Summer Collegiate

NorthPaws ‘pickled’ in home opener against Portland

Published

3 years ago

June 9, 2023

Dugout Wire Service

Author: Larry Read

KAMLOOPS BC—The Kamloops NorthPaws are still in search of their first victory of the young West Coast League season.

The NorthPaws hosted the Portland Pickles at Dearborn Ford Field at Norbrock Stadium in a three-game series Tuesday through Thursday (June 6-8). Over 500 fans a night were treated to some entertaining baseball but went home a little disappointed as the Pickles swept Kamloops.

The scores were 11-4 Tuesday (June 6), 6-4 Wednesday and Thursday (June 7,8).

The results leave Portland with a 5-1 record while the NorthPaws dip to 0-6.

The NorthPaws will continue their homestand with the first ever appearance of the six time defending West Coast League champions, the Corvallis Knights to Kamloops. The Pickles will head down Highway 97 for a three-game set in Kelowna against the Falcons. Crovallis has a record of 5-1 after downing Yakima Valley 8-1. Wednesday night.

Portland and Kamloops will tangle once more this season when the NorthPaws visit the Pickles for three games beginning June 27th.

All West Coast League games are available via their website: https://wcleague.watch.pixellot.tv/

SERIES RECAP:

Tuesday, June 6, 2023-Portland Pickles 11 Kamloops NorthPaws 4

Portland broke open a 1-1 tie scoring four runs in the third inning before adding two more in the fifth and three runs in the sixth. Kamloops scored twice in the bottom of the seventh to reduce the deficit to 10-3. New Zealander Maclain Roberts was tagged with the loss as he started the game and went three innings giving up four hits, four runs, had one walk and one strikeout.

Left fielder Andrew Stucky (Tuscon, AZ) and Right fielder Felix Chenier-Rondeau (Blainvile, QC) each had runs batted in.

The Pickles were led by Jackson Waller (San Marcos, CA) who was two for two and three runs batted in. Two of the runs coming in on a single in the sixth. Jack Metcho (Fairfield, CA) was one for two with three runs scored. Starter Aiden Garza (Ventura, CA) was the winning pitcher tossing a no hitter for three innings, giving up two runs, striking out two and walking three.

Portland moved to 3-1 on the year. The NorthPaws dropped their fourth in a row.

Link to Scoresheet: http://baseball.pointstreak.com/boxscore.html?gameid=598675

Wednesday, June 7, 2023-Portland Pickles 4 Kamloops NorthPaws 4

All the scoring in this game occurred in the first three innings. Portland rallied from a 2-0 first inning deficit to tally three in both the second and third.

The NorthPaws were led offensively by first baseman Nolan Austin (Kamloops, BC). He was two for four at the dish with two runs batted in. Designated hitter Landon Clark was one for four with an R.B.I..

Matthew Romero started for Kamloops and was tagged with the loss going two and a third innings, giving up nine hits, six earned runs, with two walks and a strikeout.

Murphy Gienger (Castle Rock, CO), who came into the game after an inning and two thirds was the winner. He threw a three hitter with eight strikeouts. Morris Austin (Keller, TX) earned the save as he came on in the ninth inning and struck out the side.

Offensively, the Pickles had three R.B.I. from left fielder Xiage Lancaster (Hilo, HI). He was two for three with two runs scored. Jack Metcho was three for five with two runs scored and two runs batted in. Right fielder Nicky Markantanatos (Portland, OE) was three for five.

Link to Scoresheet: http://baseball.pointstreak.com/boxscore.html?gameid=601034

Thursday, June 8, 2023-Portland Pickles 6 Kamloops North Paws 4

The NorthPaws jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning on the basis of a home run by Jude Hall (Chilliwack, BC). It was Kamloops’ first home run of the season.

The home team held a 4-1 lead until the sixth inning when the Pickles scored twice and then added three more in the seventh inning. They wound up with six runs on six hits and one error. Kamloops had four runs on seven hits and one error.

Kamloops was threatening in the bottom of the ninth. They had the bases loaded with two outs, but Felix Chenier-Rondeau (Blainville, QC) hit a long flyball which was caught in left field.

Sakemi Sato (La Quinta, CA) was the winning pitcher as he threw two innings of one hit ball with four strikeouts. Portland was led offensively by Jack Metcho. He was two for five with three runs batted in. Nicky Markantanatos was two for five with an RBI.

Joey Adge (Parker, CO) was three for four for Kamloops with an RBI. Hall was two for four with three runs batted in.

Christian Spitz (Overland Park, KS) was the losing pitcher. He went three and a third giving up four runs (3 earned), striking out three and walking three. Kamloops resident Tyrelle Chadwick had his second start of the year for the NorthPaws. He pitched three innings giving up two hits, four walks and one earned run.

