Elks crush HarbourCats in clash of two Cougars

It wasn’t Safari Night at Royal Athletic Park on Friday, but it might as well have been as an Elk won the battle of the Cougars.

Thanks to three hits and an RBI from leadoff hitter and Washington State Cougars star Derek Chapman, the Bend Elks beat the Victoria HarbourCats and starter Isaac Mullins, a teammate of Chapman at Washington State, by an 11-2 score.

Mullins went six innings and didn’t give up an extra-base hit, but 11 singles and some sloppy defence by his teammates — three errors — resulted in three earned runs against the lefty, who drops to 2-3 on the season.

“Isaac did well in getting deep into the game. But he needs to clean up some of the little things, like covering first, and the little things that pitchers do to be complete,” said HarbourCats head coach Brian McRae.

The loss, in front of 2,143 fans, halted an eight-game winning streak by the HarbourCats, who drop to 18-14 overall and 4-1 in the second half as they seek the division’s final playoff spot.

The Elks (13-18) had lost three in a row, but starter Kris Jackson (3-2) found his game, going eight innings and allowing just four hits. The only damage was Harry Shipley’s two-RBI single in the second that put the HarbourCats up 2-0.

After Matt Kemp pitched two scoreless innings for Victoria, Claire Eccles came in to start the ninth. She promptly gave up a double, two hit batters and a grand slam to Bryce Logan as the Elks put the game away.

It was a historic night as two former major-leaguers faced off as coaches for the first time in the West Coast League. Elks boss Alan Embree spent 16 seasons in the Show and has a World Series ring to show for it as a reliever with the 2004 Boston Red Sox. His counterpart in the Victoria dugout, McRae, played 10 seasons of MLB ball, mostly for the Kansas City Royals.

Game 2 of the three-game series goes tonight at 6:35 p.m. at Royal Athletic, while the series finale is set for Sunday at 1 p.m.