The West Coast League’s 2025 regular season schedule has been announced, and the new Head Coach, a product of the Nanaimo system, can start to plan all the details needed to make the playoffs and a run at the WCL championship.
The NightOwls will open at home in 2025, on Friday, May 30, vs. the Bellingham Bells, the start of a three-game series at historic Serauxmen Stadium that continues with games Saturday night and Sunday afternoon.
The team again plans a Canada Day fireworks show on the evening of July 1, with the arch rival Victoria HarbourCats as the opposition.
General Manager Tina Cornett and staff are already working on promotional dates that will span the entire season, giving extra reasons for fans to enjoy the sunshine, the down-home concessions and the outstanding baseball played in the WCL.
The NightOwls will play 27 road games, 27 regular season home games, and no fewer than five additional home games against non-league opponents, including the Caged Athletics Selects — a home city series that has been popular since the start of the NightOwls, with games on either side of the WCL all-star game.
Nanaimo’s fabled park will see visits from Bellingham, Victoria, Kelowna, Kamloops, Port Angeles, Wenatchee, and the first-ever visit by the South Division powerhouse Corvallis Knights.
The regionalized WCL schedule NightOwls will make road trips to division rivals Victoria, Bellingham, Kamloops, Kelowna, Edmonton, Wenatchee and Port Angeles.
May 30th: Bellingham Bells – HOME May 31st: Bellingham Bells – HOME June 1st: Bellingham Bells – HOME June 3rd: Port Angeles Lefties – AWAY June 4th: Port Angeles Lefties – AWAY June 5th: Port Angeles Lefties – AWAY June 6th: Wenatchee AppleSox – HOME June 7th: Wenatchee AppleSox – HOME June 8th: Wenatchee AppleSox – HOME June 10th: Victoria HarbourCats – HOME June 11th: Victoria HarbourCats – HOME June 12th: Victoria HarbourCats – AWAY June 13th: Kelowna Falcons – AWAY June 14th: Kelowna Falcons – AWAY June 15th: Kelowna Falcons – AWAY June 17th: Victoria HarbourCats – AWAY June 18th: Victoria HarbourCats – AWAY June 19th: Victoria HarbourCats – AWAY June 20th: Port Angeles Lefties – HOME June 21st: Port Angeles Lefties – HOME June 22nd: Port Angeles Lefties – HOME June 27th: Edmonton Riverhawks – HOME June 28th: Edmonton Riverhawks – HOME June 29th: Edmonton Riverhawks – HOME July 1st: Victoria HarbourCats – HOME July 2nd: Victoria HarbourCats – AWAY July 3rd: Victoria HarbourCats – AWAY July 4th: Edmonton Riverhawks – AWAY July 5th: Edmonton Riverhawks – AWAY July 6th: Edmonton Riverhawks – AWAY July 8th: Kelowna Falcons – HOME July 9th: Kelowna Falcons – HOME July 10th: Kelowna Falcons – HOME July 11th: Wenatchee AppleSox – HOME July 12th: Wenatchee AppleSox – HOME July 13th: Wenatchee AppleSox – HOME July 18th: Wenatchee AppleSox – AWAY July 19th: Wenatchee AppleSox – AWAY July 20th: Wenatchee AppleSox – AWAY July 22nd: Corvallis Knights – HOME July 23rd: Corvallis Knights – HOME July 24th: Corvallis Knights – HOME July 25th: Kamloops NorthPaws – AWAY July 26th: Kamloops NorthPaws – AWAY July 27th: Kamloops NorthPaws – AWAY July 29th: Edmonton Riverhawks – AWAY July 30th: Edmonton Riverhawks – AWAY July 31st: Edmonton Riverhawks – AWAY Aug 1st: Kamloops NorthPaws – HOME Aug 2nd: Kamloops NorthPaws – HOME Aug 3rd: Kamloops NorthPaws – HOME Aug 4th: Bellingham Bells – AWAY Aug 5th: Bellingham Bells – AWAY Aug 6th: Bellingham Bells – AWAY
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
The Springfield series continues at 6:35 pm on Saturday night and concludes with a 1:05 pm Sunday matinee.
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.
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.
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.
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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