Matt Kelly and his Corvallis teammates pounded out 12 hits and scored 14 runs Thursday to hand the HarbourCats a second consecutive loss on home soil (Photo: Christian J. Stewart)

Story and Photos by Christian J. Stewart

June 22, 2017, Victoria, BC – The Corvallis Knights picked up right where they left off on Wednesday, scoring six runs in the first two innings Thursday night and cruising to a 14-4 win over the Victoria HarbourCats in West Coast League (WCL) baseball action at Royal Athletic Park in Victoria.

Cole Weiss (left), Sam Cachola (centre) and Nick Moroney (right) share a light-hearted moment with Harvey the HarbourCat prior to Thursday’s game (Photo: Christian J. Stewart)

The Knights, who won 12-4 Wednesday, jumped all over HarbourCats starter Luke Boyd for three runs in each of the first and second innings Thursday and then, after the HarbourCats battled back to make it 6-4, thanks in part to a mammoth two-run, first-inning home run over the mesh in left from Davis Wendzel, put up seven runs in the fifth, to open a 13-4 lead.

Baylor’s Davis Wendzel has been nothing short of brilliant since joining the HarbourCats four games ago, hitting .412 with a double, triple and home-run and playing solid defence at third base (Photo: Christian J. Stewart)

Three of those runs were charged to Boyd and the remainder to UCSB newcomer Liam Steigerwald, who had the pleasure of dealing with the potent Corvallis offence for the rest of that inning.  Taylor Prokopis then came in to stem the onslaught with a pair of scoreless innings in the sixth and seventh, with Radd Thomas and Claire Eccles, making her second official appearance of the season, mopping up the rest of the way.

Cole Weiss heads to first after stroking a second inning RBI single on Thursday (Photo: Christian J. Stewart)

The HarbourCats once again put together a productive game hit wise, accounting for nine in total off Knight’s starter Trenton Toplikar (3 IP, 8H, 4R) and reliever Miles Glazier (5IP, 1H, 0R), but other than Wendzel’s blast and RBI singles from Cole Weiss and Riley Guntrip, nothing much came of the other six.  Wendzel did add a 10th hit to the mix with a double in the ninth off Corvallis reliever Chase Kaplan.

Riley Guntrip had an RBI single for the HarbourCats in the third inning Thursday (Photo: Christian J. Stewart)

The Corvallis 12-hit onslaught Thursday was led by Emilio Alcantar, who had a pair of hits, two RBIs and two runs scored.  Jordan Qsar also had a big night with a hit, three RBIs and two runs scored, while Cole Johnson had two hits, an RBI and two runs scored.

For Victoria, Wendzel’s homer and his double later in the game, were the offensive highlights, while Ethan Lopez chipped in a pair of hits and a run scored.

HarbourCats pitcher Taylor Prokopis kept the powerful Corvallis bats quiet for two scoreless relief innings on Thursday (Photo: Christian J. Stewart)

Boyd takes the loss to drop to 1-2 on the season, giving up seven earned runs on five hits, while walking two and striking out six.   The Knight’s Glazier gets credit for the win.

The win improves the Knight’s record to 12-6, while the HarbourCats fall to 9-10.

Victoria continues it’s nine-game home stand with it’s first weekend series of the season when they welcome the Walla Walla Sweets to town on Friday evening for the first of a three-game set.  Game time is 6:35 pm.