Summer Collegiate

Victoria HarbourCats | HarbourCats and NightOwls to join other West Coast League teams in The Dugout

Published

5 years ago

February 26, 2021

Dugout Wire Service

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

February 26, 2021

VICTORIA, BC – The Victoria HarbourCats and Nanaimo NightOwls, their fellow Canadian teams, the Kamloops NorthPaws, Kelowna Falcons and Edmonton Riverhawks, along with the other 10 teams in the West Coast League (WCL), will now be spending a lot of time together in The Dugout.

No, this is not some huge rule change, or cost savings measure that the WCL is implementing, but rather, TheDugout.ca is a new and free, go-to website and social media news network to track grassroots and amateur baseball in Canada.

The site will provide information on all levels of the game, all amateur, from the very start of play in the game, to the elite summer collegiate leagues, including the West Coast League.

Led by talented feature writers, who love the game and telling the great stories around it, to contributed information from youth levels, TheDugout.ca will be Canada’s place to go for the latest important bulletins, for results from games and tournaments, and to see discussion of the key topics about this great game — which will emerge from the pandemic, stronger than ever.

TheDugout.ca is a free site, for content, to submit content, to share content. It’s a place for everyone, anyone, to tell their stories, to celebrate the kids and amateurs who literally play for the love of the game.

The site will be configured so as to draw information and content directly from participating organizations’ web feeds automatically, as well as to be able to accept direct contributions from individuals and authors.

For example, if you are a team with your own blog, website, etc. and simply don’t have the time to submit stories to multiple outlets, you can use The Dugout’s Wire Service to register your current website, so you only need to keep doing what you’re doing, and The Dugout can take care of the rest.

Individuals can also sign up as authors, submit stories and after a quick vetting by The Dugout editorial staff, have those articles posted under the appropriate category on the web site.

The categories of baseball related information on The Dugout will evolve over time, but the focus will be on amateur baseball in Canada.

Some of the initial categories on the site include the various Provincial baseball organizations, Baseball Canada, Canadian college baseball organizations, Summer Collegiate baseball leagues, elite high school baseball and of course local, grassroots baseball organizations.

That is not to say that TheDugout.ca will exclude professional baseball coverage from the mix. Certainly if there is a feature story about a Canadian player who signs with a pro team, or a Canadian with a strong linkage to some other aspect of professional baseball, it will be included, but the day-to-day coverage of MLB and MiLb will be left to other sites that already do that very well.

The grassroots of baseball in Canada is strong, and TheDugout.ca is new in place, and ready to grow, so we can all further develop the greatest game on earth.

Visit TheDugout.ca and please visit and follow The Dugout on our social media channels below

Web: TheDugout.ca
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theDugoutCA
Instagram: @TheDugout.ca
Twitter: pending

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The HarbourCats are scheduled to begin their 2021 season on the road on June 1 against the expansion Edmonton Riverhawks in the first ever West Coast League game played in Alberta. They will return home for the home opener on Friday, June 4 against their rivals from across the Strait of Juan deFuca, the Port Angeles Lefties. The HarbourCats will also welcome two other expansion teams to Victoria this season, with both the Nanaimo Night Owls and Kamloops NorthPaws scheduled to make visits to Wilson’s Group Stadium.

For details and more information on the season, please visit the HarbourCats website at www.harbourcats.com and follow them on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/groups/harbourcats

Source

Summer Collegiate

Victoria HarbourCats – 2026 HarbourCats Single-Game Tickets Now On Sale!

Published

5 days ago

December 1, 2025

Dugout Wire Service

All 2026 ticket types, including single-game, 6, 12 and 32 game flex -packs, season memberships and All-Star Game ticket packages are now available!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

December 1, 2025

Victoria, BC – The Victoria HarbourCats are pleased to announce that just in time for Christmas, single-game tickets for all 31 2026 regular season games and the 2026 WCL All-Star Game are now available for purchase.

