HarbourCanucks Corner - March 12th edition

Connor Russell

Connor Russell picked up his first win of the year on Sunday by leading the VIBI Mariners to a 6-4 win over Linn-Benton Community College. Russell (1-1) allowed only seven hits and two earned runs in his eight innings on work. He also struck out 10 batters while only walking two. Connor now has a 4.50 ERA and 1.25 WHIP in his two starts this season. The Mariners play a pair of games next weekend against both Wenatchee and Everett community colleges before returning to Nanaimo for their home opener on March 23rd.

Even though he has been on a roll of late for the Southern Polytechnic Hornets, Austin Russell only played in one of the three games against Emmanuel College last weekend. The Hornets swept the series and are now 15-6 on the year. Russell went one-for-four with two runs scored and a stolen base -- his first steal of the year in two attempts. Austin still leads the team in batting average (.390) and on-base percentage (.479), so I'd expect him to get some significant playing time this week. The Hornets play Lindsey Wilson College on Wednesday and then they take on Loyola University in a three-game series on Friday and Saturday.

Getting information on games played by the New Mexico Junior College baseball team seems to be tougher than extracting information on North Korea's nuclear program. We know that the NMJC Thunderbirds dropped three of four games to Midland College last weekend, but complete box scores are still not available. That means we have no idea how Nick Pivetta may have fared in his start against Midland College, but we'll let you know as soon as details are released. The three losses on the weekend dropped the Thunderbirds' record to 15-5 on the season.