Summer Collegiate

NorthPaws take one of three in Nanaimo

Published

3 years ago

July 30, 2023

Dugout Wire Service

NANAIMO, BC—The Kamloops NorthPaws ended a three game weekend series on Vancouver Island on the right note. Sunday (July 30), the Paws shutout the hometown Nanaimo Night Owls 3-0.

This followed a 1-0 set back on Friday (July 28) and a 6-5 loss Saturday (July 29) at Seauxmen Stadium in Nanaimo.

Kamloops moves to 11-35 on the season overall and 4-15 in the second half. Nanaimo is 24-24 overall and 10-11. The Night Owls are 5-5 in their last 10 starts while the NorthPaws are 3-7.

After a day off, the NorthPaws return home where they will kick off a three-game set of games against the Kelowna Falcons. Game one will be played at Dearborn Ford Field at Norbrock Stadium. Opening pitch is 6:35 PM on Tuesday, August 1st.

The Night Owls will head down Vancouver Island to play the HarbourCats in Victoria starting August 1st.

These teams will play against each other to close out the 2023 West Coast League regular season in Kamloops (August 4-6).

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

SERIES RECAP:

Friday, July 28, 2023: NightOwls 1 NorthPaws 0

The only run of the game was scored in the bottom of the fourth inning. Wylie Waters (West Vancouver, BC) led off with a single delivered by losing pitcher Christian Spitz (Overland Park, KS). Waters scored on a sacrifice by Tim Holyk (Nanaimo, BC). Holyk was 1-3 with a run batted in.

Spitz went five innings giving up a run, a hit and struck out three. He falls to 1-4 on the year.

Liam Buschey (Abbotsford, BC) and Michael Easter (Arcadia, CA) were both 2-3 for Nanaimo. Brian Veniard (Jacksonville, FL) started and was the winning pitcher for the Night Owls. He went to 1-1 for the summer going five and a third giving up four hits, striking out five and walking one. Andrew Pinedo (Palm Springs, CA) earned the save, his sixth in 14 appearances by pitching an inning giving up a walk and getting a strikeout.

Offensively for the Paws: Matt Ward (Mississauga, ON), Robin Villeneuve (Gatineau, QC) and Joey Baran (Austin, TX) were all 1-3.

The game marked the debuts of Adam Filmon (Winnipeg, MB) and Noah Del Rodario as pitchers. Filmon, who is the NorthPaws assistant general manager and former TRU WolfPack player: pitched one inning. Del Rodario was the fourth of four Kamloops pitchers and went an inning as well walking one and striking out one.

Link to Scoresheet: http://baseball.pointstreak.com/boxscore.html?gameid=598522

Saturday, July 29, 2023: Night Owls 6 North Paws 5

Playing before a huge crowd (1663), The NightOwls scored twice in the bottom of the seventh and eighth innings to erase a 3-2 Kamloops lead. The win moved Nanaimo over the .500 mark for the season.

Brandon Nicholl (Coombs, BC) had a big night at the plate for Nanaimo. He after singling to lead off the first inning and scoring the games first run, Nicholl led off the fifth with a solo homer to make it 2-1 Night Owls. And later he hit an RBI double in the bottom of the eighth and scored the eventual game winning run. Nicholl went 4-5 with two runs batted in and two runs scored.

Teammate Ethan Rivera (Chino Hills, CA) was 2-5 with two runs batted in and a run scored while Brandon Hupe (Delta, BC) was 2-4 with two runs batted in.

For Kamloops, Nathan Gray (Queen Creek, AZ) was 3-4 with two runs batted in. Baran and Drew Giannini (Tracy, CA) were both 1-4 with a run batted in. Giannini also scored a run.

Anthony Manuel (Antioch, CA), the third of four Kamloops pitchers recorded his second loss of the year (0-2). He went an inning giving up two runs and three hits. Cooper Littledyke (Mapleton, UT) evened his record at 3-3. The third of four pitchers worked two and two thirds’ innings, giving up a run, four hits, striking out five and walking one. Pinedo came out of the Night Owls bull pen to pitch the final inning for the win. He gave up one hit, one run, walked one and struck out two.

The game marked the debut for NorthPaws lefty Lincoln Moller. He came on in relief in the sixth inning and pitched two innings, striking out one, giving up one hit and walking one.

Link to Scoresheet: http://baseball.pointstreak.com/boxscore.html?gameid=598523

Sunday, July 30, 2023: NorthPaws 3 Night Owls 0

The NorthPaws had three players sidelined with injuries for this one: Villeneuve, Baran and Nolan Austin (Kamloops, BC).

