Elijah Higginbottom hit the mound just 24 hours after arriving in Victoria and was dominant over five innings (Photo: Christian J. Stewart)

For immediate release

VICTORIA, B.C. – Elijah Higginbottom of Tacoma CC had a strong start in his Victoria HarbourCats debut but it wasn’t enough as the Wenatchee AppleSox came from behind to win 3-2 in 12 innings.

The Cats got on the board early due to the speed of Ny’Zaiah Thompson. After stealing 2nd, a double steal drew a throw to the trail runner which was dropped and allowed Thompson to round third and score on the play.

Garrett Teunissen (Cal State San Marcos), who leads the team with a .346 average, hit a double off the Wilson’s Group sign in left field with two outs in the third. Camden Sos (TCU) took advantage of the two-out rally, driving his second basemen in with a single up the middle.

Box Score

A two-run lead was all Higginbottom needed as he kept AppleSox batters guessing over five shutout innings. He had four strikeouts, allowed just a single hit, and walked none as he made quick work of a lineup that came into this game averaging over eight runs scored a game. He threw 37 of his 51 pitches for strikes.

After a three up three down inning from Kade Douglas in the sixth, he ran into trouble by hitting the first batter of the seventh inning. An RBI double was followed by a wild pitch and all of a sudden the game was tied 2-2.

League Standings

Both teams had their chances late in the game but there were no more runs until an RBI single in the 12th inning by AppleSox leftfielder Antonio Gianni.

The Cats threatened to rally in the bottom half but Teunissen grounded into a double play to end the game with a couple of men aboard.

Watch games live on HCats.TV

Lucas Ramirez made his highly-anticipated HarbourCats debut going 1-4 with a single. The highlight of the game was no doubt Lucas’ catch to rob Damon Gaither of extra bases to end the top of the ninth. Lucas almost made it a storybook ending as he flew out to deep centre in the bottom half.

Tomorrow is our first fireworks night of the season! Tickets are selling fast for that game and are available online at http://harbourcats.com/tickets, by coming to the office at 101-1814 Vancouver Street in advance, or by calling 778-265-0327. The box office and gates at the park will open at 5:00 PM on Saturday.

The Victoria HarbourCats are proud to announce direct links to a DOWNLOADABLE SCHEDULE that will work on your iPhone or tablet, your Google calendar, or your Android device. Click here to access the calendars! Contact zach@harbourcats.com if you have any problems downloading the calendar to your device.