Above photo: An unbeatable atmosphere comes together for School Spirit Day (Photo: Chris Beverage)

Victoria, BC ~ The 11 am start on Thursday failed to dampen anybody’s spirit at Royal Athletic Park on a beautiful morning in Victoria which saw Wilson’s Group Stadium filled to the brim. The HarbourCats hosted their annual School Spirit Day which housed over 2,600 students in the ballpark to create a rocking crowd of over 4,500 attendees in total. This yearly promotion is a fantastic way to have school kids from all over the Victoria area get out of school for a fantastic day of baseball, not to mention create a spectacular crowd for the players to feed off of.   

On the field, it was another slow start to the game for both teams offensively as the pitchers definetly had the upper hand on both sides early. HarbourCats starter, Lorento Siniscalchi was fabulous, giving up just one earned run on three hits through four innings of work making a very positive first impression in the West Coast League.

On the other hand Lefties starter Hunter Kirkpatrick was also outstanding as he also gave up just one run through four innings of work while holding Victoria to 3 hits. It has been a starting pitchers paradise for both clubs to start the summer.

The Cats jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second on an error charged to Kirkpatrick with his errand pick off attempt to first base, allowing Clark Henry to come across to open the scoring.

The Lefties would then answer with one run in the third and two runs in the seventh staking them to a 3-1 lead before adding an insurance run in the top of the ninth on an RBI groundout by Derek Bogh.

It was a tough day at the plate for the HarbourCats as they scored just the one run on six hits but the positives were immeasurable after seeing the glowing support from a young crowd of current and now new HarbourCat faithful. There may have been a loss on the field, but it was a win in every other sense not just for the Harbourcats but the entire city of Victoria.

Big Performances

Hudson Shupe: The HarbourCats exciting young infielder/pitcher, who is committed to play at Seattle U next year, came off the infield after starting the first two games at second base, to make a five inning relief appearance for the Cats giving up seven hits but just one run. He would also end with four strikeouts in his first West Coast League pitching appearance.

All Lefties Pitchers Today: The Lefties sent three different players to the mound against the HarbourCats and they combined for no earned runs on just four hits. They also set down seven Victoria batters on strikes while only walking two. The combined performances of; Hunter Kirkpatrick, Trey Maeker and Megum Fekuda were fantastic this time out.

Up Next:

The HarbourCats will go on the road this weekend in Kelowna for a three game set starting tomorrow until the 5th before returning to Victoria for their first Battle of the Island against Nanaimo on the 7th. Purchase your tickets to witness the birth of a thrilling rivalry now at: harbourcats.com/tickets.