Summer Collegiate

Victoria HarbourCats | Golden Tide collegiate baseball team announces first signees

Published

4 years ago

May 17, 2021

Dugout Wire Service

Victoria’s Jacob Popadynec (above) is one of the first players to be announced for the new Victoria Golden Tide CCBC collegiate program that will debut this coming fall.

For Immediate Release

Monday, May 17, 2021

Victoria, BC – The Victoria Golden Tide, the most recent entry in the Canadian Collegiate Baseball Conference (CCBC) is preparing for their debut in the 2021-2022 CCBC season and today is announcing the initial list of players that have committed to Head Coach Curtis Pelletier’s program and will begin working out in early September

Even in a time with a pandemic, and restrictions on activity and usual recruiting efforts, Coach Pelletier has been able to secure tremendous student-athletes to give the Golden Tide a strong start in the CCBC, a league that has been around for nearly 20 years.

These are the first five to be announced, with more players to be fully confirmed over the coming weeks.

Included in the first five to be made public is National Junior Team infielder Brody Alexandre of Swift Current, SK, along with Island products Tristan Bolger, Jacob Popadynec and Nick Lee, and Ethan Keates from Calgary.

“There has been a lot of interest in the program, from when we announced it last fall and made the commitment to join the other great programs in the CCBC,” said Pelletier, also an assistant coach with the Victoria HarbourCats, and the Director of Player Development for the HarbourCats Players Club youth programs.

“I’m very excited about every player who has shown interest, and those we’re announcing today will be key parts for us. We’ll focus on development in a strong team culture, these are athletes who are committed to taking this step and improving. Quality players will always find ways to bind together and challenge each other.”

Swift Current’s Brody Alexandre, a former Canadian Junior National team player will be a corner infielder for the Tide (Photo: SOUTHWEST BOOSTER FILE PHOTO)

Alexandre, a 6’2″ 175lb. infielder who plays the corner positions, has a lefty bat that has drawn the attention of scouts. He was a member of the Canadian Junior National Program in 2020 and also played for the Langley Blaze in the BC Premier Baseball League (BCPBL).

Keates at 5’9″ 180lb. brings CCBC experience to the Tide, a catcher/infielder who is transferring to school in Victoria from TRU in Kamloops.

Lee is a hard-throwing 6’2″ 175lb. right-hander from Victoria who played for Okanagan College in the CCBC. Prior to that he was a member of the Victoria Mariners in the BCPBL, where in 2017 he had a 1.23 ERA in 11.1 innings pitched, striking out 11 and walking just three.

The 5’11” 160lb. Popadynec, a projectable lefty from the Victoria Eagles PBL club, will provide a nice left-handed option on the hill for the Tide. With the Jr. Eagles in 2019, Popydynec amassed a 10-1 record, with a 1.76 ERA and 88 strikeouts in 67.2 innings of work.

Bolger, at 6’1″ 170lb., is a versatile fielder out of the Victoria Mariners PBL program and is an example of the strong initial local talent that will be on the field for the Golden Tide in their first season.

The Canadian college baseball conference, is an eight-team domestic league for university students that in addition to Victoria, has teams in Nanaimo (Vancouver Island University), Kelowna (Okanagan College), Kamloops (Thompson Rivers University), Chilliwack/Abbotsford (University of the Fraser Valley), Calgary (University of Calgary), Lethbridge (Prairie Baseball Academy) and Edmonton (Edmonton Collegiate Baseball Club).

The league has suspended play for the 2020-2021 campaign due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, but is anticipated to be back to a full season of play for 2021-2022 and the Golden Tide will be ready to compete for the CCBC title.

“We have worked tirelessly signing players from all over Canada,” added Golden Tide manager Curtis Pelletier. “Our first year will be primarily comprised of first year players (Freshmen) and although we are a young team, we are confident that this group of athletes will come in and compete right away.”

“We can’t wait to get into the park and begin this journey for a CCBC championship with our local supporters here in Victoria.”

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Summer Collegiate

Late rally falls just short for NightOwls

Published

2 days ago

July 20, 2025

Dugout Wire Service

WENATCHEE, WA — The Nanaimo NightOwls had their chances to put up a big number on the host AppleSox — plenty of them.