Fans can see our schedule and purchase tickets on-line with our ticketing partner SHOWPASS at http://harbourcats.com/tickets, or stop by in person to the HarbourCats office at 101-1814 Vancouver Street. Fans can also call the office at 778-265-0327 to order.

Also announced today is the availability of 2026 ALL-STAR GAME ticket packages that include a Home Run Derby event on July 14th and the 2026 West Coast League All-Star Game on July 15th. Ticket packages that include both events are available now at https://www.showpass.com/wcl-all-star-home-run-derby-and-all-star-game-package/.

Individual All-Star Game and Home Run Derby event tickets will go on sale at a later date.

Note, if you are a season ticket holder, your seats are reserved for the Home Run derby and All-Star game, but as this is a separate purchase, you do need to contact the office to claim and pay for your seats.

FLEX-PACKS

Also on sale for 2026 are our regular 12-game and 32-game flex packs, as well as a new STOCKING STUFFER 6-Pack that will be offered until Christmas. The 6-Pack starts at $99 for General Admission seating and all 6-Packs will include a souvenir baseball that will fit nicely in the toe of the stocking of your favourite HarbourCats fan.

12 and 32-game flex packs can be bought on-line at http://harbourcats.com/tickets or in person at the HarbourCats office. The 6-Pack offering is only available in person at the HarbourCats office.

NOTE: If you already have ticket vouchers for the 2026 season, you may now begin to redeem them for single-games as desired. You can do so on-line assuming you are all set up in SHOWPASS to do so, or pop into the office and we can handle this for you!

SEASON TICKET MEMBERSHIPS

Season tickets are also still available for the 2026 season. Prices start at $400 for General admission seating and seats can be ordered on-line at https://www.showpass.com/m/victoria-harbourcats-season-tickets/ or by visiting the HarbourCats office.

MERCHANDISE

We also have a wide range of merchandise available for the baseball fan on your list including new 2026 All-Star game tee-shirts and our Nathan Lukes Blue Jays World Series commemorative tee-shirt. Items can be ordered on-line at The Cat Shop at https://victoria-harbourcats-official.myshopify.com/ or by visiting the HarbourCats office, where a 15% in store discount is in effect until Christmas!

The Victoria HarbourCats will begin their 2026 West Coast League season in late May of 2026, with the home opener against the Edmonton Riverhawks scheduled for Tuesday, June 2, 2026.

Plenty of excitement is on board for 2026 including:

Three fireworks nights (June 6, 30 and August 3)
Two 11:00 AM School Spirit Games (June 4 and 18)
Five Family Fun Sunday Matinees (June 7, 14, 28 July 19 and 26)
$12 Tuesdays and Thursdays (June 16, July 2, 7, 9, 28 and 30)

Stay up to date with other promotions and special events by visiting the HarbourCats web page at https://harbourcats.com/events-promotions/

Source

Summer Collegiate

Victoria HarbourCats – HarbourCats, EFTC and Richardson Sport announce Harvey’s Sports Stars!

Published

1 week ago

November 29, 2025

Dugout Wire Service

The Victoria HarbourCats, in association with Richardson Sport Inc. (RSI) and the Edwards Family Training Centre (EFTC) are excited to announce the launch of Harvey’s Sports Stars!

Harvey’s Sports Stars will give children exclusive access to a professional-quality indoor turf facility and a wide range of fun, skill-building sports programs. Whether they’re swinging a bat, learning new movement skills, or high-fiving mascot Harvey the HarbourCat, Harvey’s Sports Stars will be part of a vibrant sports community that celebrates fun and teamwork, while staying active!

Families can look forward to enjoying year-round opportunities to play, connect, and make lasting memories, through exciting RSI programming inside the HarbourCats’ exciting indoor training space, located at 1821 Cook Street.

YOU’RE INVITED TO OUR KICK-OFF EVENT!

With this exciting new partnership, RSI is inviting all kids and their families to join the exciting SPORTSAPALOOZA day taking place on Sunday, November 30th from 1:30-5:30pm at the Indoor Training Facility. – the EFTC – located at 1821 Cook St.

