News is slow for the C’s this time of year, but my handy Google alert system just gave me a heads up that the Canadians were mentioned as part of a minor league baseball award ceremony… only, not in the way you’d hope.

 Ask any catcher what’s the toughest hit to get and 99 out of 100 will say it’s a triple. With their typically stockier frame and worn-out knees, backstops are lucky if they have enough speed and energy to hustle their way to third on one swing.

Adam Witter of the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes got that elusive extra-base hit and a whole lot more when he hit for the cycle on Aug. 29 against the Vancouver Canadians, earning MiLB.com’s Best Short-Season Single-Game Performance Award.

Gack. You guys remember that night, don’t you? I sure as hell do. We got crushed 19-3.

Just four days earlier, Witter, an non-drafted free agent out of East Carolina University, nearly pulled off the feat against the Canadians when he went 3-for-5 with a home run and a double. After the Volcanoes crossed the border to Nat Bailey Stadium, Witter picked up where he left off, banging a two-run triple to left-center field in the first inning.

"(I knew) as soon as I hit it," the 23-year-old said. "I’m an aggressive base runner and I don’t see too many triples every year, but as soon as I hit the ball deep in the gap, that’s the first thing I was thinking — triple. I was using my two-strike approach and just work my way on base any way I could, and I ended up squaring the ball on the outer half and drove it to the opposite gap." Center fielder Jermaine Mitchell was shaded toward right-center. The ball bounced in front of him, then ricocheted off the wall, giving Witter enough time to hustle into third. Two innings later, Witter drove in two more runs with a double to right. By then, thoughts of a cycle had crept into his head.

Bitter memories, aren’t they? But it gets worse….

There were some doubts as the game progressed, with Witter drawing a walk and singling in the fifth and seventh, respectively. But the Volcanoes erupted for 10 runs in the seventh on their way to a 19-3 rout. Eight batters into the frame, with two runners aboard, Witter strode to the plate again.

He got hold of a pitch from right-hander Shane Presutti and drove it just high enough to clear the center-field wall, giving Witter the home run, the cycle and a career-high seven RBIs. "They have a really big wall up there, so I knew I hit it hard enough," said Witter, who went 4-for-4 with four runs scored. "But I just wasn’t sure if it was going to stay high enough to get over the wall."

Sigh.

Credit where it’s due though, Witter, a guy who didn’t get drafted over 50 rounds and had to sneak in the backdoor to pro ball, finished the year with a .435 average and looks to be on the road to the bigs. I mean, it’s all well and good to detest your opponents, but when they pwn you like the volcs pwned us this last year, you really just have to tip your cap and pay homage to them.

So there it is. Respect for the Volcanoes.

But don’t get too comfortable, you bastards.