Summer Collegiate

NorthPaws comeback effort falls short in loss to Bellingham

Published

1 year ago

June 28, 2025

Dugout Wire Service

The Kamloops NorthPaws lost game one of their weekend series to the Bellingham Bells 10-5 on Friday night at Norbrock Stadium. The Bells jumped out to an 8-0 lead after the third inning, but the NorthPaws stayed pesky. Kamloops rallied to score five unanswered to pull within three, but a pair of runs in the top of the tenth sealed the deal for Bellingham.

Righty Lukas Dykstra was on the mound for Kamloops, and unlike his last start against Victoria, he would run into trouble early in the ball game. Dykstra would lose his command in the second inning, walking five batters and giving up four hits as the Bells exploded for five runs. Dykstra lasted just an inning and two-thirds.

Righty Landon Gutierrez was first out for Kamloops, but the Bells bats stayed hot in the third inning. Gutierrez threw less than 10 balls in his outing, but Bellingham jumped all over him in the third with three more runs on four hits. The command was there for the righty, and he eventually settled in, sending the Bells down scoreless in the fourth and fifth innings.

Righty Zaiden Kiefer entered the game and would pitch three no-hit innings, silencing the Bells and allowing the bats to get hot. The offence got going with second baseman Tanner Hornback launching a home run over the left field fence. The NorthPaws would start to put together good at-bats and draw walks from Bellingham pitchers.

In the fifth, third baseman Drew Schmidt sent a sacrifice fly to right field, scoring left fielder Cade Palkowski. Although Kamloops scored in back-to-back innings, they stranded two runners in each of those innings, unable to come up with that next big hit.
In the sixth, the NorthPaws would draw a pair of walks and a hit by pitch with two outs to load the bases but once again couldn’t come through as a great defensive play by the Bells left the NorthPaws empty-handed.

Kamloops would keep their foot on the gas in the seventh with back-to-back singles from Schmidt and Hornback. The two would advance to second and third on a past ball. Designated hitter Joey Rico sent a fly ball to center field that allowed Schmidt to score. Two batters later, first baseman Keegan Drinkle singled, scoring Hornback. Shortstop Anthony Setticassi reached base via an error, and center fielder Ethan Kodama walked to once again load the bases with two outs. Palkowski was at the plate but flew out to left field once again, leaving the bases loaded.

In the eighth, Rico singled, scoring Hornback, making it five under-answered runs. Going into the top of the ninth, there was a sense of optimism that was felt amongst the hometown crowd. Another scoreless inning, and the team has a real shot to pull this off. Unfortunately, those plans got quickly derailed as the Bells led off with a triple, and the rest is history. Two runs in the ninth put Bellingham up five, securing the game-one victory.

Without the three scoreless from Kiefer, the comeback effort wouldn’t have been possible, but Kiefer and the rest of the staff know what their hitters are capable of.

“For me, I was just trying to get quick outs and give our hitters a shot; we feel like if the staff can keep the game within reach, the offence can outscore anyone,” said Kiefer.

Although the five unanswered runs made the game interesting, the team was missing that one big hit. On Friday night, the NorthPaws left a staggering 13 runners on base, leaving them with a feeling of what could’ve been.

“It was frustrating tonight for us because we knew we were better than what we were showing,” said designated hitter Joey Rico. “We know we’re a good team and can beat anyone; we never feel like we’re out of games,” Rico added.

The two teams will face each other again on Saturday night at Norbrock Stadium; the first pitch is set for 6:35.

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Summer Collegiate

Victoria HarbourCats – Cats Clinch Bellingham Series with 6-2 Win

Published

5 hours ago

June 28, 2026

Dugout Wire Service

Cats hitters have racked up a total of 28 hits over two games in this series so far, 12 of them coming from tonight. (Photo by JPM Photography)

Victoria, B.C. – The HarbourCats clinched a series win over the Bellingham Bells on Saturday night, outworking the Bells on the way to a 6-2 victory.

Seattle native Quincey Brown (UCSD) was not messing around in his first start as a HarbourCat. Brown sat down three Bells on strikes on the first inning and stacked up two more punchouts before stepping aside for Davis Lee (Calgary) in the third inning.

BOX SCORE

The Cats finally broke the deadlock in the bottom of the fourth inning. Shortstop Brady Hewitt (Fresno State) got on base with a leadoff single and stole second, later wheeling around third on a Rohne Klein (San Jose State) base hit to score the first run of the game. Lukas Le Gras (Westmont) doubled the lead with a double off the wall, bringing Klein in to score before stealing home on a wild pitch to widen the lead to 3-0. David Krahn (UBC) clubbed his second homer in two games over the left field fence, and a double from Jacob Silva (UTSA) capped off the inning with an RBI double to widen the lead to 5-0.

Davis Lee called it a night in the top of the sixth after holding the line for 2.2 innings and keeping Bellingham’s score at a nice round number. Leif Friedrich (Concordia-Nebraska) came in for his HarbourCats debut and kept it rolling, securing the outs needed to move on to the bottom of the inning.

Lukas Le Gras had a strong offensive showing, going 2/4 with a double. (Photo by JPM Photography)

The Cats added some insurance in the bottom of the sixth, a Tristan Buehring (Whitman) sacrifice fly for Victoria’s sixth run. Carson Ackermann (Tacoma) was the next arm out of the pen for the HarbourCats. The right-hander quickly found himself in a bases-loaded jam and allowed the first two runs of the ballgame for the Bells before escaping the frame.

