Story by Josh Kozelj 

FULL BOXSCORE

July 8, 2018 – The Victoria HarbourCats (0-2) couldn’t muster up any offence for their starter Garrett Goodall, who delivered a quality start on the mound, in their second consecutive loss to the Corvallis Knights (2-0) in the first series of the Second Half WCL schedule.

Although Goodall, a sophomore out of Embry-Riddle University, would be charged for his first loss of the season to drop his record to 2-1, the righty was hardly the sole reason to blame for the HarbourCats dropping the series middle game to the Knights.

Goodall pitched into the seventh, finishing with three strikeouts and only two earned runs that came early in the game in 6 2/3 on the bump.

After a 1-2-3 first inning, the reigning League champions jumped on the Nanaimo native in the second.

Cody Hawken started the frame with a double, and scored two batters later off a fielders choice before Goodall escaped the jam by inducing an inning ending double play.

However, in the very next inning, it looked the HarbourCats might deliver some run support for their starter in search of his third victory on the season.

Newcomer Joe Casey from Oregon State University, playing on the home field (OSU’s Goss Stadium) for the team whom he he won a NCAA College World Series title with a few weeks ago, started the top of the third with a single and advanced to third in the next at-bat from a Tanner Haney single.

Nick Plaia would then score Casey behind some help from a fielding error from the Knights’ shortstop to make it a 1-1 game, before Corvallis responded again in the bottom half of the inning.

So far in the series, Corvallis has countered in four out of the five innings in which Victoria scored in the top half with at least one run in the home half.

Cole Cabrera hit a one out double off Goodall, and was scored one batter later from a Chandler Anderson RBI double to give the Knights a 2-1 lead their bullpen would preserve over the final six innings.

Stanford University native Brendan Beck got the start for the Knights on the mound and would go 3 2/3 of one run ball, before turning the game over to reliever Abbott Haffar who shut the HarbourCats down in the middle innings.

Haffar only allowed a single hit in 4 1/3 strong innings on the bump, and Jacob Paslich would enter in the ninth and shut the HarbourCats down in order for the Knights second win of the Second Half.

The HarbourCats were held to only five hits total in the game, as Haney would prove to be the lone bright spot collecting two of the five Victoria total base hits in the game.

The loss dropped Victoria 1.5 games behind first place Kelowna Falcons in the early standings of the Second Half North Division, but with 25 games still to be played much will be decided in the remainder of July.

Tyler Thomas will look to salvage the series for Victoria tomorrow night at 6:30pm at Goss Stadium, as the HarbourCats will look to earn their first victory of the Second Half season.