July 2, 2023

By Christian J. Stewart

Victoria HarbourCats

Victoria, BC - Sean Heppner struck out 12 batters in five innings of work and Brett Harvey and Logan MacNiel threw four innings of combined no-hit baseball, as the Victoria HarbourCats defeated the Bellingham Bells 8-2 Sunday afternoon in West Coast League action at Wilson's Group Stadium in Victoria.

FULL BOX SCORE

The win gives the Cats the sweep over the Bells, but more importantly, with their 19-8 record, keeps them in the hunt for the first half title. The 'Cats will need some help, however, as they need the Bells to lose at least one game against Kamloops this week and they need Wenatchee (18-6) - who also won Sunday - to lose all three games they have remaining against Port Angeles.

Offensively for Victoria, Michael Crossland had two hits and two RBIs, while Tyler Davis had two hits and an RBI, while Dallas Macias launched his first home run of the season and scored twice.

Nick Dumesnil was also hit by a pitch twice, his fifth time in two games against Bellingham, and he now leads the league in that category with 12. Hudson Shupe also kept his team leading average at .471 with a pair of hits.

The 'Cats now travel to Walla Walla on Tuesday to begin their second half of the season with games Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, followed by a three-game weekend set in Yakima, starting Friday.

They next return home to face the Port Angeles Lefties on Tuesday July 11, the first game of a six-game homestand, with Wenatchee coming to town on Friday July 14.