Above Photo: Nick Lee is mobbed by his teammates after his three run homerun in the 5th (Photo: Christian J Stewart)

Victoria, BC ~ The HarbourCats used a multi three-run home run inning to defeat the Edmonton Riverhawks 17-14 in WCL action Saturday night at Wilson’ Group Stadium in Victoria, setting up a winner takes all finale Sunday afternoon.

Victoria escaped unscathed after a late inning rally from Edmonton, who, despite scoring 11 runs in the eighth and ninth innings,  were unable to climb out of a 15- run deficit after the HarbourCats scored 17 runs in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings, to jump into a 17-2 lead.

Boxscore

It was a must win game for the Cats, who now trail Edmonton by just a half of a game going into the final game of the season tomorrow in Victoria. That means that a win tomorrow afternoon would punch them a ticket to the postseason.

Flynn Ridley on the mound for the HarbourCats gave up just two runs in four innings on Saturday night (Photo: Christian J Stewart)

Victoria was quiet for the first four innings after giving up two runs in the top of the second. They recorded just one hit until the fifth inning when they exploded with five runs, highlighted by a two run single by Hudson Shupe and two runs walked in from Edmonton’s hurler Matt Masaciangelo.

Brendan Loppky was cruising for Emonton until a rough fifth inning (Photo: Christian J Stewart)

Victoria would continue the offensive onslaught in the bottom half of the fifth after, first Nick Lee hit a three run home run, before Grady Morgan would add a three run home run of his own before the inning was out. Those two home runs sent Wilson’s Group Stadium into a frenzy, creating an atmosphere that has been unmatched for the entirety of the season. The Cats would add another and make the score 12-2.

Nick Lee points into the crowd after his 3-run homerun (Photo: Christian J Stewart)

The HarbourCats were not done there, as they refused to let up and added five more runs in the bottom of the seventh which included a Tyler Attal RBI double, Tyler Pettit RBI single and another Hudson Shupe run scoring single. That would make things 17-2.

Veteran Tyler Pettit picked himself up an RBI and two hits on Saturday evening (Photo: Christian J Stewart)

Edmonton, to their credit, refused to go away and were able to push across seven runs in a long top of the eighth inning. Victoria, knowing that tomorrow will either make or break their season, would bring in a position player to save arms for tomorrow. They ended up closing out the game with a barn burning 17-13 scoreline.

Jack Gurevitch leads off of second for the Riverhawks (Photo: Christian J Stewart)

Nick Lee has suddenly become a hometown hero after a pair of home runs in the past two games. A long towering shot over the left field fence was just one of his four hits on the night which left him just a triple away from the cycle. Newcomer Tyler Attal has also made quite the impression in his first few games as with his three hit performance Saturday night is batting .500 in his short HarbourCats career.

Nick Lee picks up one of his four hits (Photo: Christian J Stewart)

With Victoria’s three stolen bases on Saturday evening, they set a new West Coast League record for most swiped bags in a season. Joseph Redfield set the individual franchise record in a season earlier this year with his 24th, and Victoria’s team total of 147 is a new league record.

What’s Next?

Wilson’s Group Stadium will be the place to be tomorrow afternoon. Whoever wins tomorrow goes to the playoffs. It is that simple. Get your tickets now at harbourcats.com/tickets for their final game of the year to help cheer them on and push them to the postseason.