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KAMLOOPS — After claiming an exhibition game victory on Thursday versus rival Kelowna, the Kamloops NorthPaws dropped three straight to the visiting Nanaimo NightOwls over a hot and smokey weekend in the Tournament Capital.

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Photo Credits – Allen Douglas Photography

The trio of losses moves the Paws to 5-8 in the second half of the WCL Season, 3GB of the North Division leading Wenatchee AppleSox, who the NorthPaws are set to see for three games starting on Tuesday south of the border.

GAME 1

A low-scoring pitchers duel took place on Friday night as the Nanaimo NightOwls squeaked out a 2-1 victory.

TRU’s Kolby Lukinchuk toed the rubber for Kamloops, taking a hard luck loss after tossing 7.0IP 5H 2ER. Lucas Smith followed with 2.0IP 2H 0R.

Kamloops did strike first in the third inning on an Anthony Setticasi double that scored Anthony Manuel from second.

The NightOwls responded with a single run in both the fifth and sixth innings to take the lead. Joshua Torres, RBI double, and Mitchell Middlemiss RBI single.

Jacob Fleury got the win for the NightOwls after silencing the bats of Kamloops over 6.0IP, 1H, 1ER, 2BB.

The Paws would get the tying and winning run into scoring position in the ninth as TJ Wachter missed a two-run walkoff by a matter of inches off the left field wall before a ground out secured the win for the visitors.

Ryan Inouye was credited with the save.

GAME 2

One bad inning spelled disaster for the NorthPaws on Saturday night, as once again the offense scuffled in a 6-4 Nanaimo victory.

Just like in game one, it was an early lead for Kamloops, as TJ Wachter singled home Joey Rico to make it 1-0.

Cade Johnson got the start for Kamloops pitching in and out of danger through 5.0IP, 7H, 1ER.

After Nanaimo leveled the score at 1-1 in the third, the NorthPaws would take a 4-1 lead in the sixth. Matthew Olivares doubled home Rico, followed by a pair of 2-out RBI singles from Jerry Nix, and Jacob Schlesselman.

From there the NightOwls would score 5 unanswered to secure the series win. Trailing by one in the eighth, Nanaimo scored three unearned runs against Paws’ closer Rico, as a ground ball slipped under the glove of Madden Ocko.

Ocko would single in the ninth to give the NorthPaws a shot, but he would be stranded.

GAME 3

The final game of the three game set was entirely one-sided, with the Nanaimo NightOwls completing the sweep in dominant fashion 12-2.

Keith Manby from the TRU WolfPack got the start for Kamloops in the contest and struggled to get outs, allowing 6ER, 7H 1K in 3.1IP. David Betancourt, Manato Tateno, Nolan Austin and Manny Recchi would also toe the rubber on Sunday evening, allowing six more runs to cross the plate in a crushing defeat.

The Paws managed just four hits in the ballgame, three of which came from Kamloops’ own Matt MacDonald who went 3-4 at the plate with an RBI.

Aidan Boice recorded the win for Nanaimo, allowing just two MacDonald hits over 6.0IP, with 7K.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE
Monday, July 22 – Off-Day
Tuesday, July 23 at Wenatchee, 6:35 first pitch
Wednesday, July 24 at Wenatchee, 6:35 first pitch
Thursday, July 25 at Wenatchee, 6:35 first pitch
Friday, July 26 at Victoria, 6:30 first pitch
Saturday, July 27 at Victoria, 6:30 first pitch
Sunday, July 28 at Victoria, 1:00 first pitch
Monday, July 29 – Off-Day
Tuesday, July 30 vs Bellingham, 6:35 first pitch
Wednesday, July 31 vs Bellingham, 6:35 first pitch
Thursday, August 1, vs Bellingham, 6:35 first pitch

FOR MEDIA REQUESTS
Jenna Forter
General Manager
Kamloops NorthPaws
250-200-1415
www.northpawsbaseball.ca

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Summer Collegiate

Victoria HarbourCats – Final Game of the Season Cancelled Due to Health Concerns

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Wenatchee, WA – While Wednesday’s matchup between the Victoria HarbourCats and Wenatchee AppleSox was originally intended to be the last HarbourCats action of the 2026 West Coast League season, the game has been cancelled due to unsafe conditions in Wenatchee created by wildfire smoke.

The outcome of the game would have no impact on the playoff seeding of any teams in the North Division, with Wenatchee already clinching the #1 seed and Victoria being eliminated from playoff contention. Ultimately, it was decided that the conditions were unsafe and the game would be cancelled for the safety of players, staff, and fans.

With the Wenatchee series now over, this brings the 2026 HarbourCats season to an end with a record of 26-26. We would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to all of our wonderful fans who showed such incredible support and brought an electric energy to HarbourCats baseball this season!

Stay tuned to our website and socials for info on renewing season tickets, as well as 12-pack and 32-pack flex packages for the 2027 season!

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Victoria HarbourCats – SIBL All-Stars Win Exhibition Clash

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A sold-out crowd gathered at Wilson’s Group Stadium at Royal Athletic Park for the final fireworks night of 2026. (Photo by JPM Photography)

Victoria, B.C. – The HarbourCats’ split squad and the SIBL All-Stars put on a show in a Monday night exhibition match, with the All-Stars taking a 10-8 victory after an explosive matchup.

