Summer Collegiate
Victoria HarbourCats – Cats complete sweep with dominant win
Jack Johnson’s three hit night raised his batting average to .303 on the season (Photo: Justin P. Morash)
July 31, 2025
For immediate release
VICTORIA, B.C. – The Victoria HarbourCats took care of business this week, completing the sweep of the Kamloops NorthPaws with a resounding 18-3 win Thursday night.
Austin Lindsey (Hill College) has been a constant out of the bullpen this season, making 11 appearances, but was tasked with the start tonight. The first three batters he faced all reached, but he escaped the bases-loaded jam, limiting the damage to just one run.
Jai Berezowski (Golden Tide) levelled it up for the Cats at 1-1 in the second inning on a sacrifice fly.
Lindsay was rolling after the shaky start, retiring six in a row before a bang-bang play at first was called safe to extend the third inning. A stolen base put the runner in scoring position for Matthew MacDonald, who restored the visitors’ one-run advantage, making it 2-1 with a single. The Lufkin, Texas native completed three innings, giving up two runs on five hits, while striking out five and walking none.
The HarbourCats bats started to come alive in the third inning when Logan Shepherd (Mercer U) tied the game at two with an RBI double to the gap. He then came home on a Kamana Nahaku (Hawaii) RBI single to give the Cats their first lead of the evening. Nahaku scored on a wild pitch later in the frame to double the lead, making it 4-2.
Kamana Nahaku has 16 RBIs in nine games this season (Photo: Justin P. Morash)
In the fourth inning, Jack Johnson (Tulane U) crushed a two-run home run over the left field fence to extend his team’s advantage to 6-2, his fourth of the campaign.
The NorthPaws made it 6-3 through a Jared Hall double in the top of the fifth inning, but the home team then exploded for eight runs in the bottom half. Jake Butler (George Mason) continued to torment Kamloops pitching, driving in a pair with a double to the gap to make it 8-3. Dominic Archila (Texas Tech) recorded an RBI for the second straight night with a single before Shepherd and Nahaku both drew bases-loaded walks to bring home two more runs. Garrett Brooks (St. Mary’s) plated a pair with a single up the middle before Butler recorded his second hit of the inning, this time an RBI single to cap off the huge inning.
Declan Brown (Ottawa U) came off the bench for Victoria and hit his first home run as a cat, a solo shot in the seventh, extending the lead to 15-3. Tanner Beltowski’s (Westmont College) second hit of the game was a two-run double down the left field line, pushing the lead to 17-3.
Butler hit another RBI double in the eighth inning for his fifth RBI of the game and seventh of the series.
Dustin Davidson (Freed Hardeman), Tristin Thomas (West Texas A&M), and Ethan McNish-Heider (Niagara) all pitched in relief to close out the 18-3 win.
Garrett Brooks recorded a season high of four hits and also scored four times (Photo: Justin P. Morash)
With this sweep, the HarbourCats stay top of the North Division second-half standings with a 16-5 record. The Edmonton Riverhawks are still just one game back after they completed a sweep of the Nanaimo NightOwls with a walk-off win tonight.
The HarbourCats travel down to Port Angeles tomorrow for the final road series of the season. Friday and Saturday are 6:35 PM first pitches while Sunday is a 1:35 PM afternoon start. Watch the games HERE.
VOUCHER REMINDER: The Victoria HarbourCats only have three remaining home dates this season. A doubleheader on Monday, August 4, that starts at 4:05 PM, and evening games Tuesday, August 5, and Wednesday, August 6. Don’t forget to redeem your vouchers. You can do so at harbourcats.com/tickets, and if you have any questions or need help exchanging your vouchers, call the HarbourCats office at (778) 265 0327.
10 Game Flex Passes and Single Game Tickets are on sale for all home games and “Showcase” events through the HarbourCats’ one-and-only ticketing partner SHOWPASS at harbourcats.com/tickets.
Tickets and merchandise can also be purchased in person at the HarbourCats office at 101-1814 Vancouver Street or by calling 778-265-0327.
For more updates, be sure to follow @HarbourCats on all social channels (Facebook, Twitter and Instagram).
Dillon Lopez celebrates his walk-off base hit that gave Victoria a 10-9 win over the Kelowna Falcons last July 12 (Photo: Justin Morash)
April 7, 2026
Story by Norm LeBus
Photos by Justin Morash
At 11 years old, I was five foot seven and almost as wide, so catcher or right field was the best guess in Little League. A late growth spurt and affinity for Gram’s baking meant I didn’t move very quickly, but I did take up a lot of space.
Squatting with a cage on my head, I closed my eyes when I saw a club swing overhead. Then a ball hit me right in the chest protector.
“Maybe join the outfielders,” coach said.
That was 1970.
I’ve always had a respect for catchers. A crouched blend of courage and mule stubbornness, donning and shedding protective amour between innings. Kind of a point guard in the summer heat, bending to a kneel then standing dozens of times a game, guiding eight on-field players into place and counseling shaky pitchers.
So, it’s validating to hear catching feels exactly like it looks.
“When I started, I’d be sore for a couple days after catching games,” Dillon Lopez says.
“I guess over time you kind of get used to hurting all the time. You get used to your body feeling not one hundred percent and you kind of roll with it.”
Lopez, 21, is currently a junior at NCAA Div 1 program St Mary’s University in San Antonio, his hometown. Lopez joined the Cats late in 2025, arriving July 1 after the team’s starting catcher, Jacob Silva, injured his toe sliding into a base in Kelowna.
“If Dillon had arrived earlier, he no doubt would have been one of our all-star selections,” Harbourcats GM Christian Stewart contends. “He’s just a guy you can send up to the plate with confidence and put behind the dish with confidence to handle any of our pitchers.”
