Summer Collegiate

NorthPaws take two of three in Edmonton

Published

1 year ago

June 16, 2023

Dugout Wire Service

Author: Larry Read

EDMONTON, AB—Saying his team matured a lot over three games, Kamloops NorthPaws manager Keith Francis saw his squad take two of three West Coast League contests against the host Edmonton RiverHawks.

Kamloops won the third game of midweek series with a 10-5 shellacking of the RiverHawks on Thursday (June 15th) at ReMAX Field.

This followed a 8-4 victory on Wednesday (June 14) and a 4-1 loss to the RiverHawks on Tuesday (June 13).

Kamloops improved it’s record to 4-8 while Edmonton drops to 3-9.

Kamloops had to take the long way to the Alberta capital for this series going through Calgary due to forest fires in Northwestern Alberta. The Paws had 23 players on the trip but had the number of available players dwindle to 21 due to illness.

Cooper Neville (Glendale, AZ) has moved atop of the batting average leaders for Kamloops. He is slugging .326 with six runs batted in and 14 hits. Hayden Walker (Albuquerque, NM) is tied for second in the West Coast league in Earned Run Average. He is at 0.75 with a record of 1-0 and 13 strikeouts in 12 innings of work.

The NorthPaws finished Thursday’s encounter and immediately got on the bus and headed back to the Dearborn Ford Field at Norbrock Stadium to kick off a six game homestand. It begins tomorrow (Friday June 16th) as the Port Angeles Lefties pay a visit to Kamloops. The Lefties and the NorthPaws will play three in a row before a day off.

The RiverHawks stay at home to play three in a row against the Nanaimo Night Owls.

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

SERIES RECAP:

Tuesday, June 13, 2023-Edmonton RiverHawks 4 Kamloops NorthPaws 1

In a battle of two teams with identical records (2-7), the RiverHawks downed the NorthPaws. The attendance was tabbed as 3550. Kamloops led 1-0 after a half inning as Shortstop Cooper Neville singled and scored on an RBI double off the bat of Jude Hall (Chilliwack, BC). Neville was two for four on the night. Centerfielder Hall wound up one for four with an RBI.

The RiverHawks evened things up in the third and added single runs in the fifth, seventh and ninth innings. Halen Knoll (Edmonton, AB) was the winning pitcher as he went eight innings giving up five hits, striking out eight and walking two. He is now 1-1 on the year. Shaun Atamanchuk (Beaumont, AB) pitched the last inning earning the save. He had one strikeout. It was his first save of the campaign.

New Zealander Maclain Roberts took the loss. He pitched seven innings giving up three runs, five hits, walking three and striking out two. He is 0-2 on the year. Manny Recchi (Kamloops, BC) pitched the last inning, giving up two hits and an earned run.

Designated hitter Tommy Takayoshi (Spanaway, WA) was three for four with a run batted in.

Link to Scoresheet: http://baseball.pointstreak.com/boxscore.html?gameid=598579

Wednesday, June 14, 2023-Kamloops NorthPaws 8 Edmonton NightHawks 4

Rebounding a few hours from the game one defeat, the two teams played a day game at Re-Max field. Kamloops chalked up their first road victory of the 2023 season. It was “School Day” in Edmonton and over 76 hundred people were on hand at Re-Max field.

It was the NightHawks who led 2-0 after the first inning and were up 3-2 until the sixth inning when Kamloops scored four runs on three hits.

Matthew Romero (Albuquerque, NM) pitched four innings of relief to garner his first win of the season. He surrendered five hits, one run, struck out two and walked one. He came on in relief of starter Tyrelle Chadwick (Kamloops, BC) who pitched five innings of four hit ball. He struck out three, gave up three runs and walked three.

The third of four Edmonton pitchers—Heath Hachkowski (Red Deer, AB) was tagged with the loss to fall to 1-2 on the year. Hachkowski went two thirds of an inning giving up three runs, two hits, walking one and striking out one.

Offensively, Kamloops was again led by Hall and Neville. Hall scored four runs and was two for three. Neville had a double in that eighth inning. He was three for four with two runs batted in and a run scored. Left fielder Landon Clark (Fortville, IN) went two for four with two runs batted in and a run scored. He had a single in that eighth.

For Edmonton, designated hitter Takayoshi was their main offensive weapons going two for four with two RBI.

