July 8, 2025

For immediate release

VICTORIA, B.C. – The Victoria HarbourCats will be well represented at the 2025 West Coast League All-Star Game with five players selected to the North Division team. Tommy Bridges, Logan Shepherd, Tanner Beltowski, Jack Johnson, and JC Allen will all be going to Bellingham on July 16.

Bridges has arguably been the most dominant starting pitcher in the entire league this season. His 0.35 ERA leads the WCL, and his 26 innings of work rank in the top ten. In six starts, he has given up just one walk and one earned run, while striking out 29, which is the eighth most across the league. He has done so with an impressive pitch mix that includes an elite changeup and slider. He has only surrendered one hit on each of those pitches all season. The Los Angeles native has recently committed to Northwestern University for the Fall.

Shepherd has cemented himself as one of the most dangerous hitters in the league. The recent Mercer University commit is hitting .337 with five home runs, five doubles, and 29 RBIs in 26 games. The slugger has come up clutch in big moments all season, none more so than his pinch-hit three-run home run at home to the Edmonton Riverhawks on June 25 that turned a 4-2 deficit into a 5-4 lead. He is sixth in the league in RBIs and slugging percentage, and fifth in home runs.

Beltowski has been a revelation for Todd Haney’s team in the last few weeks. Since moving into the leadoff spot, the Ventura, California native has done nothing but hit, hit, and hit some more. His .357 average is the fifth-best in the WCL. He has nine multi-hit games and has also stolen a team high nine bases. He has eight extra-base hits, including two home runs, which puts him only behind Shepherd on the team.

Johnson, a returning HarbourCat from the 2023 team, has been the definition of consistency in 2025. He has played in 25 games this season and has reached base in every single one. That ongoing on-base streak is the longest in the WCL this season. He has two home runs, three doubles, 15 RBIs, and a team-high 23 walks. Johnson has played stellar defence in multiple positions across the infield and also has six stolen bases to his name.

Allen only joined the HarbourCats on June 21 but has made an immediate impact in the heart of the lineup. In 13 games, the junior from UC San Diego is hitting .396 with five home runs, 16 RBIs, 10 walks, and three doubles. Allen demonstrated in the sweep of the Nanaimo NightOwls a week ago how he can power his team to victory, producing eight hits, including two home runs, and nine RBIs across the three-game series. There is no doubt that with a bigger sample size, he would be right at the top of the WCL leaderboard in all major offensive categories.

Congratulations to our five All-Stars!

The WCL All-Star game returned in 2024 for the first time since 2019 and was won by the North Division team in dramatic fashion, a 3-2 walk-off win. That team included two HarbourCats, Tate Shimao and Carson Cormier. This season’s game in Bellingham will be the 13th All-Star Game in league history.

You can see these stars in action this weekend as the HarbourCats are back home to take on the Kelowna Falcons. Friday, July 11 at 6:35 PM is Harvey’s Birthday, Saturday at 6:35 PM is a Fireworks night, and Sunday’s 1:05 PM matinee is the always popular Bark in the Park game, where all dogs are welcome! Get tickets at harbourcats.com/tickets.

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Although the team is three games into their second half schedule, the first half concluded with the NorthPaws finishing 14-13. With last week’s three-game sweep of the Wenatchee AppleSox, the team has now surpassed last year’s win total. Head Coach Riley Jepson and assistants Trey Newman and Jack Slominski had a goal of changing the team’s vibe and becoming a winning ball club again.

“I think it’s huge to be winning games and in a lot of games, we want to put a good product out there for the community and encourage them to come out to more games,” said Jepson.

The team proved their point early on with an opening weekend sweep over the Port Anglels Lefties and continued to be consistent, including at Norbrock stadium, where they won four of their first five series at home.

Coming into the season, all eyes would be on the bats as the team featured several significant additions, but the bullpen has been one of the biggest keys to success so far, according to the coaches.

“At the beginning of the year, our starters struggled a bit, so the bullpen helped save us a few times, but the starters have been getting better every day, and the bullpen has still been just as good,” said Slominski.

The NorthPaws have taken the league by storm on the basepaths, having over 80 stolen bases and sitting second in the West Coast League. The team also has stolen base leader Elijah Clayton, who has 19 to this point. The coaches believe that this identity has been easy to adopt, given the team’s makeup.

