Summer Collegiate

Victoria HarbourCats – ‘Cats Crush Falcons 12-2 In Front of Packed House and Clinch Playoff Position

Published

3 years ago

July 30, 2023

Dugout Wire Service

Photos by: Christian J. Stewart

Story by: Micah Collins

Victoria, BC – The Victoria HarbourCats defeated the Kelowna Falcons in a convincing 11-2 victory, clinching a spot in the 2023 West Coast League Playoffs Saturday night, at Wilson’s Group Stadium at Royal Athletic Park.

It was a slow start for both teams early on, scoreless for both teams through two innings. The floodgates started to open for the HarbourCats thanks to an RBI triple from who fans call “the magic man”, Ryan Magdic.

The ‘Cats then extended their lead to three with a double from second baseman Marco Pirruccello sending Russell Young and Lane Brewster to home plate.

Despite a slow offensive outing for the Falcons, outfielder Griffin Palfrey hit a solo home run to left field at the top of the fifth, the only hit for the Falcons Saturday night, extending his hits to 30 this season. Kelowna would then add another run that innings thanks to outfielder Garret Crenshaw advancing to third and home off of a couple of wild pitches.

The ‘Cats would add on three more runs in the bottom of the fifth. But took the game out of reach in the bottom of the sixth as outfielder Jesse Brown hit a no-doubter grand slam into centre field, extending the HarbourCats lead to eight runs.

Pinch hitter Brandon Green would add on to the home run show in the bottom of the seventh, hitting his second of the season, a solo home run into centre field.

The Falcons could not start another comeback as the HarbourCats extend their home record to 22-1.

HarbourCats infielder Ryan Magic had an impressive performance Saturday night, hitting two for four, which included a double and a triple.

HarbourCats starting pitcher Daniel Gonzalez from Louisiana Monroe took the start Saturday night, putting up an impressive outing, striking out eight batters in just over four innings of work.

Relief pitchers Cody Howard, Logan MacNiel, and local prospect Darius Opdam Bak took care of the latter half of the game, combining for six strikeouts.

Victoria and Kelowna will play one more game at Wilson’s Group Stadium at Royal Athletic Park tomorrow at 1:05PM, as the HarbourCats will be giving away a funeral that afternoon thanks to HW Wallace Cremation and Burial Centre. The ‘Cats will then play a crucial three game series at home starting on Tuesday night at 6:35PM, against island rivals, the Nanaimo NightOwls. Victoria will then hit the road to play the Edmonton Riverhawks to end their 2023 regular season.

Tickets for all remaining HarbourCats games can be bought as always at harbourcats.com/tickets or at the HarbourCats office at 101-1814 Vancouver Street.

VOUCHERS: Reminder that all ticket vouchers must be exchanged for tickets to any of our remaining four home games. They are NOT eligible for playoffs and may not be carried over to 2024.

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Summer Collegiate

Victoria HarbourCats – Matt Westley is the Extra Innings Hero in Walk-Off Victory

Published

7 hours ago

June 14, 2026

Dugout Wire Service

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.

BOX SCORE

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!

WCL STANDINGS

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.

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Summer Collegiate

Victoria HarbourCats – Cats Suffer Gruelling 18-9 Loss

Published

1 day ago

June 12, 2026

Dugout Wire Service

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.

BOX SCORE

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.

WCL STANDINGS

The Springfield series continues at 6:35 pm on Saturday night and concludes with a 1:05 pm Sunday matinee.

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Summer Collegiate

Victoria HarbourCats – Cats Lose Control of Game Three in Edmonton

Published

2 days ago

June 11, 2026

Dugout Wire Service

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.

BOX SCORE

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.

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