HarbourCats Record Book - part 2

Today we unveil two more sections of the HarbourCats Record Book: Individual Batting (Game) and Team Batting (Game). Since the franchise is only a couple of years old, many of the records are still fairly modest. For instance, we’re still waiting for a HarbourCat to register a five-hit game, although ten different players have notched four-hit games. Our team MVP, Hunter Mercado-Hood, turned the trick an impressive four times last season, while Nathan Lukes posted a pair of four-hit games.

Gabe Clark

The all-time West Coast League record for homers in a season is only 10, which isn't a surprise considering that college wood-bat leagues don’t typically feature a ton of home runs. This likely means that Gabe Clark’s three-homer game on July 18th of this year is a record that will stand for quite some time -- unless he breaks his own record in 2015, of course. Not only was Clark’s July 18th performance a team high for most homers in a game, but his 12 total bases is also a HarbourCats record -- by a fair margin. The second-highest number of total bases in a game is only 9, a mark shared by Hunter Mercado-Hood and both Schuknecht brothers (David and John). Clark’s six runs batted in that day also tied him with Hunter Mercado-Hood for most RBI in a game by a 'Cat.

It may be a surprise to some fans, but no HarbourCats player has ever hit more than two doubles in a game. Surprisingly, Griffin Andreychuk has swatted two triples in a game, and he did it in consecutive at-bats in an August 8th, 2014 game at Royal Athletic Park that was filled with oddities. To put Andreychuk’s back-to-back triples in perspective, those two hits also tied him for the most three-baggers by a HarbourCat in a season!

We have definitely seen more than our fair share of offensive explosions in the first two years of HarbourCats baseball, such as the July 27th, 2014 slugfest at RAP that set a record for most runs in a game by both teams (29). Although Victoria clobbered Corvallis by a score of 19-10 on that day, the outburst wasn't a record number of hits by both teams in a HarbourCats game -- that mark was set just a week earlier at RAP in an ugly 11-6 loss to Klamath Falls in which the teams combined for a whopping 31 hits. Something tells me that both of these records may stand for a while.


I also uncovered a couple of surprising high-water marks during the creation of the HarbourCats Record Book. A total of six HarbourCats were plunked by erratic Kitsap pitchers on Canada Day 2014 at RAP, two more batters than in any other game in team history. In a July 16th, 2014 game that would make the Kansas City Royals proud, the HarbourCats set a team record by stealing a grand total of eight bases against the Bellingham Bells. Not only did John Grimsley, Hunter Mercado-Hood and Nathan Lukes each steal a pair of bases in that game, but Sean Watkins and the "sneaky-quick" Gabe Clark also chipped in with a stolen base. By the way, did you know that Clark quietly went five-for-five in stolen bases in 2014? That’s a stat that should bring a smile to Mama Clark’s face.

If you are interested in viewing the other chapters of the record book, please note that the links appear on the right-hand side of every blog page under the heading “HarbourCats Record Book.” Over the next few days we’ll release the remaining two chapters:

• Individual Batting (Season)
• Individual Pitching (Season)

Check back soon for more insights into HarbourCats history.