Po-Hao B次元官网网址淏ernieB次元官网网址� HuangB次元官网网址檚 monster shot to centre field brought in Andrew Schaps with the winning run for the Victoria HarbourCats in a thrilling 5-4 come-from-behind win over Corvallis in game 1 of the West Coast League championship final at Royal Athletic Park.
The victory saw the locals keep coming back, erasing three Corvallis leads including a 4-3 deficit after the Knights scored one in the top of the eighth inning.
take gm 1, 5-4 over with Bernie Po-Hao Huang RBI blast to centre. Games 2, 3 if needed in Corvallis Mon-Tues
B次元官网网址� Victoria B次元官网网址 (@VictoriaB次元官网网址)
Huang, through an interpreter, said he appreciated the support from his teammates, who doused him with Gatorade after the game. He was excited to hit his first walk-off, game-winning hit and to hear the roar of the crowd.
Corvallis brought in right fielder Jordan Qsar to pitch in the ninth after Justin Orton led off with a walk and Schaps singled to right field. Victoria greeted Qsar with a sacrifice fly from Tucker Johnson that brought in Orton to tie the game. That set the stage for HuangB次元官网网址檚 blast, which sailed over Emilio AlcantarB次元官网网址檚 head and allowed Schaps, who had reached second on a wild pitch, to scamper home.
With VictoriaB次元官网网址檚 home schedule wrapped up for the season, the teams head to Oregon for game 2 on Monday night and game 3, if necessary, in Corvallis on Tuesday.
Victoria manager Brian McRae sounded relieved to get the all-important win in game 1 of the best-of-three series.
B次元官网网址淭he way we won it is important, because we came back. Offensively, we were stymied. They pitched us well and weB次元官网网址檙e used to getting a lot of hits and scoring runs and we werenB次元官网网址檛 able to do that,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淲e hung in there and pieced some things together and our bullpen was able to hold them down a little bit.
Defending WCL playoff champion Corvallis will be tough in their own park, McRae admitted. B次元官网网址淚 donB次元官网网址檛 want to go to a game 3. I want to try to get it done [Monday], because if we have to go to a game 3, anything can happen.B次元官网网址�
And there was no underestimating the power of a record-setting home crowd, announced as the largest in WCL playoff history at 2,789.
B次元官网网址淭he energy that was here was amazing, it was a lot of fun and IB次元官网网址檓 glad we were able to send them home happy,B次元官网网址� McRae said. B次元官网网址淭his is an awesome way to end the home portion of our season.B次元官网网址�
Starting HarbourCats pitcher Adam McKillican was tagged for a solo home run by Elliott Willy in the second, then settled in and gave his team some solid innings, nearly finishing the seventh. He left the game at 3-3 and earned a no decision.
Local product, lefty Mike Musselwhite got the final out of the seventh, then Taylor Prokopis threw the final two innings, allowing two hits and a run.
McKillican said he would have liked to finish the seventh, but still felt good about his performance. He had fun seeing the final two innings play out.
B次元官网网址淚 just think the noise and the fact this crowd rattled their pitchers a little bit, they started hanging pitches leaving balls out over the plate and our hitters are going to take advantage of that every time,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淚t was an excellent baseball game and a good way to end the season here at home.B次元官网网址�
As for the upcoming game 2 and possibly 3 in Corvallis, he said, B次元官网网址渨eB次元官网网址檙e hoping to go disappoint their fans and win a ring in their park.B次元官网网址�
Corvallis used five pitchers on the night, with starter Jordan Horak giving up a single run. He was pulled in the fourth after loading the bases, but reliever Jacob Fricke got Orton to hit into a fielderB次元官网网址檚 choice for the third out.
D.J. Porter went 3-for-4 for Victoria with two runs scored, while Shane McGuire went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Dillan Shrum and Matt Kelly had two hits each for the Knights.
