Above photo: Clark Henry in the on deck circle during Saturday Night’s 4-3 defeat at the hands of the Kelowna Falcons (Photo: Chris Beverage)

Victoria, BC ~ A little too much, a little too late. That phrase is the perfect way to sum up how everyone at Royal Athletic Park felt Saturday evening after the HarbourCats ninth inning rally fell just short, handing them a 4-3 loss at the hands of the visiting Kelowna Falcons.

Hot starts has been a theme over the past three games for the HarbourCats, yet the opposite was true this evening, with the HarbourCats going into the bottom of the eighth inning with a goose egg on the scoreboard and just two hits to tell off. There was an overall feel of frustration from the Cats faithful who had packed the stadium full on the first of three HarbourCats fireworks night promotions. That is until Joseph Redfield sent a no doubt bomb out over the right field fence for his first round tripper of the year in the bottom of the eighth after Kelowna had scored three of their own in the top half of the inning to extended their lead to 4-0. 

Cooper Crompton made the start for the HarbourCats going 4 innings of four hit one run ball (Photo: Chris Beverage)

That home run seemed to fire up the team and fans a significant amount and after Flynn Ridley pitched a clean ninth inning, Victoria’s own Jordan Bond was hit by a pitch in the shoulder to leadoff the bottom of the ninth with his teaming trailing by three. After Russel Young grounded into a fielder’s choice to have him replace Bond on first, the lineup flipped for Grady Morgan who also worked a free pass to set up runners on first and second for Luke Cheng. After a wild pitch lead to both runners advancing to scoring position, Luke grounded into a fielder’s choice as well that saw Young score from third but Grady Morgan thrown out at third on a gamble of a play that may have been the difference maker. Another wild pitch allowed Luke Cheng to advance to second before Jake Skipworth sent a linedrive over the head of the Falcons left fielder to score Cheng. It boiled down to Clark Henry, who would end up striking out on a high fastball with the bases loaded to stifle the Victoria rally.

The HarbourCats made a late push and the crowd was backing them energetically but again, it was too much too late as they dropped their first game of this five game homestand (this being their fourth game). 

Fireworks night at Wilson’s Group Stadium was a smash hit to all in attendance and around the park as always (Photo: Chris Beverage)

What’s Next?

It was a tough way to lose but the squad gave it their best and they will certainly be back for revenge tomorrow after for their matinee 1:00 pm start against Kelowna. Get your tickets now at harbourcats.com/tickets. The HarbourCats will then be on the road for the next four days before returning home to host the Coquitlam Angels for a three game set starting June 17th.