Noah Loew (Chelan, WA) made his first start of the season for Kamloops and earned the victory. He pitched five innings of three hit ball. Loew moved to 1-1 on the year as he struck out three and walked three in his 10 th appearance on the mound this year. David Jeon (Coppell, TX) got the save as he came in for the ninth inning and struck out two. Jeon now has two saves on the year in 16 appearances.

Kamloops opened the scoring in the second inning when Nathan Grey walked and scored on a single by Manuel. The other two runs were scored in the fourth inning. Ward led off the inning with a single and scored on an RBI single off the bat of Casey Wayne. Wayne was 2-4 on the day.

Later in the fourth: Giannini doubled and later scored on a fielder’s choice. He was 1-4 with a run scored.

Cooper Neville was 3-4 at the plate. Ward, Giannini and Manuel were 1-4.

For Nanaimo: Payton Robertson (Lynden, WA) started and was the losing pitcher. His record fell to 4-3. He went five innings, giving up eight hits, three runs, struck out six and walked one. Offensively, The Night Owls were led by Easter who was 2-3.

The game saw the debut of Elijah Olaybal with the NorthPaws. He played left field and was 1-4 at the plate.

Link to Scoresheet: http://baseball.pointstreak.com/boxscore.html?gameid=598524

HEAD COACH KEITH FRANCIS:

On weekend:

“We pitched well at times and got some timely hitting. To lose by one run the first two nights was hard. There were times we didn’t execute well. Today (Sunday), having three regulars out, other players came up and raised the level of their games. Our bats responded when they were needed and that resulted in us scoring some runs.”

NEXT UP FOR THE NORTHPAWS:

The NorthPaws will host the Kelowna Falcons on Tuesday, August 1st. It has been deemed “Stingray Day” at Dearborn Ford field at Norbrock Stadium. Radio NL, Classic Rock K975 and New Country 103.1. Opening pitch is 6:35 PM. This will be the fourth meeting of the year between these two geographical rivals. Kamloops is unbeaten at home against the Falcons. They beat them 5-4 in 11 innings on Canada Day and followed it up with a 6-0 shutout on July 2nd.

Kelowna beat Kamloops 14-4 in their series season opener on June 30 th at Elks Stadium. This is the second last homestand of the regular season for Kamloops.

The Falcons are coming off an 11-0 shutout of the HarbourCats in Victoria. They have a .500 record (5-5) in their last 10 starts and are 12-9 in the second half of the season.

If you can’t make the home 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).

NEW FAN PROMOTION:

The NorthPaws are looking for their newest fans. The team is running a promotion right now which sees you capture a $15 ticket for any home game for the remainder of the season. There are only 100 of these tickets available. Visit tickets.northpawsbaseball.ca and click “Find tickets” on the game you would like to attend. Enter “NEWESTFAN’ into the promo code box and the tickets are unlocked!.

TAILGATE PARTY:

The Molson’s Tailgate Party runs 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.

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Summer Collegiate

Victoria HarbourCats – Matt Westley is the Extra Innings Hero in Walk-Off Victory

Published

1 hour ago

June 14, 2026

Dugout Wire Service

Victoria, B.C. – The HarbourCats battled all night to claim a walk-off win in extra innings!

Victoria pitcher Jeremiah Arnett (Rice) made his mark immediately in his Saturday night start. The big Texan struck out three batters in the top of the first inning, an early warning to the Drifters that they would need their A-game to take him down.

BOX SCORE

Springfield was not deterred, however, scoring on an error in the bottom of the second for the first run of the ballgame. Arnett kept the visiting bats quiet otherwise in the second inning, adding two more K’s to his total.

The Cats created a juicy RBI opportunity by way of a couple singles and stolen bags in the bottom of the third. The heart of the lineup took advantage, cashing in two runs to take a narrow lead by the end of the inning.

Jeremiah Arnett (Rice University) put together a solid start with eight strikeouts. (Photo by Raphael Oliveira)

The offensive production continued as Rohne Klein (San Jose State) battled with two outs and drove a base hit to right field to keep the fourth inning alive for the Cats. Inspired by his comrade’s effort, local catcher Jai Berezowski (Victoria Collegiate) blasted a triple to widen the home team’s lead to 3-1.

Springfield answered back with two runs in the top of the fifth to end Jeremiah Arnett’s night. Arnett went 4.2 innings with eight strikeouts, walking three batters and allowing two earned runs. Davis Lee (Calgary) came in to cover for the starter, securing a huge strikeout in a messy situation to preserve a tie game.

Lee kept a clean slate across his two innings of work, giving way to Hunter Daniels (Phoenix) in the top of the eighth. Daniels surrendered a solo homer to give the Drifters the lead.

