Streaking ’Cats claw Falcons
VICTORIA 14 KELOWNA 1
It’s usually the Royals and Rockets of the Western Hockey League, or maybe the Rebels and Sun in B.C. junior football, that people think about in terms of Victoria-Kelowna sporting rivalries.
But the Victoria HarbourCats now have no choice but to create one in baseball with Kelowna Falcons if the 2017 West Coast League season is to be considered a success for the ’Cats. That’s because the road to the WCL championship goes through the Okanagan as the Falcons (17-10 first half and 0-1 second half) clinched the North Division first-half title.
The North Division playoffs will consist of the winner of the first half of the season, Kelowna, playing the winner of the second half of the season.
Similarly, the South Division first-half champion Corvallis Knights of Oregon (17-10 first half and 2-0 second half) will meet the second-half champions in that division.
If either Kelowna or Corvallis also prevail as second-half champions, then the divisional second-place finishers advance to the post-season.
The HarbourCats will get to know the Falcons during a threegame set that began Tuesday night in the Okanagan, between the only two Canadian teams in the WCL, with a 14-1 Victoria victory at Elks Stadium.
Victoria is 16-13 overall and 2-0 in the second half of the season. They’ve also won six in a row.
The scheduled Victoria starter was six-foot-five A.J. Block, a Chicago Cubs draft pick from the Pac-12 Washington State Cougars, who was 2-0 with a 1.92 ERA. But Block was ruled out for the season with an injury, so Taylor Prokopis (2-2) was moved up in the rotation. The six-foot-three righty from Sandy, Utah, went five innings and gave up three hits, one run and struck out two while walking none for the victory.
Hunter Vansau from Mississippi State led Victoria offensively with a home run among his three hits. He finished with three RBIs and three runs scored. Riley Zayicek from North Carolina Wilmington had three hits with two RBIs and two runs scored, Harrison Bragg from Mississippi State two hits, one RBI and two runs scored and Tucker Johnson from Baylor three hits, two RBIs and one run scored.
“Our bats came alive and our hitters hit the ball,” said Victoria assistant coach Troy Birtwistle.
“And our starter Prokopis did a job.”
Expected to get one of the two remaining starts for Victoria tonight or Thursday in Kelowna is Jack Owen (2-0, 0.98 ERA). The incoming SEC Auburn Tigers-bound freshman was named WCL pitcher of the week by the league for his seven shutout innings June 28 in a 5-0 HarbourCats win in Corvallis.