Our Sportspalooza Day is a chance for children to jump in, meet RSI coaches, see the indoor facility, and get a sneak peak at our upcoming Harvey’s Sports Stars Programming.

During this Demo Day, children will get to:

Explore the activities we offer
Meet the coaches and see the facility
Get a feel for the environment
Discover what makes this program so engaging and confidence-building

Spaces are limited, so we highly encourage you to claim your spot as early as possible.

The Victoria HarbourCats will begin their 2026 West Coast League season in late May of 2026, with the home opener against the Edmonton Riverhawks scheduled for Tuesday, June 2, 2026.

Season ticket memberships and 12-game flex packs (new for 2026!) are now on sale for the HarbourCats 2026 season at http://harbourcats.com/tickets. BE SURE TO LOCK IN YOUR SEASON TICKETS TODAY to get first right of refusal on your seats for the 2026 WCL All-Star game that will be played here in Victoria. These will be going on sale SOON!

Season tickets, 12-packs and team merchandise are also available at the HarbourCats office at 101-1814 Vancouver Street, Tuesday thru Friday, 10am-4pm.

Source

Summer Collegiate

Pitching Coach Gorm hits a HUGE milestone

Published

2 weeks ago

November 26, 2025

Dugout Wire Service

The Nanaimo NightOwls will be using the 2026 season to celebrate Gorm Heimueller — the esteemed pitching coach, one of the best to ever do it in baseball! The 70-year-old marks a half-century in the game when he suits up in his fifth summer in the West Coast League with the Nanaimo NightOwls.

“First — thank you, Nanaimo,” said Heimueller. “I’m very grateful to the Nanaimo NightOwls organization for allowing me to come back as pitching coach in 2026. This will be my 50th year since I signed my first pro contract, but I’ve been very fortunate and blessed to be involved in this game that I’ve loved for more than 60 years. I’m looking forward to working with Jim, Tina, Anthony, and Cody in putting together an exciting and competitive team on the field for our amazing Nanaimo fans!”

Coach Gorm will tuck his golf clubs away in May — he recorded his second career ace recently — so he can do what he loves most, and that’s working with young pitchers.

“We are going to celebrate Gorm in 2026 — our players, our coaches, our staff could not have more admiration for him as a coach and as a human being,” said Jim Swanson, managing partner of the NightOwls, in announcing Heimueller and wife Lee Ann will return to Nanaimo in 2026 to work with Head Coach Cody Andreychuk and assistant Anthony Houk.

“Players love the man, they hang on his every word. Coaches send us pitchers specifically to get to work with him. He’s a gentleman, he relates well to everyone, and he tells the best stories. We have an absolute legend of the game in Nanaimo as the only pitching coach the NightOwls have ever known — and he’s a mentor to so many, in so many ways.

“Gorm has more than earned the opportunity to be celebrated for all he’s done for the game. I’m biased because he’s become a good friend, but he should be in the Hall of Fame.”

The NightOwls are unveiling a special “GORM50” logo that will be ever-present during the 2026 season — from players shirts, to merchandise. There is also a book being written on his stories and exploits, co-written by Swanson and fellow NightOwls owner Helen Edwards — both have authored books in their careers.

Heimueller, a Los Angeles native, who has World Series rings from coaching in the Twins and Phillies systems, started his baseball career as a lefty pitcher at Cal Poly — with a guy named Ozzie Smith as his shortstop.

Heimueller spent 10 years as a professional pitcher, throwing strikes around the globe (Venezuela, Australia, Canada, USA), and spent two years as mostly a starting pitcher with the Oakland A’s (1983-84), a team which featured Rickey Henderson in his prime. As legend has it, the manager at his first MLB spring training was Frank Robinson, with Billy Martin the manager at his second camp, and his first MLB strikeout victim was Cal Ripken Jr. He transitioned directly from playing to coaching in the minors and held pitching coordinator positions later in his pro tenure, including the San Diego Padres until 2020.

Source