The HarbourCats came up big in a crucial eighth inning, loading the bases and getting the game-tying run across. This paved the way for extra innings, in which reliever Pierce Stone (Regis) came up huge with two strikeouts in the top of the tenth to keep the score tied. In the bottom of the tenth inning, with the bases loaded, Matt Westley (George Mason) stepped up to the plate and mashed a line drive to centre field for a HarbourCats walk-off win!

WCL STANDINGS

Catch the Cats back on the field tomorrow at 1:05 pm for the rubber match of the series.

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 Suffer Gruelling 18-9 Loss

Published

1 day ago

June 12, 2026

Dugout Wire Service

Cats pitching struggled to keep runners off the bases on the way to a 18-9 loss. (Photo by Christian J. Stewart)

Victoria, B.C. – The HarbourCats hosted the Springfield Drifters on Friday night, failing to keep the visiting team in check and dropping the first game of the series 18-9.

The Drifters’ lineup spelled trouble from the beginning for Schuyler Fairchild (Wenatchee Valley). The visitors filled up the bases and drove in two runs in the top of the first before the starter locked down a couple of K’s to vacate the mound.

BOX SCORE

Determined not to fall behind, the Cats fought back during their turn at the plate. A 94 mph screamer off the lumber of Brady Hewitt (Fresno State) brought home a run and set up another to score on a sacrifice fly in the next at bat. Even Steven after the initial frame.

Springfield ran up the opener’s pitch count in the first inning, making room for a relief appearance from Austin Lindsey (Hill College) to begin the second. The Drifters gave Lindsey some difficulty as well, ending the inning with three more runs across to make it 5-2.

Schuyler Fairchild saw a shortened outing, battling through a long first inning. (Photo by Christian J. Stewart)

Outfielder Marcus Nolen (Fresno State) was sharp in the bottom of the third inning, drawing a walk, stealing a base, and coming around to score on a Kade Davis (UTSA) single.

The next arrival from the bullpen was Landon Marchetti (San Jose State), who threw two clean innings in the fourth and fifth to earn a much-needed respite for the Cats defence.

Things drew even once again in the bottom of the fifth thanks to Rohne Klein (San Jose State). The first baseman muscled a ball out to centre field to drive in a pair and tie the game at five runs each.

Rohne Klein (San Jose State) snapped his slump tonight with a clutch base hit. (Photo by Christian J. Stewart)

Flynn Warren (Hawaii Pacific) inherited the mound from Marchetti for the top of the seventh inning. Marchetti was lights out over three innings, allowing only a single hit and shredding through the Drifters’ lineup for five strikeouts. Warren found himself in a jam, loading the bases and letting four runs slip by to give the lead back to Springfield.

A grand slam for the Drifters in the top of the eighth broke the game wide open, bestowing a 14-5 lead upon the visitors. The Cats showed some life in the back half of inning the eighth, highlighted by a Logan Shepherd (Mercer) RBI triple, but the deficit proved insurmountable as Victoria eventually fell 18-9 in the series opener.

WCL STANDINGS

The Springfield series continues at 6:35 pm on Saturday night and concludes with a 1:05 pm Sunday matinee.

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Summer Collegiate

Victoria HarbourCats – Cats Lose Control of Game Three in Edmonton

Published

2 days ago

June 11, 2026

Dugout Wire Service

Victoria made four costly errors in this one to give Edmonton an advantage (Photo by JPM Photography)

Edmonton, AB – The HarbourCats were unable to complete the sweep, falling 9-5 to the Riverhawks on Thursday night.

Edmonton knocked Bryson Toner (Hawaii) around a little in the first three innings, but the right-hander stayed locked in and only let one run slip by on six hits.

BOX SCORE

The Cats returned fire in the top of the fourth, putting pressure on the Riverhawks defence to load the bases and score a run off the bat of Kade Davis (UTSA).

Easton Reimers (North Dakota State) entered the game with the score tied at one apiece, striking out two batters in the fourth inning to keep Victoria’s momentum going.

The Riverhawks made some noise in the fifth to take back control of the game, shaking down Reimers for four more runs and ending the inning with a 5-1 lead over the HarbourCats.

Tate Collins (Arkansas State) took the field for the Cats in the bottom of the sixth and wasted no time getting the job done, tossing a clean inning out of the pen.

The Cats were stricken with the error bug in inning number seven, coughing up a handful of runs as a result of some less-than-stellar defensive play.

Victoria loaded the bases with no outs in the top of the eighth and closed the distance with four more runs before inning’s end, but the comeback was unsuccessful en route to a 9-5 Edmonton victory.

With this series complete, the HarbourCats will be back in Victoria starting Friday night for a three-game series versus the Springfield Drifters.

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