Summer Collegiate

NorthPaws take one of three in Nanaimo

Published

10 months ago

July 30, 2023

Dugout Wire Service

NANAIMO, BC—The Kamloops NorthPaws ended a three game weekend series on Vancouver Island on the right note. Sunday (July 30), the Paws shutout the hometown Nanaimo Night Owls 3-0.

This followed a 1-0 set back on Friday (July 28) and a 6-5 loss Saturday (July 29) at Seauxmen Stadium in Nanaimo.

Kamloops moves to 11-35 on the season overall and 4-15 in the second half. Nanaimo is 24-24 overall and 10-11. The Night Owls are 5-5 in their last 10 starts while the NorthPaws are 3-7.

After a day off, the NorthPaws return home where they will kick off a three-game set of games against the Kelowna Falcons. Game one will be played at Dearborn Ford Field at Norbrock Stadium. Opening pitch is 6:35 PM on Tuesday, August 1st.

The Night Owls will head down Vancouver Island to play the HarbourCats in Victoria starting August 1st.

These teams will play against each other to close out the 2023 West Coast League regular season in Kamloops (August 4-6).

All West Coast League games are available via their website: https://wcleague.watch.pixellot.tv/

SERIES RECAP:

Friday, July 28, 2023: NightOwls 1 NorthPaws 0

The only run of the game was scored in the bottom of the fourth inning. Wylie Waters (West Vancouver, BC) led off with a single delivered by losing pitcher Christian Spitz (Overland Park, KS). Waters scored on a sacrifice by Tim Holyk (Nanaimo, BC). Holyk was 1-3 with a run batted in.

Spitz went five innings giving up a run, a hit and struck out three. He falls to 1-4 on the year.

Liam Buschey (Abbotsford, BC) and Michael Easter (Arcadia, CA) were both 2-3 for Nanaimo. Brian Veniard (Jacksonville, FL) started and was the winning pitcher for the Night Owls. He went to 1-1 for the summer going five and a third giving up four hits, striking out five and walking one. Andrew Pinedo (Palm Springs, CA) earned the save, his sixth in 14 appearances by pitching an inning giving up a walk and getting a strikeout.

Offensively for the Paws: Matt Ward (Mississauga, ON), Robin Villeneuve (Gatineau, QC) and Joey Baran (Austin, TX) were all 1-3.

The game marked the debuts of Adam Filmon (Winnipeg, MB) and Noah Del Rodario as pitchers. Filmon, who is the NorthPaws assistant general manager and former TRU WolfPack player: pitched one inning. Del Rodario was the fourth of four Kamloops pitchers and went an inning as well walking one and striking out one.

Link to Scoresheet: http://baseball.pointstreak.com/boxscore.html?gameid=598522

Saturday, July 29, 2023: Night Owls 6 North Paws 5

Playing before a huge crowd (1663), The NightOwls scored twice in the bottom of the seventh and eighth innings to erase a 3-2 Kamloops lead. The win moved Nanaimo over the .500 mark for the season.

Brandon Nicholl (Coombs, BC) had a big night at the plate for Nanaimo. He after singling to lead off the first inning and scoring the games first run, Nicholl led off the fifth with a solo homer to make it 2-1 Night Owls. And later he hit an RBI double in the bottom of the eighth and scored the eventual game winning run. Nicholl went 4-5 with two runs batted in and two runs scored.

Teammate Ethan Rivera (Chino Hills, CA) was 2-5 with two runs batted in and a run scored while Brandon Hupe (Delta, BC) was 2-4 with two runs batted in.

For Kamloops, Nathan Gray (Queen Creek, AZ) was 3-4 with two runs batted in. Baran and Drew Giannini (Tracy, CA) were both 1-4 with a run batted in. Giannini also scored a run.

Anthony Manuel (Antioch, CA), the third of four Kamloops pitchers recorded his second loss of the year (0-2). He went an inning giving up two runs and three hits. Cooper Littledyke (Mapleton, UT) evened his record at 3-3. The third of four pitchers worked two and two thirds’ innings, giving up a run, four hits, striking out five and walking one. Pinedo came out of the Night Owls bull pen to pitch the final inning for the win. He gave up one hit, one run, walked one and struck out two.

The game marked the debut for NorthPaws lefty Lincoln Moller. He came on in relief in the sixth inning and pitched two innings, striking out one, giving up one hit and walking one.

Link to Scoresheet: http://baseball.pointstreak.com/boxscore.html?gameid=598523

Sunday, July 30, 2023: NorthPaws 3 Night Owls 0

The NorthPaws had three players sidelined with injuries for this one: Villeneuve, Baran and Nolan Austin (Kamloops, BC).

