What a weekend at Bernie’s this turned out to be.
A walk-off double in the bottom of the ninth inning by Po-Hao Huang from Taiwan, nicknamed Bernie by his teammates, gave the Victoria HarbourCats a heart-racing 5-4 victory over the Corvallis Knights in Game 1 of the West Coast League final.
On a night when the first drops of precipitation in weeks fell on Royal Athletic Park, Huang rained on the Knights before a WCL playoff-record 2,789 fans. The Cats entered the bottom of the ninth trailing 4-3 before rallying for two runs and the win, with the decisive blow delivered by Huang.
Corvallis is the franchise that ate the WCL. The HarbourCats have been nibbling around the edges, but now are looking to break down the door.
The Knights, named after Penny Knight, their main sponsor and wife of Nike co-founder Phil Knight, are playing in their ninth league final in 11 years and are after their fifth WCL title. The HarbourCats, in their fifth season, are playing in their first final.
The series now shifts to Corvallis, Oregon, for Game 2 on Monday and Game 3, if required, on Tuesday.
“I was just trying to do my best and win the game for the HarbourCats and the fans,” Huang said through an interpreter.
“I knew if I hit it deep [Andrew Shaps was on second base with one out], we could win the game. I can feel the excitement of the fans and my teammates.”
It follows Huang’s three-run homer and five total RBIs in Game 2 of the two-game sweep of the Kelowna Falcons in the North Division final.
“Bernie has been outstanding swinging the bat in the post-season,” said Victoria head coach Brian McRae.
And a good thing that he has been. With a depleted roster, McRae admitted the last thing the Cats needed was extra innings.
“We just did what we’ve been doing [in the playoff run],” said the 10-season former major-leaguer McRae.
Adam McKillican, the breakout UBC pitcher from the Comox Valley who went 5-3 in the regular season, started for the HarbourCats in Game 1 and went 6.2 innings and gave up seven hits and three runs with five strikeouts and one walk. McKillican was not required to pitch in Victoria’s sweep of the Falcons and said he felt nicely rested heading into the game against the South Division champion Knights and was ready “to empty the tank” in what is likely his last action of the season.
That’s exactly what he did in going nearly seven innings, after which he received a rousing ovation as he left the field. “[McKillican] pitched well,” said McRae.
Victoria and Corvallis split their regular-season series 3-3 with, interestingly, both teams each winning two of three games on the road, which could now bode well for the HarbourCats.
