Summer Collegiate
Victoria HarbourCats – Golden Tide battle hard, but run out of gas against Coyotes in CCBC semi-finals
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.
Today is the 12th time this season the HarbourCats have scored 10 or more runs (Photo: Christian J. Stewart)
July 27, 2025
For immediate release
VICTORIA, B.C. – The Victoria HarbourCats clinched an important series win against the Wenatchee AppleSox with a 13-8 victory in front of more than 2000 fans on a beautiful Sunday afternoon.
It wasn’t going to plan early for the hosts, as for the second game in a row, the AppleSox jumped out to an early two-run lead. Izzy Madariaga and Jehee Lee hit back-to-back RBI doubles to give the visitors a 2-0 lead.
In the bottom of the second, Connor Ross (Cal Baptist) crushed a 100 MPH double to the gap after Garrett Brooks (St. Mary’s) drew a walk after battling through a 10-pitch at bat. That put runners on second and third for Jai Berezowski (Golden Tide), who hit a clutch two-out single to plate both runners, making it 2-2.
Including non-league action, Jai Berezowski is on a five-game hit streak producing eight hits and nine RBIs (Photo: Christian J. Stewart)
Berezowski got things started in the fifth with a double down the left field line for his second hit of the game. The Victoria native reached base four times this afternoon. Tanner Beltowski (Westmont College) brought him home, hitting a single up the middle, giving Victoria their first lead of the afternoon. The shortstop came around to score later in the inning on a wild pitch to give the Cats a 4-2 lead. Kamana Nahaku (Hawaii) blew the game wide open for the second time this weekend, crushing a three-run home run to push the Cats’ advantage to 7-2.
The HarbourCats did not let up in the sixth inning, scoring six more runs in the sixth inning after the big five-run fifth. A pair of wild pitches allowed two runs to score before Logan Shepherd (Mercer U) crushed his seventh home run of the season, a three-run blast, to extend the lead to 12-2. Ross drove in his first run of the game with an opposite-field single later in the frame, which pushed the score to 13-2.
WATCH GAMES HERE
Logan Rumberg (George Mason) started for Victoria, and after his shaky first inning, he produced one of the most dominant displays the West Coast League has seen this season. The flame-throwing right-hander struck out eight over seven innings of work, walking zero batters. After surrendering a second-inning single, the Okotoks, Alberta native retired 16 batters in a row to complete his outing.
Logan Rumberg’s 35 strikeouts this season rank eighth in the West Coast League (Photo: Christian J. Stewart)
Garrett Villa (Angelo State) pitched the final two innings for the Cats and, due to some poor defence all around the infield, gave up four runs in the eighth inning. The Sox scored two more in the ninth inning through a Madariaga two-run single to cut the lead to 13-8, but that was all they could produce as Villa got Jehee Lee to ground out to wrap up the win.
The HarbourCats entered Sunday tied for the second-half North Division lead alongside the Edmonton Riverhawks. This win puts them half a game up on the Hawks for the time being, as they are in action later tonight against the Kelowna Falcons.
After an off-day on Monday, Victoria plays host to the Kamloops NorthPaws for three games on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. All games are at 6:35 PM. Get tickets at harbourCats.com/tickets.
VOUCHER REMINDER: The Victoria HarbourCats only have 6 home games remaining this season, so 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).
The HarbourCats are tied for first in the second half North Division Standings (Photo: Christian J. Stewart)
July 26, 2025
For immediate release
VICTORIA, B.C. – The Wenatchee AppleSox took an early lead and did not look back Saturday night, evening up the series beating the Victoria HarbourCats 8-2.
Elijah Pelayo hit a two-run single with two outs in the first inning the give the visitors an early lead. Both runs were uneanred after a Jake Butler (George Mason) error earlier in the frame.
The Cats answered back right away through Logan Shepherd (Mercer U), who hit his team-leading sixth home run of the campaign, a two-run shot to tie the game at two.
In the top of the second inning the Sox batters continued to make good contact off of Tommy Bridges (Northwestern U) as Cade Martinez and Izzy Madariaga hit back-to-back RBI singles to double their advantage, making it 4-2.
Logan Shepherd leads the HarbourCats in hits, home runs, and RBIs (Photo: Christian J. Stewart)
Bridges battled from there over five innings of work, giving up nine hits, walking zero and striking out three. On the other side was Mitch Haythorn who started for Wenatchee. He struck out seven Cats over five innings of work and managed to escape a bases loaded jam in the fifth inning, getting Connor Ross (Cal Baptist) to lineout to end the threat.
Tyler Patrick (Fresno State) replaced Bridges and gave up a pair of runs in the sixth inning including an Adam Haight home run, his second in as many games, to extend the Sox lead to 6-2.
Victoria had the bases loaded for Ross once again in the seventh inning, but Masen Swan got the Napa, California native to groundout to end the inning.
Austin Lindsey (Hill College) replaced Patrick and pitched a three-up-three-down inning in both the seventh and the eighth. He gave up two runs in the ninth inning on a pair of RBI singles which made it 8-2 Wenatchee and put the game beyond doubt.
Tommy Bridges’ 1.83 ERA is the third lowest in the WCL (Photo: Christian J. Stewart)
The HarbourCats could not take their chances tonight, leaving 11 men on base throughout the night.
WATCH GAMES HERE
The all important rubber match is tomorrow at 1:05 PM! Logan Rumberg is your projected starter for Victoria.
VOUCHER REMINDER: The Victoria HarbourCats only have 7 home games remaining this season, so 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).
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