Noah Loew (Chelan, WA) made his first start of the season for Kamloops and earned the victory. He pitched five innings of three hit ball. Loew moved to 1-1 on the year as he struck out three and walked three in his 10 th appearance on the mound this year. David Jeon (Coppell, TX) got the save as he came in for the ninth inning and struck out two. Jeon now has two saves on the year in 16 appearances.

Kamloops opened the scoring in the second inning when Nathan Grey walked and scored on a single by Manuel. The other two runs were scored in the fourth inning. Ward led off the inning with a single and scored on an RBI single off the bat of Casey Wayne. Wayne was 2-4 on the day.

Later in the fourth: Giannini doubled and later scored on a fielder’s choice. He was 1-4 with a run scored.

Cooper Neville was 3-4 at the plate. Ward, Giannini and Manuel were 1-4.

For Nanaimo: Payton Robertson (Lynden, WA) started and was the losing pitcher. His record fell to 4-3. He went five innings, giving up eight hits, three runs, struck out six and walked one. Offensively, The Night Owls were led by Easter who was 2-3.

The game saw the debut of Elijah Olaybal with the NorthPaws. He played left field and was 1-4 at the plate.

Link to Scoresheet: http://baseball.pointstreak.com/boxscore.html?gameid=598524

HEAD COACH KEITH FRANCIS:

On weekend:

“We pitched well at times and got some timely hitting. To lose by one run the first two nights was hard. There were times we didn’t execute well. Today (Sunday), having three regulars out, other players came up and raised the level of their games. Our bats responded when they were needed and that resulted in us scoring some runs.”

NEXT UP FOR THE NORTHPAWS:

The NorthPaws will host the Kelowna Falcons on Tuesday, August 1st. It has been deemed “Stingray Day” at Dearborn Ford field at Norbrock Stadium. Radio NL, Classic Rock K975 and New Country 103.1. Opening pitch is 6:35 PM. This will be the fourth meeting of the year between these two geographical rivals. Kamloops is unbeaten at home against the Falcons. They beat them 5-4 in 11 innings on Canada Day and followed it up with a 6-0 shutout on July 2nd.

Kelowna beat Kamloops 14-4 in their series season opener on June 30 th at Elks Stadium. This is the second last homestand of the regular season for Kamloops.

The Falcons are coming off an 11-0 shutout of the HarbourCats in Victoria. They have a .500 record (5-5) in their last 10 starts and are 12-9 in the second half of the season.

If you can’t make the home games, they are all webcast on https://wcleague.watch.pixellot.tv/ . Some home games will also be shown on Shaw TV in Kamloops (Cable 10 or 105 with Blue Curve).

NEW FAN PROMOTION:

The NorthPaws are looking for their newest fans. The team is running a promotion right now which sees you capture a $15 ticket for any home game for the remainder of the season. There are only 100 of these tickets available. Visit tickets.northpawsbaseball.ca and click “Find tickets” on the game you would like to attend. Enter “NEWESTFAN’ into the promo code box and the tickets are unlocked!.

TAILGATE PARTY:

The Molson’s Tailgate Party runs before every NorthPaws home game. It runs Tuesday through Saturday 5-630 PM. The Party runs Sundays noon-1 PM. Hotdogs and a Pilsner are sold for $ 12.00 plus tax.

Source

Summer Collegiate

Victoria HarbourCats – HabourCats load up on pitching in preparation for 2024 season

Published

1 day ago

May 13, 2024

Dugout Wire Service

Preston Kelly in CCAA action for the Cal State-San Marcos Cougars (Photo: Greg Siller, Cal State-San Marcos)

May 13, 2024

For immediate release

VICTORIA, B.C. — Local pitcher Jacob Thompson joins the HarbourCats for the 2024 season, along with four other college arms.

The HarbourCats are excited to announce the addition of five pitchers to their 2024 pitching staff, all joining the club for the first time.

Announced today:

RHP Jacob Thompson, Minot State University, 6-0/180, North Saanich, BC
RHP Preston Kelly, Cal State-San Marcos, 5-10/190, Eastvale, CA
RHP Jason Krakoski, Cal State-Fullerton, 6-3/180, Livermore, CA
LHP Payton Hawkinson, Cal State-Fullerton, 6-7/230, Turlock, CA
LHP Brandon Bertsch, University of Texas, 6-0/170, Dallas, TX

Thompson, a graduate of Lambrick Park Secondary, is a freshman at Minot State University. He has appeared in nine games for the Beavers in 2024, primarily as a reliever, and has given up one or less earned runs in seven of those appearances.

Kelly has posted a 3.96 ERA over 38.2 innings for Cal State-San Marcos during the 2024 season. The California native started the season on a tear as he did not allow an earned run until his 10th appearance. He has struck out 33 batters while limiting the walks to just eight over the course of the season so far. In 2023, Kelly finished with nine saves which was the second most in school history.

