Summer Collegiate

NorthPaws Set to Open 2nd West Coast League Season in Victoria

Published

3 years ago

May 30, 2023

Dugout Wire Service

KAMLOOPS, BC—Excitement is in the air as the Kamloops NorthPaws are poised to kick off their second season in the West Coast League.

With the Memorial Cup junior hockey tournament being played in Kamloops, the North Paws asked the West Coast league to begin the 2023 campaign on the road. The North Paws will open the campaign up at Wilson’s Group Stadium in Victoria, BC against the HarbourCats. The three-game series kicks off Thursday June 2nd and winds up Sunday June 4th.

Kamloops has 10 veterans back from the team which finished third overall in the WCL North Division (record 26-27). The NorthPaws have changed managers twice since Cole Armstrong directed them in their inaugural season. Former Major Leaguer Brian Anderson replaced Armstrong in October 2022 but resigned to take a position with Northwestern University (NCAA Div I). Keith Francis was named his replacement this past April. He and Anderson worked together with Pima Community College in Tucson, Arizona and was initially coming to Kamloops as an assistant coach in 2023 before the promotion.

The HarbourCats have 13 players returning from the team which finished fourth in the West Coast League North Division in 2022 (record 26-28).

SERIES DETAILS:

Friday June 2nd 6:35 PM , Saturday June 3rd 6:35 PM, Sunday June 4th 1:05 PM

Games streamed at HCATS.TV

PLAYERS TO WATCH:

Victoria:

1.     Cam Caley – LHP – Baylor University – Sophomore
2.      Harrison Caley – C – Baylor University – Junior
3.      Jesse Brown – OF – UC Santa Barbara
4.       Dallas Macias – 2B/OF – Oregon State – Freshman
5.       Hudson Shupe – SS – Seattle – Freshman

Kamloops:

1.      Andrew Stucky C-OF University of Texas San Antonio Hometown: Tucson, AZ Sophomore
2.      Robin Villeneuve 1B-LHP Weatherford College Hometown: Gatineau QC Sophomore
3.      Tommy Green SS-INF Oakland University Hometown: Courtenay, BC Senior
4.      Felix Chenier-Rondeau OF Oklahoma City University Hometown: Blainville, QC Senior

COACHES COMMENTS:

Victoria Head Coach Todd Haney:

“We have assembled a top caliber line-up this season and can’t wait to get things started Friday against the NorthPaws. This is the 10th Anniversary season of the HarbourCats, and I’d like nothing more than to celebrate that by bringing the HarbourCats their first ever WCL title. I think we have the team to do that this year and look forward to the challenges the season will bring us.”

Kamloops Head Coach Keith Francis:

Heading into the season you are always a little apprehensive about your roster. Did we get enough pitching is everyone healthy etc. we know we have several still playing in post season play so your not exactly certain who is going to be ready for the opener. Having used all the coaches excuses I am looking forward to the season. I feel like we have an offensive lineup with players who have had very good seasons at their respective schools. I believe that our offense may have to carry else early until the pitching works itself out. Our first series should be mixed bag of a lineup with so many players not expected for another week, but it will give are younger players a chance.”

LAST YEAR’S (2022) SERIES:

The three games were played in Kamloops at Dearborn Ford Field. The NorthPaws won two of the three games. They opened the series June 14th with a 5-4 victory. Kolby Lukinchuk (Prince George, BC), came out of the bullpen to strike out the final two batters for the victory in his one inning of work. Zac Beatty led the way for Kamloops with two runs batted in.

Game two had Kamloops beating Victoria 9-8. Ben Polack was the winning pitcher going three innings with a strikeout. He was the third of three pitchers for the NorthPaws that night. Kamloops had nine runs on 13 hits with four errors.

Victoria won the final game of the series (June 16) by a score of 8-3, scoring three runs in the top of the ninth inning after scoring two in the first frame. Michael Nunez was the winning pitcher going four and a third innings giving up four hits and striking out five. Shay Timmer took the loss for Kamloops. He was the second of four pitchers going three innings with five strikeouts and three walks.

NORTH PAWS NOTABLES:

The North Paws have 11 players from British Columbia on their roster including five players from Kamloops itself (three of them: Tyrelle Chadwick, Jared Sucro, Nolan Austin are veterans).