Lopez, 5-10 and about 200 pounds, is kind of built for the job.
Dillon Lopez salutes the crowd after his walk-off base hit gave the Cats a dramatic 10-9 win over the Kelowna Falcons last July 12th (Photo: Justin Morash).
In the WCL, you’re crouched behind home plate in about seven pounds of armour, in what amounts to the engine room. Two opposing forces are trying to collide: a hickory or birch bat whirls past your ear at almost 100 miles an hour as a ball’s incoming at close to the same velocity. When the two intersect, it’s game action: foul ball or in-play on the diamond.
But most of the game, the ball lands in the catcher’s mitt for balls and strikes.
“It doesn’t come too close to my head,” Lopez says of the bat. “But it does come pretty close to my glove. All I try to do is focus on catching the ball.”
Every inch of the catcher is protected, including their throat. It’s kind of a dangerous place. And catchers need to keep it calm in the eye of the storm.
“We’re more of a coach on the field,” Lopez says. “We see everything and we keep everybody in check and remind everybody what they have to do.”
My right field recollections were a lot of daydreaming punctuated by one or maybe two fly balls a game and less grounders.
Not so if you play catcher.
“I love catching because I’m always in the game and helps me stay locked in on what ‘s going on,” Lopez says. “If definitely takes a lot of focus and some homework, understanding batters’ swings and their tendencies.
Lopez is also an outstanding hitter. Arriving July 1 last season, he played 24 games and hit .350 with four doubles, three home runs and 18 RBI.
Currently back in San Antonio for his junior year at St Mary’s University, Lopez is hitting .362 with eight dingers and 43 RBI in 35 games this spring.
Lopez is also outstanding in the classroom as a three-time conference honour roll student in his field of sport science.
And he’s a student of the game, studying both his swing and his catching form on video most nights during the season, ensuring his fundamentals don’t stray.
“Your swing can change slightly during the season,” he explains. “There’s mental fatigue and body fatigue and you have to push through the fog, stay true to fundamentals and not chase little fixes that up end altering the foundation.”
The last year has been a huge challenge for Lopez outside the lines. Three months before he joined the Cats in 2025, Lopez lost a family member after a lengthy illness.
Dillon Lopez should be a steady influence behind the plate for the HarbourCats again in 2026 (Photo: Christian J. Stewart)
His St Mary’s teammate, Garret Brooks, who also arrived in Victoria at the beginning of July, was instrumental at the start.
“He definitely helped me out with getting in there and getting situated,” Lopez recalls. “We hung out with a lot of the guys and kind of got to fit in a little bit, especially when it’s the middle of summer and everybody’s already used to each other.”
It didn’t hurt that both players made immediate impacts: Brooks hit .343 with six doubles and 13 RBI in 20 games; Lopez homered three times with 18 RBI, four doubles and hit .350 in 21 games.
Through 30 games in the current NCAA season that began in February, both players are rolling at St Mary’s: both are hitting well above .300 with a combined 12 homers and 63 RBI.
And when the calendar hits June, Lopez plans to be behind home plate for the first pitch.
“I feel like it should be much better transition wise,” Lopez says. “I get to experience opening day and get the fans to kind of know me a bit more than a new face.
“It’s exciting. I’m looking forward to winning a lot of games.”
Lopez and the HarbourCats begin their 2026 season on May 29th with a visit to Portland and then return to Victoria for the Home Opener against the Edmonton Riverhawks on Tuesday, June 2, 6:30 pm.
Season tickets, single-game tickets, 12 and 32-game flex packs and 2026 All-Star Game ticket packages are now on sale at harbourcats.com/tickets or at the HarbourCats office at 1814 Vancouver Street.
NightOwls go California Dreaming — more arms for Coach Gorm
– Pitching coach Gorm Heimueller, going into his 50th year in the game, will have a lot to work with for mound duties this season.
The Nanaimo NightOwls are pleased to announce the signing of some top-end pitching for the 2026 WCL campaign, and all of those locked in on paperwork today hail from the State of California — which happens to be where Gorm is originally from.
To help Heimueller have a memorable 50th year in baseball, the NightOwls are proud to add these pitchers to his 2026 meeting room:
RHP Jacob Badillo, Cal State-LA, 6-0/180, Lancaster CA
RHP Anthony Cosme, Cal Poly-Pomona, 6-0/208, Inglewood CA
RHP Jacob Alvarez, Orange Coast College, 61-/215, Bellflower CA
RHP Chase Cummins, Cerra Coso CC, 6-0/168, Santa Maria CA
Badillo comes from the same school that provided 2025 starter Lino Zepeda, an effective starter for Heimueller’s staff. As a freshman, Badillo has made five appearances including three starts for Cal State LA so far this spring, posting his first collegiate win.
Cosme has spent time as the Friday Night Starter for Cal Poly, a physical pitcher who runs his fastball up to 93. He was the opening game starter for Cal Poly as a freshman, and went on to make 11 starts and was named the school’s freshman male athlete of the year, walking only 17 batters in nearly 60 innings pitched.
Alvarez is at junior college powerhouse program Orange Coast College, on the same team as recent signee Alan Choo (1B/DH, son of former MLB all-star Shin-Soo Choo). Alvarez already has six appearances this spring, including a start, an innings-eater for Orange Coast with nearly a strikeout per inning.
Cummins is a submariner, a whippy arm and a useful bullpen tool to mix things up — a sophomore who has given up just one hit in his last two outings and is striking out a batter per inning. He had 24 innings of work last summer for Swift Current in the WCBL, so this will be his second summer spent north of the border.
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