AppleSox thump 'Cats

Lesinski hit his first collegiate home run

The Red Sox may have thrown in the towel on the 2014 season, but the same certainly can't be said for the AppleSox. Wenatchee pulled to within two games of the Bend Elks in the WCL wildcard race with a convincing 9-2 win over the HarbourCats on Thursday evening. Alex Rogers had his worst outing of the season, but he didn’t exactly get much help from his defense, as the HarbourCats infield committed three errors in the game.

Rogers surrendered 12 hits and four walks in six innings on the mound, but only four of the nine runs that crossed the plate were earned. His ERA took a hit on the night, jumping from 2.89 to 3.25 on the season.

Jake Lesinksi hit the first home run of his college career, a solo blast in the seventh inning. The only other Victoria run scored on a Bryce Greager RBI groundout in the top of the first. Hunter Mercado-Hood and Griffin Andreychuk had two hits apiece, and they were the only HarbourCats to reach base safely more than once in the series finale.

The night was one to forget for third baseman Noah Cummings. The freshman from Oral Roberts University committed two fielding errors in the first four innings and was pinch-hit for by Ted Boeke in the top of the 5th. Of the HarbourCats infielders, Cummings now has the second-lowest fielding percentage (.928), ahead of only Boeke (.866).

The HarbourCats head home early tomorrow morning to get ready for a three-game weekend set against the playoff-bound Bellingham Bells. The weather should be perfect, so come on out to Royal Athletic Park to cheer on the ‘Cats.

HarbourCatNip

• With the win, the AppleSox took two of three games from Victoria in the series. The HarbourCats now have a 3-9 record against Wenatchee in their history. 
• On Wednesday night, Alex Fagalde threw a stunning 126 pitches over eight scoreless innings. That outing was the eighth time this season that a HarbourCat pitcher has thrown over 100 pitches in a game. Remarkably, Fagalde’s marathon start didn’t set the franchise record for most pitches in a game by a hurler. In 2013, three 'Cats threw more than 126 pitches in a game: Ty Provencher (135, August 2nd), Connor Russell (129, June 16th) and Scott Kuzminsky (128, July 9th in relief). It’s hard to fathom, but in the HarbourCats’ inaugural season a grand total of 26 pitchers threw more than 100 pitches in a game -- absolutely mind boggling since the WCL season is only 54 games long!
• The eight outings of over 100 pitches by Victoria pitchers this season are:
• July 30 - Alex Fagalde, 126 pitches
• July 14 - Mikey Wright, 106 pitches
• July 9 - Tim Peabody, 112 pitches
• July 7 - Mikey Wright, 104 pitches
• July 7 - Preston Ryan, 109 pitches (relief)
• June 24 - Logan Lombana, 104 pitches
• June 17 - Andrew Nelson, 104 pitches
• June 13 - Alex Garcia, 102 pitches