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Three-Run Inning Leads to Tight Loss for NightOwls

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NANAIMO, B.C. — One inning turned the tables — barely.

A three-run top of the fifth inning proved to be the difference on a beautiful Saturday night at historic Serauxmen Stadium, leading the Bellingham Bells to a hard-fought 4-3 road victory over the host Nanaimo NightOwls.

The Bells won despite managing just six hits off NightOwls pitching, with Nanaimo managing nine hits against the had-throwing Bellingham pitching staff.

A walk and eventually a bad-hop ground ball led to the three runs, which changed the score from a 2-1 Nanaimo lead to a 4-2 deficit. Caden Pearlman was strong in his start, followed by Kai Hanasaki, a very strong three innings from Jake Schumacher, and Paul Montgomery, with a scoreless inning to end it.

Errors in the top of the first inning led to the first Bellingham run, also a key moment in the game. Nanaimo made the game’s three errors.

Sammy Kahler was 2-4 with a double and a run, and Hsu He-Chieh was 2-4 with an RBI. The Nanaimo runs came in the second, third and sixth innings, in front of a crowd of 1301.  Hoah Hata and Drew Rutter also had doubles for the NightOwls.

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The NightOwls and Bells finish the series Sunday with a 1pm game at Serauxmen Stadium, with both teams in pursuit of a North Division playoff berth. The NightOwls are now 9-8 in the second half, two games back of Wenatchee, and sit 21-23 overall.

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Summer Collegiate

Victoria HarbourCats – Final Game of the Season Cancelled Due to Health Concerns

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Wenatchee, WA – While Wednesday’s matchup between the Victoria HarbourCats and Wenatchee AppleSox was originally intended to be the last HarbourCats action of the 2026 West Coast League season, the game has been cancelled due to unsafe conditions in Wenatchee created by wildfire smoke.

The outcome of the game would have no impact on the playoff seeding of any teams in the North Division, with Wenatchee already clinching the #1 seed and Victoria being eliminated from playoff contention. Ultimately, it was decided that the conditions were unsafe and the game would be cancelled for the safety of players, staff, and fans.

With the Wenatchee series now over, this brings the 2026 HarbourCats season to an end with a record of 26-26. We would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to all of our wonderful fans who showed such incredible support and brought an electric energy to HarbourCats baseball this season!

Stay tuned to our website and socials for info on renewing season tickets, as well as 12-pack and 32-pack flex packages for the 2027 season!

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Victoria HarbourCats – SIBL All-Stars Win Exhibition Clash

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A sold-out crowd gathered at Wilson’s Group Stadium at Royal Athletic Park for the final fireworks night of 2026. (Photo by JPM Photography)

Victoria, B.C. – The HarbourCats’ split squad and the SIBL All-Stars put on a show in a Monday night exhibition match, with the All-Stars taking a 10-8 victory after an explosive matchup.

The SIBL All-Stars jumped out to an early lead in this exhibition showdown, loading the bases and knocking in a couple of runs in the top of the first to take the upper hand. The away squad added another in the second inning on a sacrifice fly, pushing the lead to 3-0.

The HarbourCats launched an attempted counterattack in the bottom of the third, taking advantage of a shaky inning on the mound for the SIBL to run the bases full and score their first run. A strong sign of life, but still with some ground to make up for the visiting All-Stars.

The lead grew ever larger in the fourth inning, as the All-Stars scored two runs on a double and a wild pitch to make it a 6-1 ballgame. That production was backed up by former HarbourCat Flynn Ridley, who sliced and diced his way through the side in the fourth and fifth innings to keep the All-Stars well in front.

The HarbourCats stormed back with a parade of hits in the back half of the game and managed to tie it up in the bottom of the eighth with a two-out rally! Despite that effort to even the odds, the All-Stars threw a counter-punch in the top of the ninth in the form of two more runs, giving them the edge in a close 10-8 win.

Meanwhile, the HarbourCats’ A-squad fought tooth and claw in Wenatchee with a playoff spot still in the balance. Victoria was defeated 5-2 in the first contest of a three-game series and will give it their all on Tuesday night with the sands in the postseason hourglass draining.