Link to Scoresheet: http://baseball.pointstreak.com/boxscore.html?gameid=598677

HEAD COACH KEITH FRANCIS:

“It is always the little things in baseball that come back to haunt you. We run the bases improperly. We don’t get the right hit at the right time. Can’t throw the strike when we need it the most. Those things add up. I am telling them we need to win inning by inning. This has been the underlying theme all season. There is just one inning where an error was started and the pitcher can’t come back from it. We aren’t hitting. We haven’t scored more than four runs in any game. That is tough. “

FIRST BASEMAN NOLAN AUSTIN (KAMLOOPS, BC):

“It is not the start we wanted to have. We were in the game again tonight. Just small little errors are keeping us from getting over that hump. Once we can get the first one we will start to figure it out we are going to start to cruise and get some more dubs.”

NEXT UP:

The NorthPaws will conclude their six game homestand with the Corvallis Knights. The Knights and NorthPaws will play a three-game series starting tomorrow (Friday June 7th). It is the first time that the two teams will have ever met in West Coast League play. As mentioned earlier in this release, the Knights have won the league title the last six years in a row. In 2022, they beat the Bellingham Bells in the final.

PLAYERS TO WATCH ON THE CORVALLIS KNIGHTS:

#5, Tyler Quinn, Inf./C, Pacific University, Oregon. He was the Knights MVP in 2022

# 7, Luke Thiele, Inf., Central Arizona College, he’s going to Purdue in the fall.

# 16, Blake Avila, Central Arizona, he’s going to Grand Canyon in the fall.

#17 Sean Wiese, LHP, Hawaii. A four-year Knight, he was the Knights top pitcher in 2022 as our closer.

# 20 Sam Stem, OF, Gonzaga. He hit over .300 for the Zags this spring as a freshman.

# 37, Neil Feist, RHP, Cal State-Northridge. A returnee and a key player from the 2022 champions.

If you can’t make the NorthPaws games, they are all webcast on https://wcleague.watch.pixellot.tv/ . Some home games will also be shown on Shaw TV in Kamloops (Cable 10 or 105 with Blue Curve).

TAILGATE PARTY:

The Molson’s Tailgate Party is hoppin’ before every NorthPaws home game. It runs Tuesday through Saturday 5-630 PM. The Party runs Sundays noon-1 PM. Hotdogs and a Pilsner are sold for $ 12.00 plus tax.

For Everything NorthPaws – Go to the website : https://www.northpawsbaseball.ca/

Kamloops NorthPaws tickets: ticketing@northpawsbaseball.ca

West Coast League: westcoastleague.com.

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Summer Collegiate

Victoria HarbourCats – HarbourCats Battle to the End for 2-1 Victory

Published

1 day ago

July 3, 2026

Dugout Wire Service

Victoria, B.C. – A war of attrition ended in a win for the good guys on Thursday night, with the Cats clawing their way to the finish line to take a series win over the NightOwls.

The Cats weathered the lengthy rain delay and came to the plate ready tonight, striking first on a two-out single from Rohne Klein (San Jose State). Designated hitter Logan Shepherd (Mercer) got the wave around third and Victoria quickly took a 1-0 lead.

BOX SCORE

UCSD’s Quincey Brown added to a string of dominant starting pitchers for the Cats in this series. Brown’s nine strikeouts in his second start of the season are the second-most in a single game for Victoria this year, tied with Austin Lindsey in the previous game and just short of Jeremiah Arnett’s team-leading ten K’s on Tuesday.

In addition to a whole lot of swings and misses, Brown kept the NightOwls off the bases with just two hits across his five innings of work. Davis Lee (Calgary) came in on the heels of Brown’s start, opening up the sixth inning on the mound with a one-run lead. Lee got himself into some trouble, loading the bases with two consecutive walks and letting the game-tying run sneak by on a pitch straight to the backstop.

Will Zielinski held strong in his Cats debut, scoring important outs in the late innings. (Photo by JPM Photography)

Lee returned in the seventh for a much cleaner frame, striking out two for a scoreless inning. Will Zielinski made an impressive Cats debut in the top of the eighth. The local Victoria product secured a quick two strikeouts and a groundout to keep the score tied and bring the HarbourCats lineup back up to the dish.

Victoria rallied to finally break the tie in the bottom of the eighth, courtesy of a Marcus Nolen (Fresno State) special. The outfielder walked, stole a base, and came in to score on a throwing error from the Nanaimo shortstop to take a 2-1 lead for the Cats.

Zielinski was back for the top of the ninth, shutting it down and securing a close win for the Cats to take the series and tie up the Island Cup!

WCL STANDINGS

The HarbourCats will now hit the road to Kelowna for a three-game weekend series against the Falcons.

Single game tickets for all HarbourCats games 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.

GET YOUR ALL-STAR TICKETS BEFORE THEY ARE GONE! Tickets for the 2026 WCL All-Star Home Run Derby (featuring former Blue Jay Kevin Pillar) and the West Coast League All Star Game on July 14-15 are selling fast. Get yours today! Each event is now on sale separately, or grab the package deal for both and save a few bucks at http://harbourcats.com/tickets! Or call the office at 778-265-0327 to order by phone.

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Summer Collegiate

Victoria HarbourCats – Cats Bats Heat Up in 11-2 Win Over Nanaimo

Published

2 days ago

July 1, 2026

Dugout Wire Service

Nanaimo, B.C. – The HarbourCats evened the series with a titanic 11-2 win over their island rivals on Wednesday night.

