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 Smother NightOwls for 5-2 Win

Published

13 hours ago

July 21, 2026

Dugout Wire Service

Solid offence in the early stages of the game led to an important game one win. (Photo by Christian J. Stewart)

Nanaimo, B.C. – The HarbourCats kicked off the Nanaimo series the right way with a 5-2 win over their hosts, the Nanaimo NightOwls.

BOX SCORE

It didn’t take long for the HarbourCats to put themselves in front, battling with two outs to take the lead in the top of the first. Two walks and a single loaded the bases with two away, and a couple of passed balls opened the door for both Logan Shepherd (Mercer) and Rohne Klein (San Jose State) to score. The Cats came back and tacked on another in the second inning with a Bryan Bradshaw (UCSD) sac fly and would then load the bases up again in the third, scoring another run by way of a walk from Cameron Chee-Aloy (Illinois).

While the bats were heating up, starting pitcher Shea Lake (West Texas A&M) held up his end of the bargain and then some. In the four innings he oversaw, Lake notched seven strikeouts and denied Nanaimo any hits at all, putting up a zero in the run column. Houston Tomlinson of Arkansas State covered for Lake in the fifth and continued his legacy, striking out two in a clean inning on the mound.

Dillon Lopez was active on the scoresheet in this one, going 2/4 with a walk. (Photo by Christian J. Stewart)

Jacob Silva (UTSA) began the top of the sixth frame with a display of power, slinging a ball over the right field wall to extend the lead. The NightOwls had no answer in the home half of the inning, as Tomlinson continued to shut them down.

Nanaimo finally found their first hit of the ballgame in the top of the seventh inning, a double socked over the centre fielder Chee-Aloy to leadoff the bottom of the frame. Tomlinson got himself into a bit of a pickle with the bases loaded, which Nanaimo capitalized on to score their first two runs. Shea Lake’s West Texas A&M teammate Tristin Thomas was next out of the bullpen with the bases full. Unfazed by the pressure, Thomas struck out both batters he faced to preserve the lead.

Nathan Mueller (Texas A&M Corpus Christi) was summoned to finish the job in the ninth inning and did just that, locking in after a leadoff single and getting a double play and a strikeout to end the game.

WCL STANDINGS

The HarbourCats and NightOwls will gear up for a rematch on Wednesday night, with Victoria gunning for the series win.

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.

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Summer Collegiate

Victoria HarbourCats – Cats Defeated by AppleSox in Game Three

Published

3 days ago

July 19, 2026

Dugout Wire Service

The HarbourCats have been kept quiet in two straight games after a powerful offensive showing in game one. (Photo by JPM Photography)

Victoria, B.C. – In a winner-take-all matchup against the Wenatchee AppleSox, Victoria’s bats came up short, falling 3-1 to the visiting AppleSox and losing the series.

The AppleSox claimed the first advantage in game three of this head-to-head series, rocking a rare double off of Erik Rico (Fresno State) and cashing in the run for a 1-0 lead in the top of the first.

BOX SCORE

It wasn’t until the top of the fifth when Wenatchee would add on, smashing a two-run homer with two outs in the top of the fifth. That bomb ended the outing for Rico, who gave up three runs today on five hits and notched nine strikeouts. Leif Friedrich (Concordia-Nebraska) took his place and finished off the inning

The HarbourCats finally got themselves on the board in the bottom of the eighth, with a costly Wenatchee error allowing Lukas Le Gras (Westmont) to score from second. Michael Rodda (Palomar) got on base due to the error, but ended up being stranded by a popup to end the inning.

Davis Lee hit the ground running to retire the side in the top of the ninth. (Photo by JPM Photography)

Friedrich ended up going a solid 3.1 innings, allowing just two baserunners and striking out three. He was swapped out for Davis Lee (Calgary) prior to the top of the ninth, and Lee worked quickly and carefully to retire the side and get two strikeouts of his own.

The HarbourCats offence struggled tonight, coming up with only one run. Logan Shepherd (Mercer) and Declan Brown (Ottawa University) both walked in the bottom of the ninth to get the tying run on base, but Victoria was unable to capitalize with runners on and eventually dropped the rubber match of the series 3-1.

WCL STANDINGS

After an off-day tomorrow, the Cats will head up island to Nanaimo for a three-game weekday series before returning home for the weekend.

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.

Source

Summer Collegiate

Victoria HarbourCats – AppleSox Surge Back Late to Tie Series

Published

3 days ago

July 19, 2026

Dugout Wire Service

The Cats got off to a hot start but fell behind in the late stages of the game. (Photo by Christian J. Stewart)

Victoria, B.C – The second game of this head-to-head series swung the other way, with Wenatchee taking a 7-2 victory over the HarbourCats.

BOX SCORE

It was home run derby champion Logan Shepherd that got things started tonight! The Mercer University infielder yanked a smooth line drive to the pull side to cash in Bryan Bradshaw (UCSD) from second and claim a 1-0 in the bottom of the first inning.

Both sides’ bats fell silent until the home half of the fourth, which Rohne Klein (San Jose State) led off. Klein only needed to see one pitch before absolutely detonating a fastball and sending it far, far over the opposite field wall at an unofficially measured distance of about a million feet.

Quincey Brown (UCSD) exited the game after an absolute gem of a start. The Seattle-born freshman went five innings without giving up a run, and refused to even allow a single baserunner over the last four. Daniel Tovar (Northern Kentucky) took over for him in the sixth, and his first inning of work went off without a hitch as the AppleSox were felled in order.

Quincey Brown added another exquisite start to his 2026 resume. (Photo by Christian J. Stewart)

Tovar’s next frame wasn’t so quick and easy. The AppleSox found the right pitch and blasted it over the fence for a solo shot, cutting the Cats’ lead in half in the top of the seventh. The predicament grew when a few consecutive singles loaded the bases and two more runs scored on an error and a balk. When the dust settled on a chaotic seventh inning, Wenatchee found themselves up by one.

Carson Ackermann (Tacoma) was chosen to toe the slab in the eighth inning, and he let up a sacrifice fly that put the AppleSox up by two with one inning left to go. The right-hander returned for the ninth and Wenatchee got to him once again, bashing a two-run triple for a 7-2 lead.

Rohne Klein flexed his power with an oppo homer in the fourth. (Photo by Christian J. Stewart)

Try as they might, the HarbourCats could not recover from the AppleSox’ late-game onslaught, dropping the middle game of the three-game set by a score of 7-2.

WCL STANDINGS

The decider between Victoria and Wenatchee takes place tomorrow with first pitch scheduled for 3:05 pm.

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