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HarbourCats back to winning ways

VICTORIA 10 KELOWNA 4 Instead of the ceremonial first pitch, fans tossed out their rendition of Happy Birthday for Victoria HarbourCats’ head coach Graig Merritt at Royal Athletic Park on Saturday night.
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Victoria HarbourCats' Tommy Jew tries for the double play after putting Kelowna Falcons' Joey Crunkleton out at second base at Royal Athletic Park on Saturday night.

VICTORIA  10
KELOWNA  4

Instead of the ceremonial first pitch, fans tossed out their rendition of Happy Birthday for Victoria HarbourCats’ head coach Graig Merritt at Royal Athletic Park on Saturday night.

Merritt’s team then slathered the icing on the cake by way of a 10-4 victory over the visiting Kelowna Falcons before a crowd of 1,647.

The HarbourCats improve to 20-4 after having their 19-game win streak halted in the back end of a Canada Day doubleheader on Friday. The Falcons fall to 12-12 on the West Coast League season.

Victoria opened up a 1-0 lead in the first inning as Cody Snider collected a run batted in with a two-out single. Kelowna scraped a pair of runs out in the top of the third as HarbourCats starting pitcher Josh Mitchell got into a jam.

Shortstop Tommy Jew’s throwing error led to the tying run before Tevin Mitchell recorded an RBI on a ground ball with one away as the Falcons grabbed the 2-1 advantage.

Jew led off the bottom of the third with a double to left-centre. A pair of two-out walks loaded the bases and Snider cleared them with a three-RBI triple to right-centre and he scored on a throwing error as the HarbourCats racked up four runs.

Snider finished 2-for-5 at the plate with four RBIs.

“I was fortunate enough to drive in some runners in scoring position. It was nice to be that guy,” Snider said.

Victoria piled on five more runs in a sloppy sixth for Kelowna, which included three walks, a hit batsman and an error. Catcher Joe Prior did collect a pair of RBIs in the inning.

“That's the biggest difference between us and other teams. We minimize our mistakes and take advantage of them when they make them,” Snider said.

Josh Mitchell went eight innings on the mound for Victoria, striking out seven and allowing just four hits to improve to 3-0. Blake Hannah mopped up in the ninth and allowed two runs on four hits and a walk.

Kelowna, meanwhile, went through six pitchers, walking a total of eight. Victoria ventures to Longview, Washington, on Wednesday to face the Cowlitz Black Bears in a three-game set that will officially mark the end of the first half of the season.

The HarbourCats will play an exhibition game today against the Nanaimo Pirates in Nanaimo.

mannicchiarico@timescolonist.com

Twitter/tc_vicsports