It was a blink-and-you’ll-mis-it start for the Cats, who scored their first run just four minutes after the first pitch. David Krahn (UBC) and Matt Westley (George Mason) found themselves on base with a single each, and a double off the wall from Logan Shepherd (Mercer) drove Krahn in from second. Westley came in to score an an extremely well-placed bunt from Jacob Silva (UTSA), and a Rohne Klein (San Jose State) single swiftly made it 3-0 Cats after the first half-inning!

BOX SCORE

Krahn touched the plate once again in the second inning, reaching base on an error and being cashed in by a Logan Shepherd base hit. Westley followed suit, pushing the score to 5-0.

Jeremiah Arnett (Rice) powered through six innings in his fifth start of the season, allowing three hits, no runs, and striking out nine. (Photo by JPM Photography)

The onslaught continued in the middle innings, highlighted by a two-run homer from infielder Brady Hewitt (Fresno State) in the fifth. A Tristan Buehring (Whitman) single brought home another before the end of the frame. Victoria followed up with another two tallies in the sixth, a result of some wild pitches and a knock from Bryan Bradshaw (UCSD). 10-0 Cats after six.

That strong start carried over to the other side of the baseball as well, with Jeremiah Arnett putting on a pitching clinic. The Rice University starter let up three hits in a scoreless six innings, striking out nine NightOwls. Daniel Tovar (Northern Kentucky) took over in relief for the seventh and eighth, keeping things clean and keeping Nanaimo off the board.

Matt Westley was on fire at the dish in Nanaimo, badgering NightOwls pitching for a four-hit game. (Photo by JPM Photography)

David Krahn stayed hot in the top of the ninth, crushing an RBI double to extend the lead to 11. Hunter Daniels (Phoenix) was sent in from the bullpen with a safe cushion to work with, giving up the first runs of the game for the NightOwls but ultimately closing out an 11-2 victory.

WCL STANDINGS

The Cats finish off the series in Victoria at 6:35 pm Thursday night before hitting the road for a weekend series in Kelowna.

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Summer Collegiate

Victoria HarbourCats – Cats Bested by NightOwls in Fourth Game of Remax Island Cup

Published

3 days ago

July 1, 2026

Dugout Wire Service

Victoria, B.C. – The HarbourCats’ late comeback bid was unsuccessful this fireworks night, dropping the first game of the Nanaimo series 10-7

Usual relief pitcher Austin Lindsey (Hill College) settled into his newfound starting role nicely tonight. The Lufkin, Texas righty was straight up impenetrable in his first four innings, pocketing eight strikeouts over that span. A rare walk from Lindsey came back to bite him in the fifth, driven in by the second hit of the game for Nanaimo to put the NightOwls on top.

BOX SCORE

Rohne Klein (San Jose State) retorted with a blistering line drive straight to the right field wall, cruising into second with a double and tagging up to third base on an ensuing flyout. Despite Klein’s effort, the bats sputtered and the first baseman was stranded on third to end the inning, still down by one to the visiting side.

Nanaimo made another edit to the scoreboard in the top of the sixth, battling with two strikes and two outs to turn a ball the other way and double their lead to two. Lindsey got into a bit of hot water following that second run, loading the bases and relinquishing the mound to Houston Tomlinson (Arkansas State).

It was a packed house on Tuesday night for the postgame fireworks show! See if you can spot Harvey the HarbourCat in the crowd . . . (Photo by JPM Photography)

The sticky situation only got stickier, with an error by the Cats shortstop allowing two more runs to slip by on Tomlinson’s watch. The NightOwls added a three-run homer as the exclamation point on the inning, taking a 7-0 lead before the Cats got out of it.

The NightOwls loaded them up once again in the seventh, but the inning was saved by third baseman Matt Westley (George Mason). Westley made a diving stop in the hot corner, stepped on third base, and fired a bullet to first base to keep the score from getting further out of hand.

Victoria finally found their way on the board in frame number seven. Rohne Klein’s screamer off the glove of the Nanaimo first baseman moved catcher Jacob Silva (UTSA) over to third base, and Silva came in to score on a wild pitch for the first Cats run of the game. A sacrifice fly from Marcus Nolen (Fresno State) brought home Klein and yet another wild pitch made room for Bryan Bradshaw (UCSD) to score, whittling the deficit down to four with two innings to go.

Tomlinson’s struggles to find the strike zone in the eighth inning gave way to Jake Rafferty (Tacoma) from the bullpen. Rafferty let three more runs fly by before eventually retiring to the dugout.

The Cats put some serious pressure on the NightOwls in the bottom of the eighth, running the bases loaded and scoring four runs on a couple of walks, a sac fly, and an RBI single right back up the middle by Tristan Buehring (Whitman). The comeback effort came up short, however, as the bats returned to dormancy in the bottom of the ninth.

WCL STANDINGS

The series goes to Nanaimo on Wednesday night for a Canada Day showdown with the NightOwls, before the third game of the Remax Island Cup takes place in Victoria at 6:35 pm on Thursday.

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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