Falcons edge ’Cats in 11 innings
You can excuse Kevin Collard for looking ahead a little bit.
The product of the University of San Diego is in his second year with the HarbourCats, but he still hasn’t tasted any West Coast League playoff action.
Collard, who hails from Vista, California, played for the HarbourCats in 2015, but decided to play summer ball in the Cape Cod League last summer, so he missed the ’Cats’ first playoff games.
But now he’s back and helping Victoria close in on another playoff appearance — helping as he did Tuesday night in front of 2,531 fans at Royal Athletic Park, going 3-for-5 with an RBI.
It wasn’t enough, though, as the Kelowna Falcons scored two runs in the eighth and three in the ninth inning to take a 5-4 lead.
After a Shane McGuire solo home run in the ninth tied it for the HarbourCats, the Falcons scored one more in the 11th to steal a 6-5 victory.
The loss, combined with Bellingham and Wenatchee victories Tuesday, leaves the HarbourCats with a 11⁄ -game lead 2 in the race for the North Division’s second-half title and the playoff spot that goes with it.
“This one is tough to take, especially since we’re in a really close playoff race,” said Collard, after seeing his team’s record drop to 10-7. “We need to win those close ones. But we’ve got a great offence, and now our starting pitching, like [Jack] Owen did tonight, is really coming around, so we’re confident we’ll get that playoff spot.”
While Collard is a veteran of the HarbourCats wars, Owen is not. But you would never know it from watching him Tuesday.
The WCL rookie, who will be a freshman at Auburn University in the fall, had his best outing of the season, going seven innings while not allowing a run and scattering five hits.
He had to settle for a no-decision after his bullpen faltered.
James Bradwell gave up the two runs in the eighth and Radd Thomas was victimized for three in the ninth.
After Claire Eccles threw a three-up, three-down 10th, Stephen Wade gave up a two-out RBI single to Logan Steinberg that won the game for Kelowna.
It was just the Falcons’ fourth win of the second half, but they won the first-half title so they are playoff bound.
For Collard, who raised his average to .300, a chance to spend another summer in sunny Victoria was too good to pass up.
“I came here right out of high school two years ago, and the players really took me under their wing and showed me what college ball was like — so it was fun. So when I had the opportunity to come back, I jumped at it.”
McGuire, who will be Collard’s teammate next fall at San Diego, had a big night Tuesday. The talented catcher hit a pair of solo home runs, including the big one in the ninth.
The ’Cats and Falcons will do it all again tonight at Royal Athletic Park.
EXTRA BASES: HarbourCats head coach Brian McRae sat out the third game of a six-game suspension on Tuesday that the league handed him after he bumped the umpire while objecting to the ejection of his pitcher, Taylor Prokopis, late in Saturday’s game in Gresham.