HarbourCats take to the field in early-season collegiate action

Bad weather has forced the cancellation of a significant number of early-season junior college and community college baseball games, but a number of HarbourCats have managed to see action over the last week.

Chris Fougner

Alex Rogers, a sophomore at Trinidad State (Colorado) Junior College, got the Opening Day start for the Trojans against Colorado State University (CSU) this weekend. The Nanaimo product picked up the win by pitching a five-inning complete game in Saturday’s double header. Rogers limited CSU to only one unearned run on three hits and two walks, while striking out four batters. The Trojans play a four-game series this weekend against Nick Pivetta’s alma mater, New Mexico Junior College.

Former Victoria Mariners star Chris Fougner made his collegiate debut for Salt Lake Community College, which has one of the premier junior college baseball programs in the United States. The freshman obviously impressed head coach David Nelson during the fall, because the Victoria native was penciled in as the Bruins’ Opening Day right fielder and cleanup hitter. Fougner has played three of the first four games in right field, going 2-for-10 with a run scored. He’s not the only hitter to get off to a slow start though, as Yavapai College limited the Bruins to a .241 batting average in their four-game set. Fougner, who is expected to be primarily used by the HarbourCats as a pitcher this summer, has yet to make an appearance on the mound for Salt Lake CC.

On Thursday, Alex Fagalde made his second start of the season for Cuesta College. The big right-hander had a shorter outing than his arduous 113-pitch Opening Day start, but unfortunately it was a little too short this time, as Fagalde was knocked out after only an inning and two-thirds. He gave up three earned runs on five hits and a walk to bring his record to 0-2 on the season with an 8.31 ERA. I expect Fagalde to return to his usual form in his start this week. 

HarbourCatNip

• Mikey Wright has transferred from San Jose State to Cosumnes River (Community) College in Sacramento. Wright has not made any appearances for his new team in their first four games.
• The regular season starts on Friday for all NCAA Division I baseball teams. We’ll be posting regular updates on HarbourCat players between now and the start of the WCL season, so stay tuned to the blog.