Krakoski is the first of two pitchers joining Victoria from Cal State-Fullerton. He has struck out 20 batters over 21.2 innings in 2024 and has limited the long ball by only giving up one home run all season. In high school, he captained his team to the NCS playoff semi-finals in back-to-back years. The freshman comes from a family of athletes as both his grandfather and uncle played professional football – his grandfather played for the Oakland Raiders from 1963-1966 and his uncle was a linebacker in the NFL for Washington in 1986.

Hawkinson (pictured right), another California native, is a big lefty standing at 6-7/230. The freshman has pitched in seven games this year for the Titans and has given up one or less earned runs in six of those appearances. In his junior year of high school he earned first-team all-conference and conference pitcher-of-the-year awards as he led his team to conference championship.

Bertsch is a freshman right-hander from Dallas. He starred in high school becoming just the second player in school history with more than 100 strikeouts in a season. He will add a lot of swing and miss potential to an already formidable HarbourCats pitching staff.

The HarbourCats are looking forward to seeing these young arms in action against West Coast League batters.

The HarbourCats open on the road May 31 in Kamloops, the start of back-to-back series in Kamloops and Kelowna, before returning for the June 7 home opener against Wenatchee. The HarbourCats will be on the road this summer in Kamloops, Kelowna, Edmonton, Wenatchee, Ridgefield, Port Angeles, Bellingham, and six games in Nanaimo against the Island-rival NightOwls at Serauxmen Stadium. Teams visiting Victoria this year are Wenatchee, Nanaimo, Bellingham, Port Angeles, Kelowna, Edmonton (two series), Kamloops and Corvallis, along with non-league games against the Redmond Dudes, Dub Sea Fish Sticks, the SIBL All-Stars, and Victoria Mavericks All-Stars.

The regular season runs until August 7, with WCL playoffs running from August 10 to August 16.

Single game tickets are now available for the HarbourCats 2024 season including the home opener on Friday, June 7, 2024 at 6:35pm against the Kamloops NorthPaws. These can be purchased online through our one and only ticketing partner, Select Your Tickets, at www.harbourcats.com/tickets or at the HarbourCats office at 101-1814 Vancouver Street.

Season tickets and 10-game flex packs are also now on sale via the HarbourCats office or by calling 778-265-0327.

Source

Summer Collegiate

Victoria HarbourCats – Fresno State bats and two returning pitchers part of next six signed by HarbourCats

Published

1 week ago

May 4, 2024

Dugout Wire Service

2023 pitcher Flynn Ridley will return to the HarbourCats for 2024, along with 2023 teammate Brett Harvey and four other new players announced today (Photo: Christian J. Stewart)

May 4, 2024

For immediate release

VICTORIA, B.C. — On a strong pitching staff, Flynn Ridley and Brett Harvey were standouts for the 2023 Victoria HarbourCats.

The HarbourCats are excited to announce the return of the two right-handers, along with excitement at adding two quality hitters from a school that has long provided great players, Fresno State.

Ridley and Harvey, along with Sky Collins and Cam Schneider from Fresno State, highlight a new signing group that includes a huge right-hander from TCU in Carson Cormier, and a star catcher from Texas A&M in Kyle Micklus, a lefty hitter with power.

Announced today:

RHP Flynn Ridley, Ottawa (AZ), 6-4/200, Burnaby, BC
RHP Brett Harvey, Puget Sound, 6-2/190, Auburn, WA
C Kyle Micklus, West Texas A&M, 5-9/190, Waller, TX
OF Sky Collins, Fresno State, 6-1/180, Fresno, CA
IF/OF Cam Schneider, Fresno State, 6-3/190, Fresno, CA
RHP Carson Cormier, TCU, 6-5/225, Westford, MA

Harvey (pictured right) posted a combined 1.90 ERA over 15 regular season and playoff games for the ‘Cats in 2023, giving up 20 hits in 23.2 innings. Ridley started four games among his nine appearances and was 1-1 with a 2.25 ERA, striking out 28 in 24 innings. Take away his last start, and he was 1-0 with a 1.35 ERA, limiting opposing hitters to a .132 average.

Micklus, an energy guy behind the dish, is hitting .421 with six homers for West Texas A&M, after starring at Lassen College in California. He’s also stolen 11 bases, adding 15 doubles and two triples, and will give the catching staff an older presence.

Collins and Schneider are both from Fresno, and bring size to the lineup. Schneider is hitting .273 as a freshman this season, while Collins joined the Bulldogs off a strong two years at Fresno City College, winning a gold glove and being named second team all-conference.

Cormier is big, 6-5 and 225. From just outside of Boston, the freshman has won numerous academic and leadership awards and was on the Dodgers scout team before landing at TCU as a top prospect who will get valuable innings in the summer with the HarbourCats.

The regular season runs until August 7, with WCL playoffs running from August 10 to August 16.

Season tickets and 10-game flex packs are also now on sale via the HarbourCats office or by calling 778-265-0327.