WOLFPACK CONNECTION:

Kamloops has two players who are currently members of the Thompson Rivers University WolfPack baseball program: Lukinchuk and first year outfielder Manny Recchi. Former WolfPack player Adam Filmon has joined the NorthPaws as an assistant coach. Filmon is the grandson of former Manitoba Premier Gary.

The HarbourCats have one TRU player on their roster this year. Pitcher Sam Jordan who completed his first season with TRU in 2023.

HOME OPENER:

The NorthPaws will kick off the home portion of their 2023 West Coast League season Tuesday June 6th at Dearborn Ford Field at Norbrock Stadium. It is a three-game series with the Portland Pickles. Opening pitch on Tuesday, Wednesday (June 7th) and Thursday (June 8th) will be 6:35 PM. Tuesday’s opening night festivities will include a pre-game ceremony.

Tuesday’s game will be “Blazers Night” where the NorthPaws will recognize the accomplishments of the 2022-23 Kamloops Blazers. It is hoped some members of the Blazers hockey club will be in attendance for the contest and will be available to sign autographs.

If you can’t make the games in person, NorthPaws home games will be webcast here : https://wcleague.watch.pixellot.tv/. There will also be a select number of games will be shown on Shaw Cable.

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

Kamloops NorthPaws tickets: ticketing@northpawsbaseball.ca

West Coast League: westcoastleague.com.

For more Information:

Jenna Forter
General Manager, Kamloops NorthPaws
Jforter@northpawsbaseball.ca

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Summer Collegiate

Victoria HarbourCats – Cats Stun Elks with Thunderous 18-5 Victory

Published

2 hours ago

July 8, 2026

Dugout Wire Service

Victoria, B.C. – The HarbourCats welcomed the Bend Elks to Victoria this evening with a monumental 18-5 takeover to start the series off right.

Although the Elks opened the scoring with a single to centre field in the top of the second, the Cats answered back quickly in the bottom half of the frame. With runners on the corners and nobody out, Bryan Bradshaw (UCSD) dug in for a sacrifice fly, driving in Rohne Klein (San Jose State) from third and tying the game at one apiece.

BOX SCORE

Cats starter and freshly-crowned All-Star Erik Rico (Fresno State) called it a night after three solid innings of work. Rico allowed one run and struck out seven to push his league-leading strikeout count to 40. Flynn Warren (Hawaii Pacific) filled the gap for the fourth, striking out two before letting one batter get away and surrendering a two-run homer. The New Zealand product eventually got the final out he needed, but not before the Elks took a 3-1 lead.

Erik Rico’s league-leading 40 strikeouts are just part of the reason he was selected as a WCL All-Star. (Photo by JPM Photography)

Warren returned for the fifth and gave up a solo homer, but that was the only damage sustained before the Cats defence returned to the dugout down by three.

Victoria finally found some contact in the bottom of the fifth, putting runners on the corners with nobody out once again. A Bend throwing error allowed a run to come in, but a big baserunning mistake by the Cats led to the Elks getting two outs on the play as well.

Inning the sixth showed yet more promise for the HarbourCats, as a couple of early base knocks made it – stop me if you’ve heard this before – runners on the corners with nobody out. The home side continued to put wood on the baseball, eventually bringing in five runs on base hits from Rohne Klein, Tristan Buehring (Whitman), and WCL All-Star David Krahn (UBC). Unsatisfied with a one-run lead, Matt Westley (George Mason) stepped up to the plate with two outs and banished a baseball to the great unknown, busting the game wide open with a three-run homer to make it 10-5.

Matt Westley’s home run was a back-breaker for the Elks. (Photo by JPM Photography)

Patience was the name of the game in the bottom of the seventh inning. The Elks walked the bases loaded and bounced a pitch in front of the plate that allowed Jacob Silva (UTSA) to score. Tristan Buehring followed that up with an RBI single, and David Krahn obliterated his seventh homer of the season. 15-5 for the Cats with two innings to go.

The Cats kept the pressure on, adding a Rohne Klein homer for good measure before Spencer Kratt closed out a three-inning relief appearance, securing a much-needed blowout win for the good guys.

WCL STANDINGS

The HarbourCats are back on the hunt tomorrow night for the second of three games this week against the Elks.

