By Pierre LaBossiere
Peninsula Daily News
VICTORIA — The Port Angeles Lefties completed their season with a 6-0 shutout loss against North Division champion Victoria on Sunday.
The Lefties, playing shorthanded because many of their players returned to college this week, managed four hits against a trio of HarbourCats pitchers.
Trevor Rosenberg, Tommy Takayoshi, Riley Quinton and Beau Blowers all had singles for the Lefties.
Carson Jackson, of Port Angeles High School and Shoreline College, had a stolen base after being hit by a pitch.
The Lefties got so shorthanded the final few games of the season they used a number of position players as pitchers. Gavin Rork, an outfielder all season for Port Angeles, pitched an inning as did Quinton. Damiano Palmegiani, normally an infielder, pitched an inning for the Lefties Saturday.
This was the first season the Lefties seriously threatened down the stretch for a postseason bid. At one point, the Lefties were 12-9 during the second half of the season and were only three games out of first place. But they struggled down the stretch with seven straight losses to finish 12-16 in the second half (22-32 overall). Still, the Lefties finished in third place in the North in the second half, behind Victoria and Wenatchee.
Victoria 6, Port Angeles 0
Lefties 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 4 1
’Cats 1 0 0 1 3 1 0 0 x — 6 9 0
WP: Swanson LP: Kinsky
Pitching
Lefties — Kinsky 6IP, 7H, 5ER, 5BB, 5K; Quinton 1IP, 2H, K; Rork 1IP, K.
HarbourCats — Swanson 5IP, 2H, 3BB, 5K; MacDonald 1IP, Holyk 2IP, 2H, 2K; Omlid 1IP, K.
Hitting
Lefties — Rosenberg 1-4; Takayoshi 1-4; Quinton 1-3; Blowers 1-1; Jackson 0-1 HBP, SB.
HarbourCats — Spohn 1-4, HR, R, 3RBI; Hays 2-3, 2B, R; Chester 1-1 R; 1-2, R; Adams 1-3, 2B.
Saturday’s Game Victoria 7, Port Angeles 4
VICTORIA, B.C. — Jackson, a 2018 graduate of Port Angeles High School, was added to the Lefties roster as a late season fill-in with many key contributors departing for the fall semester of college.
Jackson, who now attends Shoreline College, looked like an everyday player on Saturday, homering and singling while making a diving catch in left field as the Lefties fell to Victoria 7–4.
Jackson led off the fifth inning with a drive off Tyler Hilton that cleared the wall in left-center — one of the deepest parts of Royal Athletic Park. He was greeted ecstatically by his teammates outside the third-base dugout.
Nick Adams then started the bottom half with a drive down the left-field line for the HarbourCats, but Jackson dove toward the foul line and came up with the ball.
The contest featured a total of eight home runs. Brandon Silowka also went deep for Port Angeles, while Tyson Hays, Kyle Sherick, Nick Plaia and Harrison Spohn all homered for Victoria. Griffin Paxton highlighted the HarbourCats’ attack with two long balls and now has four in the series.
Quinton also starred for the Lefties, finishing 3 for 4 with a double and an RBI.
Victoria 7, Port Angeles 4
Lefties 0 0 0 3 1 0 0 0 0 — 4 9 1
’Cats 1 0 0 2 1 1 2 0 x — 7 11 0
WP: Hilton LP: Tan
Pitching
Lefties — Tan 6IP, 5ER, 2BB, 6B; Blowers 1IP, 2H, 2ER, BB, K; Palmegiani 1IP, 2BB.
HarbourCats — Laukkanen 4IP, 5H, 3ER, BB, 2K; Hilton 4IP, 3H, ER, 3K; Stewart 1IP, H, 2K.
Hitting
Lefties — Jackson 2-4, HR, R, RBI; Quinton 3-4, R, RBI; DeHighden 1-4, HR, R, 2RBI; Rork 0-3, BB, SB.
HarbourCats — Hays 3-4, HR, R, RBI; Paxton 2-5, 2HR, 2R, 3RBI; Spohn 1-4, HR, R, RBI; Sherick 1-3, HR, R, RBI, BB; Plaia 1-4, HR, R, RBI.
Joe Traub of the Port Angeles Lefties contributed to this report.
