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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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.

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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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.

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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