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 – Former HarbourCat Austin Russell, a WCL all-star, hired to coach Collegiate Cats program

Published

2 days ago

July 6, 2026

Dugout Wire Service

July 5, 2026

VICTORIA, B.C. — Former HarbourCat and WCL All-Star Austin Russell has been handed the reins of Victoria’s year-round collegiate baseball program.

The local product has been hired to lead the Victoria Collegiate Cats of the Canadian College Baseball Conference (CCBC), effective August 1. The team formerly called the Golden Tide will enter its sixth season this fall, based primarily out of Wilson’s Group Stadium at Royal Athletic Park.

“I’m incredibly grateful for this opportunity and excited to help build a Victoria Collegiate Cats program that the players, alumni and community can be proud of,” said Russell, who played with his brother Ty on the 2013 HarbourCats team. “My time playing college baseball had a tremendous impact on my growth as a person, both on and off the field, and my priority is to provide these young men with that same opportunity — an experience they can look back on with pride and one that helps prepare them for success as they move forward in life.”

Russell, 34, was a member of the inaugural HarbourCats team and the outfielder was selected to play in the WCL all-star game in 2013. He also played summer collegiate baseball in Moose Jaw, and played collegiately at Colby Community College, Southern Polytechnic State, and MacPherson College.

Russell won conference awards as a player at Colby and MacPherson, and still plays in the Mavericks League locally. He represented Victoria in the 2018 Baseball Canada Men’s Nationals on home soil, earning a silver medal.

Russell (left), along with Nick Pivetta (centre) and Connor Russell (no relation)(right) were three of the first HarbourCats players to be signed for the 2013 season (Photo: Christian J. Stewart).

He coached for many years in the Victoria Mariners youth system, and is excited to return to the college level. Pitching Coach Darius Opdam Bak and Assistant Coach Colton O’Brien will return and round out the coaching staff.

Russell will also join Opdam Bak and other WCL HarbourCats coaches in taking an active role with community development initiatives and youth camps.

“This is an exciting announcement for us and we could not be happier to put Austin into the leadership role with the Collegiate Cats as Head Coach,” said Jim Swanson, Managing Partner of the group that owns the Collegiate Cats, the Victoria HarbourCats and Nanaimo NightOwls (West Coast League), and the Edwards Family Training Centre (EFTC) indoor facility.

“Austin is well-known and respected in the baseball world, especially locally, and we know he will put tremendous effort and skill into the role as we continue to grow the Collegiate Cats. He’s excited to get started.”

Source

Summer Collegiate

Victoria HarbourCats – Cats Drop Third Game of Kelowna Series

Published

3 days ago

July 5, 2026

Dugout Wire Service

Kelowna, B.C. – The HarbourCats took on the Kelowna Falcons for the third game a row this afternoon, losing the final matchup by a score of 9-2.

The Falcons were the first side to find purchase on the offensive side in a long third inning. Cats starter Daniel Tovar (Northern Kentucky) allowed a couple of baserunners on a walk and an error, and was swapped out for right-hander Houston Tomlinson (Arkansas State). Kelowna strung together a few singles together on Tomlinson over the course of the inning, taking a 3-0 lead.

BOX SCORE

The home team followed that up with an uppercut in their next trip to the plate, smashing a three-run homer off of Tomlinson in the fourth to blow the game wide open.

Tate Collins (Arkansas State) took over for the fifth and pitched a clean inning, but was accosted for another scoring trio in the home half of the sixth. A single, a wild pitch, and a sacrifice fly gave the Falcons a daunting 9-0 lead.

The Cats at last found life in the seventh frame, kicked off by a solo bomb off the bat of Fresno State outfielder Marcus Nolen. Matthew Westley (George Mason) followed that homer up with a fine job of manufacturing a run. The Virginia product drew himself a walk, stole two bases, and advanced all the way home on a wild pitch to continue cutting a chunk out of that mountainous lead.

Carson Ackermann (Tacoma) took to the pitcher’s mound in the seventh and only allowed two baserunners across his two innings of work, but in the end the lead proved insurmountable and the Falcons secured a 9-2 win on home turf.

WCL STANDINGS

The HarbourCats will now travel back to Victoria and look to rebound on Tuesday night in the first matchup of a three-game mid-week series versus the Bend Elks.

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