All-Star Game Committee members Dave Cockle, Adrian Somers (back row) and Brenda MacFarlane (front right) pose with (Front row L to R) MLA and Assistant Deputy Speaker Lorne Doerkson, MLA Mandeep Dhaliwal, Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport Anne Kang and Speaker Raj Chouhan on the front steps of the BC Legislature (Photo: Christian J. Stewart).

February 24, 2026

For immediate release 

VICTORIA, BC — There is no single spot in Victoria more impressive and representative of the provincial capital city than the B.C. Legislature buildings and grounds.

When the 2026 West Coast League Baseball All-Star Game Festival arrives in Victoria in July, hosted by the Victoria HarbourCats, the leadoff event will take place on the lawns in front of the famous buildings.

Thanks to the support of Anne Kang, Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport, the Official Opposition critic for Sports, Mandeep Dhaliwal, and in particular the eager anticipation of Speaker Raj Chouhan and Assistant Deputy Speaker Lorne Doerkson, the All-Star Game will begin in a way that will be memorable for all.

The ASG Festival — slated for Tuesday, July 14 and Wednesday, July 15 — will begin with two concurrent community focused events, on the Tuesday morning:

Tuesday, July 14

10am-1pm, BC Legislature Grounds

• Youth Skills Camp,
• And a Community Wiffle Ball Game

These will take place on the lovely lawn in front of the building along Belleville Street, on either side of the walkway that includes the famous water fountain.

“I am always on the lookout for opportunities to bring MLAs together,” said Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, Hon. Raj Chouhan. “When the HarbourCats approached me with the idea of a kids’ baseball camp and wiffle ball on our front lawn, I knew we’d be unanimous. Every Member here understands the impact of community spirit and team sports.”

The two components at the Legislature to start things on Tuesday, July 14:

YOUTH CAMP — Working with Baseball BC, KidSport Greater Victoria and the Doug Hudlin Charitable Society, 20 worthy young players (ages 7-9) will be selected for a free youth skills camp led by HarbourCats pitching coach Zach Swanson, assistant coach Carson Myers, and Victoria Collegiate Cats coaches Chris Vlaj and Darius Opdam Bak.

COMMUNITY WIFFLE BALL GAME — Remember playing scrub ball at recess or lunch time at school? Any and all are welcome to join in a friendly game of Wiffle Ball, using a plastic bat and traditional plastic Wiffle Ball — take a swing, throw a pitch, take a position on the field and have fun running the bases in this iconic location.

The Tuesday events will be supported by volunteerism from local Rotary groups, staff support from the Royal BC Museum/IMAX Victoria leadership, and the HarbourCats’ official youth camps partner, A+W. T-Shirts will be provided to all youth camp participants by local author and philanthropist Helen Edwards, a member of the HarbourCats ownership group, and Baseball BC.

Plans are also in place so the Team North and Team South team photos will be taken on the historic steps of the Legislature Buildings early Wednesday afternoon.

“We are thankful for being able to do these events as the festival lead-off, grateful to these provincial leaders for seeing the vision,” said ASG Committee co-chairs Dave Cockle and Brenda MacFarlane. “Imagine the smiles of the kids and adults alike that day, that we can capture in videos and photos for memories and history.”

There will be further event and detail announcements— many, in fact — about the West Coast League All-Star Game Festival, including exciting news about the home run derby, musical performances and additional events as part of a comprehensive and engaging community plan.

Tickets are available already for the two major events set for Wilson’s Group Stadium at Royal Athletic Park:

Home Run Derby (details to come)
6:35pm, Tuesday, July 14

West Coast League All-Star Game
7pm, Wednesday, July 15 (doors will open as early as 4:30pm, TBD)

Secure your seats for these events at https://tinyurl.com/AllStar2026

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Members of the Victoria Golden Tide, soon to be called the “Victoria Collegiate Cats” pose in their Collegiate Cats gear at the HarbourCats offices.

For immediate release

February 17, 2026

VICTORIA, BC — In name only, the ‘Golden Tide’ tenure is coming to an end — so a stronger age of Victoria collegiate baseball can take root.

Welcome, the Victoria Collegiate Cats, fully embracing the HarbourCats logo and branding as of the fall season — caps, uniforms, workout gear, and mission statement to develop great baseball players and young men in a winning environment. Same program, even stronger connection to the parent club.

The city’s entry in the Canadian College Baseball Conference (CCBC) will play as the Golden Tide for this spring campaign, which starts in just over a month. The team, which provides an outstanding collegiate baseball and academic experience for UVic and Camosun students, where they can stay at home, play in a great stadium (Wilson’s Group Stadium at Royal Athletic Park) in a tremendous city, with the best weather in Canada, and get a world-class degree over five years of athletic eligibility, began as the Victoria Golden Tide in the fall of 2021.

