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Victoria HarbourCats – Golden Tide defeats Wolfpack, advances to CCBC semi-finals

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Story and Photos by Christian J. Stewart

October 10, 2021, Kelowna, BC – Jordan Bond had a double, three-run home run and three-RBI triple to lead the Victoria Golden Tide to a come from behind 13-4 win over the Thompson Rivers University (TRU) Wolfpack Sunday morning in round robin play at the Canadian College Baseball Conference (CCBC) Fall Championship Tournament at Boucherie Field in West Kelowna.

Jordan Bond watches his three-run home run head toward the left field fence in the seventh innng.

The win moves the Tide record to 2-1 and vaults them into the Championship semi-finals at 4:00 pm Sunday where they will face the Okanagan College Coyotes at Elks Field.

The Tide dug themselves a bit of a hole against TRU early Sunday when starter Cameron Dunn struggled off the top and an error loaded the bases for TRU’s Matt Olsen who promptly put the ball over the leftfield fence to give the Wolfpack a 4-0 lead after half an inning of play.

Matt Olsen and his TRU team celebrate his first inning Grand Slam that gave the Wolfpack an early 4-0 lead.

Dunn would settle in nicely after that and in the bottom of the fourth, his offence would reward him, as Bond led the inning off with a double to the fence. The Wolfpack would then play some sloppy defence and suddenly the Tide had tied the game 4-4 with Bond’s hit being the only ball out of the infield.

Alex MacLauchlan would then stroke and RBI-single and the Tide took a 5-4 lead into the fifth inning.

Victoria starter Cameron Dunn, had a rough first inning, but the settled in nicely, pitching into the seventh inning and getting credit for the 13-4 win.

In the top of the seventh, after cruising nicely from the second inning on, Dunn found himself in trouble with TRU runners on first and second with just one out. He would be lifted in place of reliever Brett Paterson, who promptly induced an inning ending double-play ground ball and the Tide kept their 5-4 lead intact.

Victoria Will Podmoroff is congratulated after scoring for the Golden Tide.

That seemed to motivate the offence even more and in the bottom of the seventh, Brendan Morrison laced an RBI double down the third baseline to put Victoria up 6-4. After an intentional walk to Zeke Holt, Bond crushed his home run over the leftfield fence to extend the lead to 9-4.

the Golden Tide used some good defence Sunday, turning a number of double plays to get out of trouble against TRU.

Paterson kept the Wolfpack off the board in the top of the eighth and the Tide then continued their offensive roll, scoring once to go up 10-4 and then loading the bases for Bond, who then tripled to the fence in left-centre, clearing the bases and giving the Tide the 13-4 mercy rule win.

Victoria reliever Brett Paterson reacts after getting an inning-ending double play in the seventh to preserve a 5-4 lead over TRU.

The Tide now face the OC Coyotes in the semi-finals and with a win, can advance to the Championship finals at 12 Noon on Sunday.

In the other semi-final the Fraser Valley Cascades (the number one seed in Pool B) will take on the Prairie Baseball Academy who defeated Edmonton Collegiate 10-2 Sunday morning to advance. That game will go at 7:30 pm Sunday night.

Victoria’s Brendan Morrison strokes an RBI double down the third baseline against TRU.

Tide catcher Parker Harris would snag a great throw from Tyler Burton in centerfield to nail TRU baserunner Kiesten Evans in a key defensive play in the 8th inning.

The semi-finals and finals will be streamed via the OC Coyotes You Tube channel at https://www.youtube.com/c/okanagancollegebaseball

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Summer Collegiate

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

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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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Victoria HarbourCats – Cats Suffer Gruelling 18-9 Loss

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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.

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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Victoria HarbourCats – Cats Lose Control of Game Three in Edmonton

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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.

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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