NEWS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – July 23, 2017

The Victoria HarbourCats (23-19, 9-6 second half) and the Gresham GreyWolves (18-25, 8-8) played the middle game of their series at Oslund Field on Sunday, following Victoria’s stunning comeback victory in the opener on Saturday.

Right-hander Blake Hannah (UC Davis) made his first start of the season for the HarbourCats, looking to help secure the team’s second series victory on their six-game road trip through Bellingham and Gresham.

Shortstop Harry Shipley (Purdue) led off the ballgame with a triple and scored on a sacrifice fly by right-fielder Hunter Vansau (Mississippi State) to give the Hannah and the HarbourCats an immediate 1-0 lead.

Gresham’s bats came to life, scoring two runs in the third inning and another in the fourth on second baseman Jake Cosgrove’s second home run of the season to take a 3-1 lead.

GreyWolves starting left-hander Chris Brown (UC Davis) meanwhile, held the HarbourCats off the board after the first inning run until the sixth when first baseman Harrison Bragg (Mississippi State) and third baseman Noah Prewett (San Diego) drove in runs with consecutive infield singles with two out, tying the game at three.

The tie didn’t last for long as Gresham scored three runs in the bottom of the inning to retake a 6-3 lead, highlighted by first baseman Drew Curtis’s fifth home run of the season, a two-run home run.

Hannah went six innings for the HarbourCats, allowing six earned runs on eight hits and a walk with four strikeouts.

Catcher Jackson Thoreson (St. Mary’s) added a run for Gresham with an RBI single off of reliever Indigo Diaz (Iowa Western CC) in the seventh inning.

A night after staging a stunning comeback victory with an eight-run ninth followed by two in the tenth to win 14-12 on Saturday, the HarbourCats were looking to create more late inning dramatics on Sunday.

First baseman Harrison Bragg hit a two-run home run in the top of the eighth inning, his fourth of the year, to cut the deficit to two. Later in the inning, DJ Porter (Cal Baptist) would come around to score after reaching on his team-high third hit of the game, bringing Victoria within a run at 7-6 heading to the ninth.

That is as close as they would come on this night, as Gresham added a run in the bottom of the eighth and then right-hander Christian Peters worked a perfect ninth inning to nail down his first save and the victory for the GreyWolves.

Brown earns the win (2-0) for Gresham, pitching seven innings, allowing three earned runs on ten hits with five strikeouts. Hannah takes the loss (0-2) for the HarbourCats.

The rubber match of the three-game series is set for Monday at 6:35pm at Oslund Field in Gresham.

The next home series for the HarbourCats takes place Tuesday, July 25 through Thursday, July 27 against the Kelowna Falcons at Royal Athletic Park in Victoria.

The HarbourCats then head to Cowlitz to face the Black Bears before returning to Victoria for their final home series of the regular season, July 31 – August 2 vs. Bellingham.

Only six regular season home games remain on the 2017 schedule. Tickets for all games are available in person at the team office or online through Ticket Rocket: http://www.ticketrocket.co/search/events?searchText=HarbourCats

2018 SEASON TICKETS 

2018 season tickets will go on sale in July including the highly popular Campbell Real Estate Club. Tentative plans are in the works to expand the new home plate seating section from two to four rows of padded seating.

Waiting lists will be taken for season tickets in the Diamond Club seats.

Visit the HarbourCats office at 101-1814 Vancouver Street or call (778)-265-0327 to purchase season tickets or for more information. You can also email brittany@harbourcats.com for further details, or go to the team website at harbourcats.com.

OFFICE HOURS

The HarbourCats office (1814 Vancouver Street, 778-265-0327) is open 9:00 – 5:00pm daily on non-home game days. On home game days, the office is open at 9:00am until one hour prior to game time, when the ballpark gates and box office open.