WCL PLAYOFF PROCEDURES HERE

PLAYOFF TICKETS:  Should the HarbourCats clinch a playoff spot (which may not be determined until Wednesday), they would host Game 1 of the best of three Divisional Series on Friday August 7th at 6:35 PM.  Tickets for that series will NOT go on sale until a playoff position is confirmed.  Season Ticket holders will be e-mailed their tickets (if we clinch) on Thursday August 6th.

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Victoria HarbourCats – HarbourCats go quietly as Bells complete series sweep

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By Christian J. Stewart

August 2, 2026

Bellingham, WA –  Bellingham pitchers combined to limit the Victoria HarbourCats to just four hits in a 5-0 Bells win over the HarbourCats in West Coast League (WCL) action Sunday afternoon at Joe Martin Field in Bellingham.

FULL BOX SCORE

The loss gave the Bells a sweep of the three-game series and put a serious damper on the playoff aspirations of the HarbourCats, who now head to Wenatchee to finish the season against the league’s top team and needing at least two or three wins and help from others to secure a spot (more on that below).

The HarbourCats sent WCL Pitcher of the Year candidate Jeremiah Arnett to the mound in this one, but the Bells jumped on him early, scoring two runs in the bottom of the first on the strength of three hits, including a two-RBI double from Matt Churchill.

The Bells would score another in the third and two more in the eighth off Arnett, before he left the game and gave way to reliever Davis Lee.

Arnett did finish with four strikeouts to move his season total to 66, which is a new HarbourCats single-season team record.

In the meantime, Bellingham starter Kole Laubach (4 innings pitched) and David Wiser (5 innings pitched) were at the top of their game, allowing no runs on just the four HarbourCats hits, while striking out nine and walking only one.

Offensively for the Bells, Churchill led the way with two hits and three RBI, while Noah Cassie and Tyler Peshke also contributed a pair of hits to the winning effort.

PLAYOFF PICTURE
With the win last night and today, the Bells secure the second seed in the North and will host a first round match-up against whoever finishes third in the North.  At the moment, that team is Nanaimo, who defeated Port Angeles 8-0 to move their record to 28-23. Meanwhile, the Kelowna Falcons registered another comeback win (10-8) over Edmonton to move both of those teams to a record of 27-24 and dropping the Riverhawks into the fourth seed by virtue of holding the direct tie-break over the Falcons.  The HarbourCats, with the loss, drop to 26-25 and are effectively in sixth place at the moment.

So what’s next?  The HarbourCats travel to Wenatchee to play the AppleSox and will need at least two wins there, possibly three, to have a chance at grabbing the third or fourth seed.  The NightOwls will host the Kamloops NorthPaws and need at least one win, possibly two to clinch a spot. Kelowna travels to Port Angeles, where a couple of wins could secure their berth and Edmonton travels to Bellingham, where they will be in tough against the Bells, in the hopes of winning one or two to stay in their current playoff position.

Four teams, within two games of each other, with three games left to play….does it get any better than this?  The possibilities are endless and this author does not event want to attempt the math if there ends up being a four-way tie between these teams.

WCL PLAYOFF PROCEDURES HERE

PLAYOFF TICKETS:  Should  the HarbourCats clinch a playoff spot (which may not be determined until Wednesday), they would host Game 1 of the best of three Divisional Series on Friday August 7th at 6:35 PM.  Tickets for that series will NOT go on sale until a playoff position is confirmed.  Season Ticket holders will be e-mailed their tickets (if we clinch) on Thursday August 6th.

BC DAY FIREWORKS & FAN APPRECIATION NIGHT APPROACHING CAPACITY CROWD! 
Just a note that all reserved seating is effectively sold out for Monday’s fireworks and Fan Appreciation night, the final home game of the regular season. Select single reserved seats, general admission and some VIP area tickets are still available at harbourcats.com/tickets.  If you are holding general admission tickets for this game, gates open at 5:00 pm and you are advised to arrive early to get your best choice of seating.

VOUCHER HOLDERS
With all reserved seating sold out, ALL voucher holders wishing to attend Monday’s game will be issued general admission tickets.  Vouchers must be used Monday and can not be used for playoffs, or carried over into next season.

 

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