KAMLOOPS, B.C. — Stuck in a five-game losing streak and having gone 12 games without a home run, Port Angeles was looking for a spark on offense.
Enter Yakima Valley College’s Brett Haggerty. Haggerty himself was looking for a jolt into his bat, looking to find the stroke from his spring college season, when he hit .290 and slugged seven homers.
Haggerty came up with two runners on in the second inning and gave the Lefties the shot they needed, knocking his first homer of the year over the wall — a three-run shot that was all Port Angeles needed offensively to beat the Kamloops NorthPaws.
The Lefties staff came out and kept rolling as starter Jackson Price went five scoreless innings and struck out seven.
Price, in the transfer portal and still seeking his next college, has been a highlight for the Lefties, appearing in seven games with five starts. The righty has struck out 28 and has an ERA of 2.31 in WCL play, one of the lowest on the team.
Port Angeles’ bullpen continued its new multi-armed strategy on top of the stellar start from Price, sending five additional pitchers in relief.
The staff totaled 11 strikeouts and only allowed two runs.
Jeremy Giesegh (Cal State San Bernardino) and Yahir Ramirez (Texas A&M Corpus Christi) both had multi-hit nights. But what the numbers don’t show is the Lefties were tattooing balls all night and only struck out five times at the plate.
Giesegh — hitting out of the cleanup spot for Port Angeles — was one of the runners who scored on Haggerty’s homer, along with Travis Helm (Central Washington). The Cal State San Bernardino product scored his 22nd run of the season, which is 11th most in the WCL.
Port Angeles and Kamloops played the rubber match of their three-game set late Thursday.
The two teams will travel back to Port Angeles for another three-game set beginning tonight at 6:35 p.m.