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

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6 months ago

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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.

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Summer Collegiate

Victoria HarbourCats – You’re Invited! Christmas Open House, November 28-29

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2 days ago

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November 19, 2024

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Please join us as we usher in the Holiday Season with our annual Christmas Open House!

When:  Thursday and Friday, November 28 and 29
Time: 12 Noon to 7 PM each day
Where: HarbourCats office 101-1814 Vancouver Street. 

Come by to say hello and enjoy some hot cider and other beverages and snacks and talk about our upcoming 2025 season!

Plenty of merchandise on hand for the HarbourCats fan on your Christmas list – all at 20% off for the month of November!  Plus plenty of HarbourCats and Victoria Golden Tide items available on our special $10.00 clearance rack!

Season tickets and 10-game flex packs will also be available for sale and as a special BLACK FRIDAY bonus, we will throw in a free-gift with the purchase of any 10-pack or season ticket package.

We look forward to seeing you there!

 

 

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Summer Collegiate

A top-end catcher and four arms to throw strikes to him make up the latest signings for the Nanaimo NightOwls.

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3 days ago

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November 19, 2024

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Wirthgen has MLB bloodlines as the nephew of former MLB slugger and manager Phil Nevin, the first overall pick in the 1992 draft who played for six teams and hit 41 home runs for the Padres in 2001 as part of a 1,200-game career. A strong defensive catcher with power potential, Wirthgen played in the Alaska summer league in 2024.

 

Teper, also from D1 powerhouse Cal Baptist, is an aviation major who plans to fly planes once his days in pro baseball are over. The lefty will be counted on in key situations this summer, and made 11 appearances, including three starts, in the Alaska league in 2024.

 

Three players will arrive from the University of Pikeville, where they play for new NightOwls coach Cody Andreychuk — including returning lefty Richtter Castillo, a Venezuelan fan favorite who pitches with a lot of emotion and did strong work out of the bullpen for pitching coach Gorm Heimueller in 2024. Castillo was 1-1 with a 3.75 ERA and 17 strikeouts in 12 innings.

 

Shaye McTavish, a Canadian addition from Lethbridge, has been a starter at UPike and in the Western Canada summer league. Schultz, another power arm from Lethbridge, has summer experience in the WCBL in Swift Current and is developing into a high leverage righty for Andreychuk.

 

Season tickets and 10packs are available for 2025 and information can be found by emailing GM Tina Cornett — tina@nanaimonightowls.com

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The Cody Andreychuk era of the Nanaimo NightOwls now has a schedule to work with

Published

7 days ago

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November 14, 2024

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The West Coast League’s 2025 regular season schedule has been announced, and the new Head Coach, a product of the Nanaimo system, can start to plan all the details needed to make the playoffs and a run at the WCL championship.

The NightOwls will open at home in 2025, on Friday, May 30, vs. the Bellingham Bells, the start of a three-game series at historic Serauxmen Stadium that continues with games Saturday night and Sunday afternoon.

 

The team again plans a Canada Day fireworks show on the evening of July 1, with the arch rival Victoria HarbourCats as the opposition.

 

General Manager Tina Cornett and staff are already working on promotional dates that will span the entire season, giving extra reasons for fans to enjoy the sunshine, the down-home concessions and the outstanding baseball played in the WCL.

 

The NightOwls will play 27 road games, 27 regular season home games, and no fewer than five additional home games against non-league opponents, including the Caged Athletics Selects — a home city series that has been popular since the start of the NightOwls, with games on either side of the WCL all-star game.

 

Nanaimo’s fabled park will see visits from Bellingham, Victoria, Kelowna, Kamloops, Port Angeles, Wenatchee, and the first-ever visit by the South Division powerhouse Corvallis Knights.

 

The regionalized WCL schedule NightOwls will make road trips to division rivals Victoria, Bellingham, Kamloops, Kelowna, Edmonton, Wenatchee and Port Angeles.

May 30th: Bellingham Bells – HOME
May 31st: Bellingham Bells – HOME
June 1st: Bellingham Bells – HOME
June 3rd: Port Angeles Lefties – AWAY
June 4th: Port Angeles Lefties – AWAY
June 5th: Port Angeles Lefties – AWAY
June 6th: Wenatchee AppleSox – HOME
June 7th: Wenatchee AppleSox – HOME
June 8th: Wenatchee AppleSox – HOME
June 10th: Victoria HarbourCats – HOME
June 11th: Victoria HarbourCats – HOME
June 12th: Victoria HarbourCats – AWAY
June 13th: Kelowna Falcons – AWAY
June 14th: Kelowna Falcons – AWAY
June 15th: Kelowna Falcons – AWAY
June 17th: Victoria HarbourCats – AWAY
June 18th: Victoria HarbourCats – AWAY
June 19th: Victoria HarbourCats – AWAY
June 20th: Port Angeles Lefties – HOME
June 21st: Port Angeles Lefties – HOME
June 22nd: Port Angeles Lefties – HOME
June 27th: Edmonton Riverhawks – HOME
June 28th: Edmonton Riverhawks – HOME
June 29th: Edmonton Riverhawks – HOME
July 1st: Victoria HarbourCats – HOME
July 2nd: Victoria HarbourCats – AWAY
July 3rd: Victoria HarbourCats – AWAY
July 4th: Edmonton Riverhawks – AWAY
July 5th: Edmonton Riverhawks – AWAY
July 6th: Edmonton Riverhawks – AWAY
July 8th: Kelowna Falcons – HOME
July 9th: Kelowna Falcons – HOME
July 10th: Kelowna Falcons – HOME
July 11th: Wenatchee AppleSox – HOME
July 12th: Wenatchee AppleSox – HOME
July 13th: Wenatchee AppleSox – HOME
July 18th: Wenatchee AppleSox – AWAY
July 19th: Wenatchee AppleSox – AWAY
July 20th: Wenatchee AppleSox – AWAY
July 22nd: Corvallis Knights – HOME
July 23rd: Corvallis Knights – HOME
July 24th: Corvallis Knights – HOME
July 25th: Kamloops NorthPaws – AWAY
July 26th: Kamloops NorthPaws – AWAY
July 27th: Kamloops NorthPaws – AWAY
July 29th: Edmonton Riverhawks – AWAY
July 30th: Edmonton Riverhawks – AWAY
July 31st: Edmonton Riverhawks – AWAY
Aug 1st: Kamloops NorthPaws – HOME
Aug 2nd: Kamloops NorthPaws – HOME
Aug 3rd: Kamloops NorthPaws – HOME
Aug 4th: Bellingham Bells – AWAY
Aug 5th: Bellingham Bells – AWAY
Aug 6th: Bellingham Bells – AWAY

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