Gabe Clark wins Home Run Derby; All-Star Game cancelled

HarbourCats supporters have been well aware of Gabe Clark’s power for some time now, but the fans in Klamath Falls and the other players selected to the WCL All-Star team got a first-hand introduction to it late this afternoon. Clark smashed 10 home runs in the opening round of the Home Run Derby and then defeated Cowlitz’s Corey VanDomelen in the final by blasting four more. The secret to Clark’s success? His personal pitcher was none other than his father, Jim, who must have been beaming with pride once it was all over. Congratulations on the victory, Gabe!!

Unfortunately, the Home Run Derby was the highlight of the on-field activities today, as the weather would not co-operate and the game had to be cancelled due to poor field conditions. The cancellation was an unbelievable twist of fate, as today was the only day of rain in Klamath Falls so far this summer. Apparently there is a full tarp at Kiger Stadium, home of the Gems, but the grounds crew was not exactly efficient at getting it rolled out. According to the HarbourCats’ Twitter account, it was the first rainout in the history of Kiger Stadium.

ASG conditions at Kiger Stadium
Photo courtesy @pippinsradio

While the snubbing of Nathan Lukes, Hunter Mercado-Hood (still leading the league in runs batted in!) and Mikey Wright seemed deeply unfair when the All-Star rosters were announced, it turns out that their omission wasn't so harsh after all. The trio of spurned stars got to enjoy a couple of relaxing days in Vic-town and they avoided the grueling 11-hour trip to southern Oregon. Sounds like a fair swap to me! Besides, the real All-Star teams aren't announced until the conclusion of the season.

HarbourCatNip

• The ‘Cats travel to Longview, Washington to start a three-game set against the light-hitting Black Bears on Tuesday night. The Victoria starters for that series will be Mikey Wright, Alex Fagalde and Quintin Torres-Costa. Fagalde’s start on Wednesday will be his first of 2014.
• Alex Rogers will start on Friday night at RAP against the mighty Corvallis Knights. Logan Lombana goes on Saturday. Sunday’s starter is yet to be determined.
• Victoria is still leading the West Coast League in attendance with an average of 1,497 fans per game, 155 more than the Medford Rogues. The Bend Elks led the league in attendance in 2013 with an average of 1,574 per game, but that figure has dropped by a whopping 306 fans per game (19.4%).
• The HarbourCats have three of the top seven hitters in the WCL batting race: Nathan Lukes (5th, .344), Hunter Mercado-Hood (6th, .344) and Gabe Clark (7th, .341).
• Only two HarbourCats have walked more than they have struck out: Griffin Andreychuk (17 BB, 13 K, 79 AB) and Nathan Lukes (16 BB, 11 K, 122 AB).
• With apologies to Jack Todd of the Montreal Gazette, here is our first-ever rendition of Heroes and Zeroes:

Heroes: Gabe Clark, Jim Clark, Dion Weisner (the human inside the Harvey the HarbourCat costume), Quintin Torres-Costa, Hunter Mercado-Hood, Nathan Lukes, and Mikey Wright.

Zeroes: Danny The Intern of Kool FM, coaches who overuse bunting, and the person(s) responsible for designing the roster selection process for the WCL All-Star Game.