Mikey and the Sticks, eh!

Parachuters kicking off the Canada Day celebration

The HarbourCats hosted a brilliant Canada Day picnic today as they flexed their patriotic muscles and bashed out 19 hits en route to a 19-2 victory. There were a few pesky BlueJackets that tried to ruin the day but they were exterminated early so the hometown crowd could enjoy the beautiful sunshine, good food and good company on this day of the red and white.

It was just "one of those days" at the plate for Victoria and it started in the first when they batted around equaling the run total (7) from last nights game in a single at bat. HMH - aka Hunter Mercado-Hood - looked like he was on HGH, bashing a three run shot to get things moving in his first at bat. The 'Cats followed up with four, three and another three over the next three innings to pretty much seal the deal. Starting pitcher Mikey Wright (now 3-2) showed his appreciation for the early run support by spinning an absolute gem in his six innings on the mound, holding Kitsap to a single hit and lowering his ERA to 2.61 and his WHIP to 0.84.

It was a pleasure to watch the 'Cats excel in all areas of the game. Wyler Smith started off the game with a diving catch in left and the fielding remained tight for most of the afternoon. On the mound, Wright was dominant and the batting just exploded today. Some of the more impressive feats were:

• Seeing Griffin Andreychuk bat twice in two different innings and walking to the plate five times in the first five innings. He ended up two for four with three runs scored, two RBIs and two walks
• HMH went a perfect four for four with six, count 'em SIX, RBI's to move him into second place in the league with 20 on the year
• Alex DeGoti was a perfect three for three and nudged his average above .300 (.302) for the season
• Wyler Smith's bat also jumped to life as the Utah Ute went three for four and smacked in four runs himself
• Last night's hero Sean Watkins' bat remained en fuego as he also went three for four, raising his team leading average to a Ted-Williams-like .405
• It seemed like only a few days ago that we lamented the fact that the 'Cats had no .300 hitters and now they have six, and Nathan Lukes is knocking at the door with .296

Coach Bob Miller was able to do pretty much a wholesale line change after the fifth inning to give his starters some rest and get some innings for the rest of his troops. Mikey Wright was pulled after six to also give some work to Carson Schneider and Dylan Stowell. When all was said and done, 21 different HarbourCats saw the field. I call that a good day at the office.

And the red caps - classy. Especially when paired with the red sleeves a la Griffin Andreychuk.

Not much went well for Kitsap right from the beginning. Starter Zev Egli (is that a Dan Brown word scramble??) gave up eight hits and nine earned runs in his inning and a third of work with the fielding behind him was also looking shaky - and that just seemed to be contagious. The 'Jackets were also victims of the dreaded "sun-assisted single" so just nothing was working.

The game did get a bit interesting the seventh when Kitsap pitcher Max Winklehake decided to start a plunkfest, hitting four of five batters, the first of which (Ted Boeke) was hit in the head and had to leave the game. It was obvious though that this was not intentional - just one of those "Rick Ankiel" moments.

I expect the BlueJackets will just write this one off and come out gunning tomorrow but the HarbourCats are showing some new-found confidence on this three game wining streak so it should be a good finale. There were 2,389 fans there today so let's see if we can top 2K three days in a row. I know it's a Wednesday night but come on...it's free hot dog for the kids/Elvis night!

Just be careful where you park (see below!)