The hosts in Wenatchee took a 7-4 lead with three runs in the fourth and two more in the fifth and held on for an 8-6 victory on Saturday night in central Washington. Both teams are in the mix for one of four North Division playoff positions.

https://baseball.pointstreak.com/boxscore.html?gameid=620371

The NightOwls scored four runs with two outs in the fourth inning, and held a 4-2 lead. Seven different Nanaimo batters had hits, and both teams committed three errors. Ryder Florence, Andrew Nykoluk and Easton Mould had RBIs.

Lino Zepeda, Cole Carmichael, Kiki Villegas, Dalton Hanson and Asher DeLeo handled the pitching duties for the NightOwls.

The NightOwls stay in Wenatchee for the weekend series, playing Sunday evening, returning home on an early ferry Monday morning. On Tuesday, the Corvallis Knights make their first ever appearance at Serauxmen Stadium with a three-game series that continues Wednesday and Thursday. Tuesday is the Christmas in July celebration at Serauxmen.

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Summer Collegiate

Victoria HarbourCats – Bells walk-off ‘Cats in tense playoff-like pitching duel

Published

2 days ago

July 20, 2025

Dugout Wire Service

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

July 19, 2025

Bellingham, WA – The Bellingham Bells pushed a run across in the bottom of the ninth inning to eke out a 2-1 win over the Victoria HarbourCats in West Coast League action Saturday night at Joe Martin field in Bellingham.

FULL BOX SCORE

The game was a tense pitching duel throughout, with ‘Cats starter Tommy Bridges and Bells starter Cameron Young keeping things tight through four innings.

Young in particular retired 12 batters in a row after allowing a first-inning single to Jack Johnson. The Bells gave him a lead in the fourth, getting a run off Bridges on a sacrifice fly to hold a 1-0 lead.

Victoria then had a chance to answer in the fifth, loading the bases with one out, but Bells reliever Will Franklin came in and put out the fire to keep the Bells in the lead.

Victoria finally clawed their way on to the scoreboard in the top of the eighth thanks to an RBI-single from Johnson, his second hit of the game, scoring Connor Ross who earlier walked.

In the ninth, Victoria had another stellar chance to take the lead, loading the bases with nobody out, but a big double-play and strikeout ended the threat and sent the game to the bottom of the inning at 1-1.

In the bottom of the frame, Andrew Lamb lead off with an infield single and then advanced to second on a questionable balk call against HarbourCats reliever Garret Villa. Villa then retired the next two batters, but then a throwing error by shortstop Tanner Beltowski allowed the winning run to scamper home and give the Bells the 2-1 win.

The Bells win spoiled solid pitching performances from Bridges, as well as relievers Ryne Palmer and Garrett Brooks, who combined, allowed just two Bells hits in their eight innings of work.

The HarbourCats will now need to quickly regroup as the rubber match in the series goes Sunday afternoon in a 1:30 pm start. Logan Rumberg is the scheduled starter for Victoria.

WATCH HERE

They then return to Wilson’s Group Stadium on Tuesday for the first of a two-game set with the Dub Sea Fish Sticks, and then a return engagement with the Victoria Mavericks on Thursday. The Wenatchee AppleSox then come into town for a three game set starting Friday.

Tickets for all those games are selling fast and are available in advance at http://harbourcats.com/tickets or at the harbourCats office at 101-1814 Vancouver Street.

Source

Summer Collegiate

Rough start to post all-star game trip for NightOwls

Published

3 days ago

July 19, 2025

Dugout Wire Service

WENATCHEE, WA — The Nanaimo NightOwls know this it the time to get hot, with the West Coast League in a pressure-packed race to the playoffs.

The first step got off on the wrong foot, with an 11-1 loss to the AppleSox in Wenatchee. Both teams are in the mix for one of four North Division playoff positions.

BOXSCORE

The NightOwls got two hits each from Trevor Goldenetz, Raoul Fabian Jr and Talan Zenk, but it wasn’t enough to offset some big innings by Wenatchee.

STANDINGS

Aidan Boice started and was effective, but gave up some two-out hits that burned him. Jakin Rohne was very effective out of the pen for the NightOwls.

TICKETS

The NightOwls stay in Wenatchee for the weekend series, playing Saturday and Sunday evenings, returning home on an early ferry Monday morning. On Tuesday, the Corvallis Knights make their first ever appearance at Serauxmen Stadium with a three-game series that continues Wednesday and Thursday. Tuesday is the Christmas in July celebration at Serauxmen.

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