“We preach to the guys every day to play your game, and we have a lot of team speed and athletes one through nine in our lineup, so we can’t get away from that, knowing that’s how we’re going to beat teams,” said Newman.

The West Coast League schedule isn’t an easy one to navigate, and the team hasn’t been immune to tough stretches at the plate, but Newman gives his group credit for staying tough.

“I give the guys a lot of credit, they show up every day, get their work in and take it seriously. They never had their heads down, they just kept battling, which is cool to see, and I think that mentality is infectious and runs through our whole team,” said Newman.

After a pair of disappointing seasons, the team has dramatically turned things around, including opening the second half with a sweep and sitting four games over .500. The NorthPaws last made the postseason in 2022, a year when Newman played on the team. The coaches are trying to revive that vibe in the community.

” We’ve played well so far, but I think we can play even better going forward. I think the guys are starting to realize that and believe it, and if those guys buy in, this is going to be a tough team to beat,” said Newman.

The NorthPaws will return from their days off Tuesday night when they visit the Wenatchee AppleSox as they look to extend their winning streak to a season-long four games.

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July 8, 2025

For immediate release

PORT ANGELES, WA – It went down to the final pitch, but the Victoria HarbourCats battled their way to a narrow 3-2 win over the Port Angeles Lefties Tuesday night.

Levi Joyce got things rolling early for the hosts, hitting a two-out RBI single to make it 1-0 Lefties in the first inning.

The story of the game was the starting pitchers with Hudson Lance (Coastal Carolina) on the bump for Victoria and Seth Wrightstone for Port Angeles. It was Lance’s fifth start of the season, and he pitched five innings, matching his season-high, giving up one run on four hits while striking out one.

BOX SCORE

Curtis McKay (Niagara) continued his hot road trip with an RBI single in the fourth inning to tie it up at one. The versatile defender was in right field tonight and now has seven hits in his last four games.

After that, Wrightstone shut the door, throwing eight innings of one-run ball, giving up just four hits and striking out seven HarbourCats.

Ben Hewitt (Ottawa) kept the game tied out of the bullpen, going three innings, giving up no runs on one hit while striking out three.

WCL STANDINGS

It was all square heading into the ninth inning, where Ian Hoffstetter replaced Wrightstone but could not replicate his dominance. After Logan Shepherd (Mercer U) led off the inning with his second hit of the game, Dillon Lopez (St. Mary’s) hit a two-run home run over the left field wall to give the Cats their first lead of the night, making it 3-1.

Jake Finkelstein (Georgia Gwinnett) came out for the save in the bottom of the ninth, but the Lefties did not go down without a fight. A walk and a single put the tying run on base, and after a Finkelstein error allowed a run to come home, it was 3-2 with nobody out. The next batter hit a grounder to JC Allen (UC San Diego) at first, who threw out the runner at the plate to keep hold of the Cats’ one-run lead. Finkelstein settled down from there, inducing a groundout for out number two, and striking out Tommy Markey for the final out.

This 3-2 win puts the HarbourCats’ second-half record at 7-1. They’ll turn to Logan Saloman (Nevada) tomorrow as they look to finish the road trip on a high. The big right-hander recorded the win last week against the Nanaimo NightOwls after pitching five scoreless innings.

WATCH TOMORROW’S GAME HERE

The HarbourCats are back home for an exciting weekend series against the Kelowna Falcons Friday, July 11 at 6:35 PM. Friday is Harvey’s Birthday, Saturday is a Fireworks night, and Sunday’s matinee is the always popular Bark in the Park game, where all dogs are welcome! Get tickets at harbourcats.com/tickets.

10 and 32-Game Flex Passes and Single Game Tickets are on sale for all home games and “Showcase” events through the HarbourCats’ new and one-and-only ticketing partner SHOWPASS at harbourcats.com/tickets.

Tickets and merchandise can also be purchased in person at the HarbourCats office at 101-1814 Vancouver Street or by calling 778-265-0327.

For more updates, be sure to follow @HarbourCats on all social channels (Facebook, Twitter and Instagram).

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