Five years as the Golden Tide included some strong results, including a second place finish in May of 2023, a Cinderella run to the final of the CCBC World Series in Lethbridge.

“It just makes sense for many reasons, as the program has improved and grown beyond early challenges, to be fully adopted under the respected HarbourCats name,” said Jim Swanson, Managing Partner of the group that owns the HarbourCats of the West Coast League, the Collegiate Cats, and the Nanaimo NightOwls (also WCL). “Among other bonuses, so many Golden Tide players have earned summer WCL opportunities through this program, and that can only continue to increase with the foundation being firmly entrenched in this name shift as well.

“In hindsight, this should have been the naming from the beginning. Moving forward, the players and coaches and new recruits are excited for the transition.”

The HarbourCats front office, led by Swanson, GM Christian Stewart and VP-Operations Adrian Somers, supports the now-Collegiate Cats coaching staff of head coach Chris Vlaj, and assistants Darius Opdam Bak and Colton O’Brien — in fact, Opdam Bak and O’Brien have themselves taken to the field as HarbourCats.

The Collegiate Cats coaches will continue to have the support and mentorship as well of all coaches with both the WCL HarbourCats and NightOwls.

Over the four completed seasons, more than 20 players in good standing with the Golden Tide have earned opportunities to play with either of the Island’s WCL clubs, some in regular season and playoffs (such as team leader and catcher Jai Berezowski, and slugger Ryan Deagle), or in exhibition games. That number will grow this summer.

The list:

OF Jaxson Cordle
RHP Brett Paterson
RHP Nate Major
C Jai Berezowski
OF Dominic Biello
IF Jordan Bond
RHP Darius Opdam Bak
OF Colton O’Brien
RHP Peter Cunningham
C Damian Cataldo
IF Thomas Plant
IF Ryan Deagle
LHP Ethan Dean
RHP Jakin Rohne
OF/RHP Travis Harfield
IF Nick Lee
IF Brandon Green
RHP Haldon Craig
OF Daniel Sawchyn
OF Tyler Burton
RHP Owen Luchies
RHP Cam Dunn
LHP Jacob Popadynec

The Golden Tide start their 2026 schedule on the road at Thompson Rivers University with a four-game set March 21-22 and then return for their home opener on Saturday March 28th at 1:00pm at Wilsons Group Stadium against the Edmonton Collegiate Riverhawks.  A second game follows at 4:00pm, with another doubleheader scheduled for Sunday the 29th at 11:00am and 2:00pm.

The full 2026 Golden Tide schedule is found below (Home games in BOLD and at Wilson’s Group Stadium unless otherwise noted):

Sat. March 21 – @Thompson Rivers University, Kamloops, 4:00pm and 7:00pm
Sun. March 22 – @Thompson Rivers University, Kamloops, 11:00am and 2:00pm

Sat. March 28 – vs. Edmonton Collegiate Riverhawks, 1:00pm and 4:00pm
Sun. March 29 – vs. Edmonton Collegiate Riverhawks, 11:00am and 2:00pm

Thu. April 2 – vs. Okanagan College Coyotes, 2:00pm and 5:00pm
Fri. April 3 – vs Okanagan College Coyotes, 10:00am and 1:00pm

Tue. April 7 – @Vancouver Island University, Nanaimo, 4:00pm and 7:00pm

Fri. April 10 – @Prairie Baseball Academy, Lethbridge, AB, 1:00pm and 4:00pm
Sat. April 11 – @Prairie Baseball Academy, Lethbridge, AB, 2:00pm and 5:00pm

Wed. April 15 – @Vancouver Island University, Nanaimo, 4:00pm and 7:00pm

Mon. April 27 – vs. University of British Columbia @LAMBRICK PARK, 1:00pm and 4:00pm
Tue. April 28 – vs. University of British Columbia @LAMBRICK PARK, 10:00am and 1;00pm

Sat. May 2 – @University of the Fraser Valley, Chilliwack, 4:00pm and 7:00pm
Sun. May 3 – @University of the Fraser Valley, Chilliwack, Noon and 3:00pm

Sat. May 9 – vs. University of Calgary, 4:00pm and 7:00pm
Sun. May 10 – vs. University of Calgary, 11:00am and 2:00pm

Sat. May 16 – vs. University of British Columbia, 1:00pm and 4:00pm

Sun. May 17 – @Vancouver Island University, Nanamio, 4:00pm and 7:00pm

Wed. May 20-Mon. May 25 – CCBC World Series, Lethbridge, AB – Top six teams in regular season play advance.

