They’re two evenly matched teams, but the Victoria HarbourCats hope they’ve got the Bellingham Bells right where they want them.
The HarbourCats host the Bells in the West Coast League North Division final tonight at Wilson’s Group Stadium at Royal Athletic Park.
And that’s a good thing for Victoria because this is a one-game, winner-take-all final. No room for error. The HarbourCats have made barely any of those on their home diamond this season. They enter tonight’s game with a league-best 26-2 record at Royal Athletic Park, including a three-game sweep of the first-half champion Bells early last month.
“We just love playing at home in front of our great fans and the guys are excited to be able to do it again in the playoffs,” said HarbourCats head coach Todd Haney, who guided the club to the second-half division title and a two-game sweep of the Wenatchee AppleSox in the division semifinal series.
The HarbourCats earned the home-field advantage tonight by way of their better overall record than the Bells. Victoria finished up 38-15, while the Bells were 35-18 before sweeping the Kelowna Falcons in their division semifinal series.
But the Bells, a perrennial power in the WCL, swept the HarbourCats in a three-game set at Joe Martin Field in Bellingham in late June, so Victoria knows this will be a battle like no other this season.
“They are well coached and talented, and are in the playoffs every season so they know how to get it done,” Haney said of Bells, who, like his club, is 8-2 in their last 10 games.
With a trip to the WCL final on the line, the HarbourCats are turning to their best pitcher tonight as Logan MacNeil gets the start.
MacNeil, a sophomore at New Mexico Junior College, led the WCL in wins with six.
“Logan is one of our best and he’s excited to get this opportunity in front of our home fans so we’re looking for another good start from him,” Haney said.”
Both teams will have a full compliment of pitchers ready to go as they are are coming off two days rest.
“We’ve had a couple of days off here so the guys are locked-in and re-energized and ready to go win a baseball game.
“And that’s just it with these one-game championships, you don’t hold anything back for tomorrow, you use all your weapons and go as hard as you can to win one baseball game.”
The South Divison one-game final is in Corvallis tonight where the regular-season champion Knights take on the Portland Pickels.
A Knights win and Corvallis will host the league championship game on Monday night.
If the Pickles win, the winner of the HarbourCats-Bells game tonight will host Monday’s final.
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