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 – HarbourCats to Honour Local Legendary Scout Walt Burrows on July 2

Published

8 hours ago

June 30, 2026

Dugout Wire Service

Burrows’ decades-long career included scouting some of the best prospects in baseball. (Photo credit: MLB.com)

Victoria, B.C. – For our money, he’s the best scout in Canadian baseball history – and the Victoria HarbourCats are pleased to recognize his (sort of) retirement.

Victoria-raised Walt Burrows, now the pride of Brentwood Bay, has seen all the greats going back decades and will be saluted before the game on Thursday, July 2, at Wilson’s Group Stadium at Royal Athletic Park (a place he knows well back to his fast-pitch playing days).

The gates open that night at 5:30pm, and the pre-game ceremonies before the 6:35pm first pitch will be all about Walt, who left the Minnesota Twins last fall after a long employment there. He is still active, having helped Canada at the World Baseball Classic this past spring, and now helping the Toronto Blue Jays on a part-time basis.

“Walt is among the most respected baseball people ever in Canada, his name and reputation have done so much for baseball in this country,” said Jim Swanson, Managing Partner of the HarbourCats.

That the game features the HarbourCats and island rival Nanaimo NightOwls is ideal – Burrows knows the regional battles well, and once named Nanaimo’s Serauxmen Stadium as the best baseball park in all of Canada. It has since been remodeled with the NightOwls and City of Nanaimo combining on significant improvements that modernized some areas but kept the historic feel of the stadium that was opened in 1975 by Mickey Mantle.

Burrows is also slated to be part of the 2026 Showpass West Coast League All-Star Festival on July 14-15, taking part in the Hot Stove event the evening of Tuesday, July 14 at the Strathcona Hotel, talking baseball as part of a panel involving other legendary baseball people in Marti Wolver, Gorman Heimueller and Todd Haney.

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 – Bells Overpower HarbourCats to Avoid Sweep

Published

2 days ago

June 28, 2026

Dugout Wire Service

The Cats scraped together just three hits this afternoon after totalling 28 in the last two games. (Photo by JPM Photography)

Victoria, B.C. – The HarbourCats came up short in the third game of the series, falling 10-2 to the visiting Bellingham Bells.

As the tradition seems to go in this series, the game stayed scoreless until the fourth inning. Power-hitting outfielder Rohne Klein (San Jose State) got his pitch and didn’t miss, launching a two-run rocket between the derby wickets in right field to take the lead for the Cats.

BOX SCORE

Klein’s fellow San Jose State ballplayer Landon Marchetti made in impact in his second start of the season, going four innings with just one hit and four strikeouts to keep the Bells in check. Marchetti was tagged out for Easton Reimers (North Dakota State) who gave up a solo home run in the top of the fifth.

Despite loading the bases after that homer, Reimers was able to bear down and pick up a clutch strikeout to stride back to the dugout with the lead intact. Determined not to let another run by on his watch, Reimers returned to the mound for the top of the sixth and powered through a scoreless frame. Bellingham would not be denied, however, as they sent one deep in the top of the seventh to take a 5-2 lead.

Landon Marchetti kept things clean in his four-inning start, allowing one hit and no runs. (Photo by JPM Photography)

That go-ahead homer from the visitors introduced the need for a new pitcher, namely Tate Collins (Arkansas State) of Little Rock, Arkansas. Collins gave up a 2-RBI double to extend Bellingham’s lead to 7-2. Right-handed sidewinder Pierce Stone (Regis) appeared on the mound in the top of inning the eighth, walking one batter and allowing a single to set the stage for a three-run dinger from the Bells.

Flynn Warren (Hawaii Pacific) tossed a scoreless top of the ninth out of the pen, but Victoria’s offence went down quietly in their last chance at the plate, giving up the chance at a series sweep with a 10-2 loss.

WCL STANDINGS

With their clash with the Bells complete, the Cats will regroup tomorrow before hosting the Nanaimo NightOwls on Tuesday night at 6:35 pm for the first of a three-game set.

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Summer Collegiate

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

Published

3 days 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.

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