VICTORIA, B.C. — The Port Angeles Lefties got off to a promising start in their West Coast League opener, scoring in the opening inning on a double and a single to take a 1-0 lead.
After that, a trio of HarbourCats pitchers slammed the door, allowing only five more hits and one more run in a 6-2 Victoria victory Tuesday night.
A trio of Lefties pitchers — Ian Winterhalder (Grays Harbor), Andres Quinones (Cal State, San Bernardino) and Megum Fukuda (New Mexico Military Institute) — only allowed five hits. But Port Angeles was hurt by three errors.
The Lefties got their first run on a two-out double by BY Choi (New Mexico Military Institute) and an RBI single by Riley Parker (Cal State, San Bernardino).
The HarbourCats scored a run in the bottom of the first, but Winterhalder clamped down, shutting out Victoria until the fifth, when the Lefties made a couple of errors and the HarbourCats strung together three hits and a walk to score five runs. Quinones came in to pitch the fifth inning and took the loss, though he only allowed one earned run in three innings pitched.
The Lefties rallied in the top of the ninth, loading the bases with a hit batsman and singles by Jesh Leskey (New Mexico Military Institute) and Hunter Kilpatrick (San Diego City College) with only one out. Derek Bogh (Cal State, San Bernardino) walked to drive in a run and bring the tying run to the plate, but Gabriel DeJesus (Wenatchee Valley CC) hit a fly ball out and Choi was out on an unassisted putout to end the threat and the game.
Parker finished the game 2-for-3 and Kirkpatrick was 2-for-4. Choi had a double and a run scored. Alex Zang (Grays Harbor) stole his sixth base in just four games.
Fukuda pitched the ninth for the Lefties, allowing no hits, one walk and striking out two.
The Lefties played at Victoria on Wednesday night after press deadline and will play again tonight. They return to Civic Field on Friday night to play a brand-new WCL team, the Kamloops Northpaws.
Victoria 6, Port Angeles 2
PA 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 — 2 7 3
Victoria1 0 0 0 5 0 0 0 X — 6 5 0
WP: Ridley LP: Quinones
Pitching
Port Angeles — Winterhalder 4 IP, 2 H, 3 ER, 5 BB, 3 K; Quinones 3 IP, 3 H, ER, 2 BB, K; Fukuda IP, BB, 2 K.
Victoria — Walker 4 IP, 4 H, ER, BB, 4 K; Ridley 2 IP, 2 BB, K; Luchies 3 IP, 3 H, ER, BB, 2 K.
Hitting
Port Angeles — Parker 2-3, BB; Kirkpatrick 2-4; Choi 1-4, 2B, R, BB.
Victoria — Morgan 3-4, 2B, 2 R, Henry 1-2, RBI, 2 BB; Cheng 1-4, R, 3 SB.