Ackermann stuck it out until the top of the ninth, when Anson Stuckly (Texas A&M Corpus Christi) took over, stranding a couple of runners and closing out a 6-2 win.

WCL STANDINGS

The Bellingham series comes to a close at 1:05 pm on Sunday afternoon, preceding a midweek series against the Nanaimo NightOwls beginning on Tuesday night.

Single game tickets for all HarbourCats games and the 2026 West Coast League All-Star Game and Home Run Derby are now on sale at http://harbourcats.com/tickets. Season tickets, 12-pack and 32-pack game vouchers may also be bought online or by stopping by the HarbourCats office at 101-1814 Vancouver Street.

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Summer Collegiate

Victoria HarbourCats – Cats Pummel Bells in 17-6 Victory

Published

1 day ago

June 27, 2026

Dugout Wire Service

Victoria unleashed 11 runs in the sixth inning, paving the way to a resounding win over the top team in the West Coast League. (Photo by JPM Photography)

Victoria, B.C. – A grand slam followed by an 11-run inning led to a robust win over the Bellingham Bells on Friday night, with the Cats claiming a 17-6 win.

BOX SCORE

The Cats looked a little trigger-happy in the first third of the game, only seeing 15 pitches from Bellingham’s starter. This enthusiasm didn’t earn much, with just two HarbourCats reaching base in a quick three innings.

On the other side of the coin, Jeremiah Arnett (Rice) made quick work of the Bells as well, refusing to allow them the luxury of a hit through four innings and earning five strikeouts on the side. Jake Rafferty (Tacoma) took up the torch for the fifth, getting himself into a sticky situation with a couple of wild pitches before finding his way out with a zero on the board.

Jeremiah Arnett allowed zero runs in a four-inning start. (Photo by JPM Photography)

The HarbourCats finally dug their claws in for the bottom of the fifth, loading the bases just in time for David Krahn (UBC). The British Columbia local stepped up to the plate and delivered, utterly pulverizing a ball to left field for an electrifying grand slam, breaking the seal and taking a 4-0 lead for the home side.

Bellingham responded passionately in the next inning, sneaking a run in on a base hit followed by a three-run blast off of Cats reliever Spencer Kratt (San Jose State). Victoria shrugged it off and pulled out all the stops in the bottom of the fifth, taking advantage of a Bellingham error and finding hits from Lukas Le Gras (Westmont), Bryan Bradshaw (UC San Diego), Rohne Klein (San Jose State) et al to jump out in front of the Bells. By the time the smoke cleared on a long sixth inning, the Cats were suddenly up 15-4. Not too shabby.

Surrey, B.C.’s Marcus Janovsky (UBC) entered the game in the seventh to face a battered and bruised group of Bells, who snuck home on a sloppy relay from the outfield to scratch away at the 11-run lead standing over them.

Unwilling to let up after taking a comfortable lead, the Cats kept their foot on the gas in the bottom of the seventh. Designated hitter Jacob Silva (UTSA) batted in a pair of runs with a one-out single, pushing the score to a humble 17-6 with two innings to go.

Hunter Daniels (Phoenix College) came in from the bullpen to dot the i’s and cross the t’s on a booming victory for the HarbourCats in their first game against the top team in the West Coast League Standings.

WCL STANDINGS

The Cats get another crack at the Bells on Saturday night at 6:35 pm, and the series comes to an end with an afternoon game on Sunday.

Source

Summer Collegiate

Victoria HarbourCats – HarbourCats Silenced by NightOwls in 2-1 Loss

Published

2 days ago

June 26, 2026

Dugout Wire Service

Despite out-hitting the NightOwls, two solo homers in the fourth inning was all Nanaimo needed to overpower the visiting Cats. (Photo by JPM Photography)

Nanaimo, B.C. – The Island Rivalry Series came to an end in Nanaimo on Thursday evening, with the Cats offence held quiet in a 2-1 loss to the NightOwls.

Erik Rico (Fresno State) was dominant in the opening third of the ballgame, keeping Nanaimo scoreless with six strikeouts. The Cats starter wavered in the bottom of the fourth, surrendering a solo homer for the first blemish on his previously spotless ERA this season. The NightOwls took the opportunity to pummel another ball over the wall, taking a 2-0 lead by the end of the fourth inning.

BOX SCORE

The Cats had their first real offensive opportunity in the top of the seventh, moving Rohne Klein (San Jose State) over to third after a leadoff single. Nanaimo’s defenses held strong, however, and Klein was stranded to end the inning.

Victoria finally broke through in the top of the eighth on a sacrifice fly from Kade Davis, but one run was all they could muster. Nanaimo closed it out in the top of the ninth to claim a series victory in the first Island Rivalry Series of the year.

Northern Kentucky reliever Daniel Tovar was introduced to the ballgame in the fifth inning, powering through two scoreless innings before handing the ball over to Houston Tomlinson (Arkansas State). Tomlinson worked his way across the seventh and eighth, picking up a strikeout and allowing two hits in two innings.

WCL STANDINGS

With the Nanaimo series complete, the Cats will now host the Bellingham Bells in a weekend series at home, beginning Friday night at 6:35 pm.

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