look to shake it off tomorrow night in Nanaimo as they continue the RE/MAX Generation Island Cup. The two rivals play at Wilson’s Group Stadium at Royal Athletic Park on Sunday, June 30 at 6:35 PM. It is the second fireworks night of the season! Get tickets at http://harbourcats.com/tickets, by coming to the office at 101-1814 Vancouver Street in advance, or by calling 778-265-0327.