Summer Collegiate

Victoria HarbourCats – Golden Tide Fall to Eagles, Will Play Saskatchewan in Downey Semi-Finals

Published

5 years ago

September 12, 2021

Dugout Wire Service

Story and Photos by Christian J. Stewart

September 11, 2021, Victoria, BC – The Victoria Eagles used a four-run fifth inning and some solid pitching to defeat the Victoria Golden Tide 7-2 Saturday morning in the final round robin game for both teams at the Zack Downey Memorial Tournament at Layritz Park in Victoria.

The win gives the Eagles the number one seed for the playoffs and they will now take on the Parksville Royals at 12:30 pm Sunday in the semi-finals.

The Eagles Drew Abercrombie (right) puts the tag on the Tide’s Myles Wall during a rundown Saturday (Photo: Christian J. Stewart)

The Royals, despite losing a heartbreaker to Saskatchewan Saturday, 6-2 in extra innings, snuck into the fourth seed spot by virtue of the Victoria Mariners and Nanaimo Pirates essentially playing to a 4-4 tie in the final round-robin game of the day Saturday.

Tide starter Haldon Craig looked good for the Eagles early Saturday (Photo: Christian J. Stewart)

The Mariners could have advanced into the forth seed with a shut-out win over the Pirates, but Mid-Island scored two runs in the very first inning of that game, to put that mathematical possibility to rest.

The Eagles Derek Peterson was masterful over four innings, allowing the Golden Tide just two hits (Photo: Christian J. Stewart)

The Golden Tide will now have a re-match with the Saskatchewan Grizzlies in the other semi-final Sunday, starting at 10:00 am. In their game with Parksville Saturday, the Grizzlies broke open a 1-1 tie by scoring five runs in the top of the eighth inning to secure the win.

The Championship game at the Zack Downey Tournament is scheduled for 3:00 pm Sunday.

For the Eagles, hard throwing Derek Peterson got the start and he was brilliant, limiting the Tide to just two hits and no runs in his four innings of work.

The Eagles Jack Swinton slides safely into third before the tag by Golden Tide third baseman Brandon Green (Photo: Christian J. Stewart)

Peterson got offensive support from the Eagles with a run in the third, thanks to an RBI single from Jai Berezowski that scored Jack Swinton and another in the fourth, thanks to an RBI single from Jacob Wayman that scored Owen Taylor.

The Eagles Drew Abercrombie heads to first with a single Saturday (Photo: Christian J. Stewart)

In the Eagles four-run fifth inning, they took advantage of Tide pitcher Jackson Belanger who had a debut he would rather forget, giving up a single, two walks and two hit batters, before being replaced by Braden Perozny.

Golde Tide shortstop Myles Wall makes a nice play against the Eagles Saturday (Photo: Christian J. Stewart)

The Tide would see a glimmer of hope when they scored a pair of two-out runs in the fifth inning off Eagles reliever Brandon Cain, but Cain would get out of the inning with no further damage.

The Eagles would then score another insurance run in the top of the sixth and then Josh Gladstone would shut the door, retiring the side in the bottom of the sixth to close out the 7-2 win.

Jack Swinton had a single, double and two runs scored against the Tide on Saturday (Photo: Christian J. Stewart)

For the Eagles offensively, Jack Swinton, brother of Golden Tide player Parker Swinton, would lead the way with a single, double and two runs scored. Josh Burrows, with a single and two walks, would also score twice.

The Tide’s Alex McLauclan bangs out one of the Tide’s 5 hits against the Eagles Saturday (Photo: Christian J. Stewart)

For the Tide, Brendan Morrison had a hit and an RBI, while Tyler Burton had a single, walk and run scored. Alex McLauclan, Colton O’Brien and Tristian Bolger had the other hits for the Tide in the losing effort.

Eagles catcher Jai Berezowski congratulates Josh Gladstone after the Eagles win over the Golden Tide Saturday (Photo: Christian J. Stewart)

Haldon Craig got the start for the Tide, allowing just a hit in his two innings of work, with relief from Wyatt Mohr-Royer, Belanger and Perozny.

The Golden Tide will have an interesting day on Sunday, as in addition to the semi-final and possible final at the Zack Downey Tournament, they are also scheduled to play a double-header in Nanaimo against Vancouver Island University. Head Coach Curtis Pelletier will split his large squad accordingly to accommodate all games.