Link to Scoresheet: http://baseball.pointstreak.com/boxscore.html?gameid=598580

Thursday, June 15, 2023-Kamloops NorthPaws 10 Edmonton RiverHawks 5

Moss Adams Pitcher of the Week Griffin Almond (Thornbury, ON) recorded his second win of the WCL season pitching three and a third innings. He gave up three hits, two runs, walked four and struck out one before being relieved by Christian Spitz (Overland Park, KA).

Spitz tossed five and a third innings. He gave up three runs on six hits, struck out four and walked four. He was replaced by David Jeon (Coppell, TX) who went a third of an inning.

Offensively, Kamloops was led by Jared Sucro (Kamloops, BC), Neville and Hall. Sucro was two for five with two runs batted in and a run scored. Neville was three for five with two runs batted in and two runs scored. Hall was one for three with two runs batted in and a run scored.

Edmonton was led by catcher Takayoshi who was two for five. Will Gardner (St. Albert, AB) was two for four with a run scored and a run batted in. Daniel Calabrese (Hurst, TX) was one for three with an RBI and a run scored.

RiverHawk starter Chase Wheatley (Edmonton, AB) went three innings. He gave up four runs (three earned), walked four and struck out six. The loss was his first of the year.

Link to Scoresheet: http://baseball.pointstreak.com/boxscore.html?gameid=598581

HEAD COACH KEITH FRANCIS:

On the series:

“We grew up a lot this weekend. There as all kinds of adversity beginning with the long trip here. We lost players due to sickness, there were times when we were down. But I couldn’t be prouder of these guys. After having only five hits against Corvallis, we rectified things in a hurry-especially in the last two games “(The NorthPaws had 18 hits in both victories over Edmonton).

Props for Sucro:

“He was definitely our unsung hero. He caught the last part of the opening games along with the next two games after Adge got sick. He told me he was up for the challenge and proved it with two hits today and two runs batted in.”

NEXT UP FOR THE NORTHPAWS:

The NorthPaws get on the bus and head back to the Dearborn Ford Field at Norbrock Stadium to kick off a six game homestand. It begins tomorrow (Friday, June 16th)) as the Port Angeles Lefties pay a visit to Kamloops. The Lefties and the NorthPaws will play three in a row before Kamloops gets a day off. . Kamloops took four of six games against the Lefties last year including 6-5 and 7-4 at home. They were played June 24-25, 2022.

The RiverHawks stay at home to play three in a row against the Nanaimo Night Owls.

Edmonton will pay a visit to Kamloops for three games beginning July 11th.

PLAYERS TO WATCH ON PORT ANGELES:

BY Choi-SS/3B (South Korea) Dallas Baptist University

Roberto Nunez Infield (Salinas, CA) Embry-Riddle U. leads team in hitting .390 with16 hits and 9 RBI

Kander Koester Left Field (Chanute, KC) Neosho Country CC is second in hitting .345 with 4 RBI and two doubles

If you can’t make the 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 operating 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 North Paws tickets: ticketing@northpawsbaseball.ca

West Coast League: westcoastleague.com.

Source

Summer Collegiate

NightOwls get the call for International Events

Published

4 days ago

October 18, 2024

Dugout Wire Service

Righthanded pitcher Moosa Nonomiya, a 2024 Owl from Skagit Valley College, is a Japanese resident but his grandmother was from Pakistan, so he is going to be playing for Pakistan in Dubai in November at the Baseball United Arab Classic.

The tournament features nine teams, including India, Palestine, UAE and Pakistan, and is the top competitive event in the history of the Middle East and South Asia.

Nonomiya is also an outfielder for Skagit. Last summer, he started three games and made seven appearances in his 13.2 innings of work — and he has added velocity this fall after strong developmental work with NightOwls pitching coach Gorm Heimueller.

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Summer Collegiate

Nanaimo Boy Returns Home To Lead The NightOwls

Published

6 days ago

October 17, 2024

Dugout Wire Service

A local product is coming home to historic Serauxmen Stadium.

Cody Andreychuk, currently the Head Coach of the University of Pikeville (NAIA, Pikeville, Kentucky), has been named the new top coach with the West Coast League’s Nanaimo NightOwls. He assumes the post immediately.