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2025 All-Star Logan Shepherd returns in 2026 with his sights set on besting the HarbourCats franchise home run record and bringing a WCL title to Victoria.

By Norm LeBus

The HarbourCats’ designated hitter says he’s breaking the team home record this season. But Logan Shepherd is the first to admit he’s not really trying to.

Batting for long balls is a fool’s errand, he says.

“You’re going to start popping the ball up in the infield or hitting really lazy fly balls,” the 21-year-old Olympia, Washington native says. “Home runs for me are never necessarily on purpose, they’re always sort of an accidental thing.”

Oops – Shepherd went yard in his very first at bat of the ‘Cats home opener last year.

The count was 2-1, he recalls, and he was sitting on a fastball, middle, middle away. That’s the pitch Shepherd hits best, and what he focuses on at the plate.

“Because it’s a lot easier to adjust from a fastball to an off-speed pitch than the other way,” he says. “If you’re not on time ready to hit a fastball, you’re going to foul it off or you’re going to swing and miss. There’s no in between.”

Shepherd made big strides with his bat two years ago. During his first year at Tacoma CC, he lacked the hip rotation that powers explosiveness. In a classic swing, first the hips open (rotate), then the torso and shoulders follow, in concert and in synchronicity. The bat then extends in a slight upward arc at contact.

Shepherd explained that because he lacked hip flexibility, he couldn’t adequately “separate” his lower and upper body and was “falling” into pitches and rotating late.

He spent time with a private baseball company, Driveline, who incorporate data-driven player development through motion capture, force plates and physics to help fine tune a swing.

“They really helped me unlock untapped potential,” Shepherd says. “So that really helped with home run ball projection and all that kind of stuff.”

Last season, Shepherd was the Harbourcats DH; hitting .345 over 40 games with nine doubles and eight home runs (The team record is nine dingers).

Shepherd came to the ‘Cats last season projected as a first baseman. But he admits he was less of a natural at the bag than at bat. As a youth, Shepherd played middle infield. But at Tacoma Community College, he realized a 6-2, 210-pound athlete is not playing second base.

“They kind of threw me to the wolves at Tacoma,” he says. “I didn’t have a whole lot of coaching on that, playing first…so I kind of learned how to play the position by myself.”

Last year in Victoria, the ‘Cats had players with NCAA division one experience at first base, so Shepherd helped where he could.

“I was learning from them (‘Cats first baggers) all the time, but when coach Haney put me in the DH spot, I kind of was able to just focus on what I feel I’m best at, and that’s hitting, he says. “When I was able to lock in and focus on that, that was me making my contribution to the team and doing what I could to help us win.

Shepherd is currently on baseball scholarship at NCAA Division 1 school Mercer College in Macon, Georgia, where he’s been training at first base since last September. The school plays a Southern Conference schedule of 56 games that begins February 13 out of 1,500 seat OrthoGeorgia Park.

“Now that I have a coaching staff that’s been able to get down and work with me on certain positional things, it’s been a lot better,” Shepherd says. “I’ve really developed in the position a lot over that last six months or so, just being here.”

Shepherd is penciled in at first base and batting lead-off or in the three hole, he says. And playing first carries more defensive duties than spitting out sunflower seeds on the bench DH-ing.

“100 percent,” he says. “So I had to work on my flexibility a little bit, and over time that got better; it all goes hand in hand. It not only made me a better first baseman, but a little bit faster, as well.”

As savvy fans realize, first base is a huge responsibility. Infield outs aren’t registered if the first basemen doesn’t have a good stretch – and really good hands.

HarbourCats’ fans will look forward to Shepherd’s return in 2026!

“You always got to be prepared for a bad throw, it’s a lot easier to relax and then just catch it instead of having to react and pick something out,” Shepherd says, “You’re already in a good position to handle that bad throw, no matter how bad it looks.”

So.

Faster, more flexible and coming back to Victoria in June in with a first season at first base at Mercer College.

Sounds like a home run record.

“Home runs for me are never on purpose, they are always kind of an accidental thing,” Shepherd says. “But once you catch it on the sweet spot of the barrel, it doesn’t feel like you’ve hit anything; it’s like you hit a marshmallow. You know you  got it real good.

Harbourcats fans say: sweet.

Shepherd and the HarbourCats begin their 2026 season on May 29th with a visit to Portland and then return to Victoria for the Home Opener against the Edmonton Riverhawks on Tuesday, June 2, 6:30 pm.

Season tickets, single-game tickets, 12 and 32-game flex packs and 2026 All-Star Game ticket packages are now on sale at harbourcats.com/tickets or at the HarbourCats office at 1814 Vancouver Street.

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