Summer Collegiate

Victoria HarbourCats – Golden Tide battle hard, but run out of gas against Coyotes in CCBC semi-finals

Published

5 years ago

October 11, 2021

Dugout Wire Service

Story and Photos by Christian J. Stewart

October 10, 2021, Kelowna, BC – The new kids on the Canadian College Baseball Conference (CCBC) block, the Victoria Golden Tide, battled hard, but eventually dropped an 11-5 decision to the Okanagan College (OC) Coyotes in semi-final action Sunday night at the CCBC Fall Championship Tournament at Elks Field in Kelowna.

Tide starting pitcher Triston Seitz would have a tough first inning, but then settle down to hold the Coyotes scoreless in the rest of his five inning outing Sunday.

The scrappy Tide, who earlier in the day ousted Thompson Rivers from the tournament with a 13-4 win, actually took a 5-4 lead into the bottom half of the seventh inning against the Coyotes, but then ran out of gas, and watched as the host squad would score two in the bottom of the seventh and another five in the bottom of the eighth to cruise to what appeared to be an easy win.

Victoria second baseman Alex MacLauchlan looks for the call but doesn’t get it as the OC’s Ryan Doucette slides in safely on this play.

That was anything but the case, as the tide battled back from an early 3-0 deficit with two runs in the third and another in the fourth to tie the game and then after Okanagan plated a run in the bottom of the sixth to re-take the lead, the Tide scored another two in the top of the seventh to vault into a 5-4 lead.

Coyote third baseman Nolan Rivard prepares to throw over the head of pitcher Adam Sarafinchin on a ground ball from the Tide’s Will Podmoroff.

The Tide would also outhit the Coyotes 8-5 on the day, but seven Victoria errors, combined with 12 passed balls and five wild pitches, would be the ultimate undoing for Victoria, as the Coyotes scored five of their final seven runs, including the tying and go-ahead runs in the seventh, courtesy of passed balls and wild pitches.

Victoria’s Tyler Burton (12) is congratulated by Jordan Bond (33) after scoring a run for the Tide.

McCoy Pearce, who had an RBI single as part of a Coyotes three-run first inning, would be the offensive catalyst for OC, finishing with three hits, including a triple, two RBI and a pair of runs scored. Nolan King would also have a hit, two walks and a pair of runs scored.

The Tides’ Brendan Morrison would get around the tag of Coyotes catcher Caleb Lumbard to score one of Victoria’s runs Sunday evening.

For Victoria, leadoff hitter Tyler Burton led the way with a pair of singles, a walk and two runs scored, while Brendan Morrison continued his hot streak with a hit and pair of RBI. Will Podmoroff also had a single, walk and run scored in the losing effort.

Victoria’s Zeke Holt slides into third safely under the tag of Coyotes third baseman Nolan Rivard.

On the mound OC’s Aiden Mordecai gets the win in relief of starter Adam Sarafinchin. Jesse Poniewozik pitched the ninth inning to close out the win.

For the Tide, starter Triston Seitz would settle down after a tough first inning and not allow another run after that in his five innings of work, walking five and striking out six. Nick Lee, who pitched 1.2 innings in relief gets tagged with the loss, while Wyatt Mohr-Royer and Ben Havelock also saw work on the hill.

The Tide’s Will Podmoroff gets high fives after scoring against Okanagan College Sunday evening.

The Coyotes will now move on to the finals at 12 Noon on Monday where they will play the winner of the game between the Prairie Baseball Academy and the University of the Fraser Valley. That game was in progress at press time with PBA leading UFV 1-0 in the fourth inning.

Victoria shortstop Brandon Green makes a throw to first during Sunday’s game.

The Tide will now head home to Victoria and continue their fall season this Saturday, October 16th, with a Black vs Gold intersquad doubleheader and then Sunday, the top college baseball program in Canada, the UBC Thunderbirds come to town for a pair.

Victoria’s Chase Thompson celebrates after scoring the tying run in the seventh inning of Sunday’s game.

All games Saturday and Sunday will be at Wilson’s Group Stadium with both doubleheaders scheduled to start at 1:00 pm. Tickets are $5.00 and $10.00 and will be available at the gate. Children 12 and under get in free!

Victoria’s Tyler Burton slides home safely with what would be the go-ahead run in the seventh inning Sunday.

The Coyotes celebrate their 11-4 semi-final win over Victoria.

Source

Summer Collegiate

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

Published

20 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.

Source

Summer Collegiate

Victoria HarbourCats – Cats Suffer Gruelling 18-9 Loss

Published

2 days 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.

Source

Summer Collegiate

Victoria HarbourCats – Cats Lose Control of Game Three in Edmonton

Published

3 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.

Source