They ended their weekend with a 6-1 loss Sunday to the Bend Elks, but the Victoria HarbourCats continue to put up solid results in the second half of their West Coast League baseball season.
Heading into Monday’s day off, Victoria has gone 5-2 in their last seven games and sits 19-15 overall this season.
On Sunday at Royal Athletic Park, the Elks built a 3-0 lead, started with a two-run homer in the first by Jack Pauley, by the time Victoria got on the board in the fifth inning. Nick Moroney singled in Jake Garella, who had doubled, for the HarbourCats’ lone run.
James Scuna threw nearly eight strong innings, scattering seven hits to pick up the win for Bend, while Victoria starter Liam Steigerwald was tagged with the loss. He lasted four and two-thirds innings after giving up six hits and three earned runs.
Moroney and Riley Zayicek each had two hits to pace the Victoria offence.
The HarbourCats lost two of three to the Elks at RAP, dropping the opener 11-2 on Friday then rebounding for an 11-5 win Saturday night.
In the latter game, Hunter Vansau took matters into his own hands, going five-for-five at the dish and racking up six runs batted in, helped by a two-run homer to centre field. Tucker Johnson and DJ Porter added a pair of RBI each in the come-from-behind win.
Reliever Indigo Diaz, who replaced starter Adam McKillican in the top of the seventh inning with his team down 4-3, recorded the win thanks to a four-run bottom half by the HarbourCats.
Friday’s Bend win over Victoria ended the HarbourCats’ seven-game win streak. A three-game sweep of the Falcons in Kelowna ending last Thursday saw Victoria outscore the Falcons 36-8 overall.
The HarbourCats host the Yakima Valley Pippins in a three-game home set Tuesday through Thursday at RAP. First pitch is 6:35 p.m. all three nights.