The SIBL All-Stars jumped out to an early lead in this exhibition showdown, loading the bases and knocking in a couple of runs in the top of the first to take the upper hand. The away squad added another in the second inning on a sacrifice fly, pushing the lead to 3-0.

The HarbourCats launched an attempted counterattack in the bottom of the third, taking advantage of a shaky inning on the mound for the SIBL to run the bases full and score their first run. A strong sign of life, but still with some ground to make up for the visiting All-Stars.

The lead grew ever larger in the fourth inning, as the All-Stars scored two runs on a double and a wild pitch to make it a 6-1 ballgame. That production was backed up by former HarbourCat Flynn Ridley, who sliced and diced his way through the side in the fourth and fifth innings to keep the All-Stars well in front.

The HarbourCats stormed back with a parade of hits in the back half of the game and managed to tie it up in the bottom of the eighth with a two-out rally! Despite that effort to even the odds, the All-Stars threw a counter-punch in the top of the ninth in the form of two more runs, giving them the edge in a close 10-8 win.

Meanwhile, the HarbourCats’ A-squad fought tooth and claw in Wenatchee with a playoff spot still in the balance. Victoria was defeated 5-2 in the first contest of a three-game series and will give it their all on Tuesday night with the sands in the postseason hourglass draining.

WCL PLAYOFF PROCEDURES HERE

PLAYOFF TICKETS:  Should the HarbourCats clinch a playoff spot (which may not be determined until Wednesday), they would host Game 1 of the best of three Divisional Series on Friday August 7th at 6:35 PM.  Tickets for that series will NOT go on sale until a playoff position is confirmed.  Season Ticket holders will be e-mailed their tickets (if we clinch) on Thursday August 6th.

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Victoria HarbourCats – HarbourCats go quietly as Bells complete series sweep

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By Christian J. Stewart

August 2, 2026

Bellingham, WA –  Bellingham pitchers combined to limit the Victoria HarbourCats to just four hits in a 5-0 Bells win over the HarbourCats in West Coast League (WCL) action Sunday afternoon at Joe Martin Field in Bellingham.

FULL BOX SCORE

The loss gave the Bells a sweep of the three-game series and put a serious damper on the playoff aspirations of the HarbourCats, who now head to Wenatchee to finish the season against the league’s top team and needing at least two or three wins and help from others to secure a spot (more on that below).

The HarbourCats sent WCL Pitcher of the Year candidate Jeremiah Arnett to the mound in this one, but the Bells jumped on him early, scoring two runs in the bottom of the first on the strength of three hits, including a two-RBI double from Matt Churchill.

The Bells would score another in the third and two more in the eighth off Arnett, before he left the game and gave way to reliever Davis Lee.

Arnett did finish with four strikeouts to move his season total to 66, which is a new HarbourCats single-season team record.

In the meantime, Bellingham starter Kole Laubach (4 innings pitched) and David Wiser (5 innings pitched) were at the top of their game, allowing no runs on just the four HarbourCats hits, while striking out nine and walking only one.

Offensively for the Bells, Churchill led the way with two hits and three RBI, while Noah Cassie and Tyler Peshke also contributed a pair of hits to the winning effort.

PLAYOFF PICTURE
With the win last night and today, the Bells secure the second seed in the North and will host a first round match-up against whoever finishes third in the North.  At the moment, that team is Nanaimo, who defeated Port Angeles 8-0 to move their record to 28-23. Meanwhile, the Kelowna Falcons registered another comeback win (10-8) over Edmonton to move both of those teams to a record of 27-24 and dropping the Riverhawks into the fourth seed by virtue of holding the direct tie-break over the Falcons.  The HarbourCats, with the loss, drop to 26-25 and are effectively in sixth place at the moment.

So what’s next?  The HarbourCats travel to Wenatchee to play the AppleSox and will need at least two wins there, possibly three, to have a chance at grabbing the third or fourth seed.  The NightOwls will host the Kamloops NorthPaws and need at least one win, possibly two to clinch a spot. Kelowna travels to Port Angeles, where a couple of wins could secure their berth and Edmonton travels to Bellingham, where they will be in tough against the Bells, in the hopes of winning one or two to stay in their current playoff position.

Four teams, within two games of each other, with three games left to play….does it get any better than this?  The possibilities are endless and this author does not event want to attempt the math if there ends up being a four-way tie between these teams.

WCL PLAYOFF PROCEDURES HERE

PLAYOFF TICKETS:  Should  the HarbourCats clinch a playoff spot (which may not be determined until Wednesday), they would host Game 1 of the best of three Divisional Series on Friday August 7th at 6:35 PM.  Tickets for that series will NOT go on sale until a playoff position is confirmed.  Season Ticket holders will be e-mailed their tickets (if we clinch) on Thursday August 6th.

BC DAY FIREWORKS & FAN APPRECIATION NIGHT APPROACHING CAPACITY CROWD! 
Just a note that all reserved seating is effectively sold out for Monday’s fireworks and Fan Appreciation night, the final home game of the regular season. Select single reserved seats, general admission and some VIP area tickets are still available at harbourcats.com/tickets.  If you are holding general admission tickets for this game, gates open at 5:00 pm and you are advised to arrive early to get your best choice of seating.

VOUCHER HOLDERS
With all reserved seating sold out, ALL voucher holders wishing to attend Monday’s game will be issued general admission tickets.  Vouchers must be used Monday and can not be used for playoffs, or carried over into next season.

 

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