“Cody is a perfect fit in so many ways to fill the role with Greg Frady stepping down last week,” said General Manager Tina Cornett. “We obviously love that he’s from Nanaimo and will connect with the community very well, but he has a track record of developing players and winning games and will bring that local pride to the NightOwls.”

Andreychuk, who has a degree in Sports Management and a Masters in Business Administration, resides in Pikeville with his daughter Harper.

“I’m grateful and humbled for the opportunity to be the next baseball coach for the Nanaimo NightOwls, and I’d like to thank Jim Swanson and the ownership group for believing in a local guy to come in and lead this program at historic Serauxmen Stadium,” said Andreychuk, 32.

“My daughter and I are excited to be back home on the island for the summer and I look forward to meeting all the fans throughout the season.”

Andreychuk has been head coach at UPike since July of 2021, and his Bears team posted a 30-19 record this past spring. Prior to that, he was at Lindsey Wilson College as both assistant and head coach, and served as an assistant at UPike in 2016 and 2017.

Andreychuk knows summer collegiate baseball well — he was hitting coach and camps coordinator for the Hyannis Harbor Hawks of the Cape Cod League, the top collegiate summer baseball league.

“Growing up in Nanaimo and playing baseball through the Nanaimo Minor Baseball Association still to this day are some of the most special memories I cherish. I hope we can impact the youth the same way I was impacted growing up playing baseball in Nanaimo.”

Andreychuk is certainly not a stranger to the WCL. In addition to supplying strong UPike players to WCL teams — Riley Paulino and Richtter Castillo among those to be NightOwls — he played for the Kelowna Falcons in 2013, posting a .298 average in 33 games, driving in 17 runs. He played collegiately for the VIU Mariners, and with Tusculum Pioneers of the South Atlantic College before embarking on his coaching career. He batted .437 over 29 games in his first year at Tusculum, with two home runs and 29 RBIs. With VIU, he set records for batting average and triples.

His younger brother Griffin was a star with the Victoria HarbourCats, playing three seasons and having his number retired at Wilson’s Group Stadium at Royal Athletic Park. He helped lead the HarbourCats to a then-league record 40-14 record in 2016, a team that set a WCL mark with 19 straight victories.

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Summer Collegiate

Frady steps down as NightOwls Head Coach

Published

1 week ago

October 15, 2024

Dugout Wire Service

It will be more than a little odd to not see Greg Frady in the Nanaimo NightOwls dugout next summer.

The veteran college and international coach has stepped down as Head Coach of the West Coast League team after three seasons of dedication to setting a strong culture with the Nanaimo NightOwls.

The search for a new Head Coach is expected to be completed shortly and even announced this coming week.

“Greg was our first coach, and his classy way of interacting with the community and leading our players and coaches will never be forgotten,” said Jim Swanson, Managing Partner.

“He set the tone for teams that performed well on the field, and handled themselves with tremendous class on and off the field — he set a professional tone for the NightOwls and was respected by the players and people around the league. We have been blessed to have someone I consider a close friend as our head coach.”

Frady, 61, and his wife Rhonda spent three summers in the Harbour City, enjoying the perfect weather and endless scenery. Frady, a US Open pickleball champion, gave back in many ways but one of them was to hold skills clinics with Nanaimo pickleball players, where he was always smiling and teaching.

Frady had the team in playoff contention all three years, alive for a spot the final week of the expansion 2022 season, and within a couple games of the top eight playoff spots in 2023 and 2024. The last two seasons, the NightOwls finished ninth overall in the 16-team WCL — and eight teams advance. Players selected in the MLB draft from those teams include Elijah Ickes (2023) and Connor Caskenette (2024).

Frady led the expansion edition to a 22-32 record, with a late shot to win the North Division second half, and then posted identical 26-28 marks in 2023 and 2024, for an overall mark of 74-88.

The Fradys have endured some exciting times in the last three years, including the wedding of daughter Bailey, and engagement of son Riley. They also, like all Floridians, have seen hurricanes make a mess of their lives and homes the last few years — Hurricane Ian did damage to their Port Charlotte home two years ago, and Hurricane Milton was a direct hit this past week, leaving the Fradys to deal with damage over the next while, and leading to the decision to let the NightOwls install a new Head Coach.

“We thank Greg and Rhonda — they are tremendous people, and they will always have so many friends in the mid-Island area,” said Swanson.

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