Parksville second baseman Tyler Newby prepares to tag Saskatchewan’s Brady Bye during a rundown in their game Saturday. The Grizzlies would ultimately beat the Royals 6-2 and will now play the Golden Tide in Sunday’s semi-final (Photo: Christian J. Stewart)

ZACK DOWNEY TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE, LAYRITZ PARK, SAANICH

Sunday September 12, 10:00 AM Golden Tide vs Saskatchewan Grizzlies – SEMI-FINAL
Sunday September 12, 12:30 AM Victoria Eagles vs Parksville Royals – SEMI-FINAL
Sunday September 13, 3:00 PM – FINAL

GOLDEN TIDE FALL HOME SCHEDULE

SEP. 17, 6PM – TRU WOLFPACK
SEP. 19, 1PM – VAN.ISLE UNIV. (DH*)
SEP. 25, 1PM – FRASER VALLEY (DH)
SEP. 26, 3PM – MID-ISLE PIRATES (DH)
OCT. 2, 6PM – VICTORIA MARINERS
OCT. 16, 1PM – VAN. ISLE PREP (DH)
OCT. 17, 1PM – UBC (DH)
OCT. 23, 1PM – TBA (DH)
OCT. 24, 1PM – PARKSVILLE ROYALS (DH)
OCT. 26-31 INTERSQUAD WORLD SERIES
*DH = Double Header

The Golden Tide begin their fall exhibition season on September 17, with 11 home games, plus inter-squad games at Wilson’s Group Stadium at Royal Athletic Park in Victoria. The fall home opener is on Friday, September 17th at 6:00 pm against Thompson Rivers University.

Tickets are $10 for Grandstand seating (Section 10) and $5 everywhere else (all rush seating) and are available at the gate or in advance at the HarbourCats office (101-1814 Vancouver Street) or by calling 778-265-0327.

BECOME A TIDE BOOSTER!
Fans who wish to enjoy priority seating in the Diamond Club or Campbell Club seating areas for all games may now join the Golden Tide Booster Club, where a $200 fee secures a spot, gets one a Golden Tide hat and t-shirt and access to other Booster Club perks and benefits. E-mail chris@harbourcats.com or call the office at 778-265-0327 for details.

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Summer Collegiate

Victoria HarbourCats – Cats Stun Elks with Thunderous 18-5 Victory

Published

20 hours ago

July 8, 2026

Dugout Wire Service

Victoria, B.C. – The HarbourCats welcomed the Bend Elks to Victoria this evening with a monumental 18-5 takeover to start the series off right.

Although the Elks opened the scoring with a single to centre field in the top of the second, the Cats answered back quickly in the bottom half of the frame. With runners on the corners and nobody out, Bryan Bradshaw (UCSD) dug in for a sacrifice fly, driving in Rohne Klein (San Jose State) from third and tying the game at one apiece.

BOX SCORE

Cats starter and freshly-crowned All-Star Erik Rico (Fresno State) called it a night after three solid innings of work. Rico allowed one run and struck out seven to push his league-leading strikeout count to 40. Flynn Warren (Hawaii Pacific) filled the gap for the fourth, striking out two before letting one batter get away and surrendering a two-run homer. The New Zealand product eventually got the final out he needed, but not before the Elks took a 3-1 lead.

Erik Rico’s league-leading 40 strikeouts are just part of the reason he was selected as a WCL All-Star. (Photo by JPM Photography)

Warren returned for the fifth and gave up a solo homer, but that was the only damage sustained before the Cats defence returned to the dugout down by three.

Victoria finally found some contact in the bottom of the fifth, putting runners on the corners with nobody out once again. A Bend throwing error allowed a run to come in, but a big baserunning mistake by the Cats led to the Elks getting two outs on the play as well.

Inning the sixth showed yet more promise for the HarbourCats, as a couple of early base knocks made it – stop me if you’ve heard this before – runners on the corners with nobody out. The home side continued to put wood on the baseball, eventually bringing in five runs on base hits from Rohne Klein, Tristan Buehring (Whitman), and WCL All-Star David Krahn (UBC). Unsatisfied with a one-run lead, Matt Westley (George Mason) stepped up to the plate with two outs and banished a baseball to the great unknown, busting the game wide open with a three-run homer to make it 10-5.

Matt Westley’s home run was a back-breaker for the Elks. (Photo by JPM Photography)

Patience was the name of the game in the bottom of the seventh inning. The Elks walked the bases loaded and bounced a pitch in front of the plate that allowed Jacob Silva (UTSA) to score. Tristan Buehring followed that up with an RBI single, and David Krahn obliterated his seventh homer of the season. 15-5 for the Cats with two innings to go.

The Cats kept the pressure on, adding a Rohne Klein homer for good measure before Spencer Kratt closed out a three-inning relief appearance, securing a much-needed blowout win for the good guys.

WCL STANDINGS

The HarbourCats are back on the hunt tomorrow night for the second of three games this week against the Elks.

Single game tickets for all HarbourCats games 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.

GET YOUR ALL-STAR TICKETS BEFORE THEY ARE GONE! Tickets for the 2026 WCL All-Star Home Run Derby (featuring former Blue Jay Kevin Pillar) and the West Coast League All Star Game on July 14-15 are selling fast. Get yours today! Each event is now on sale separately, or grab the package deal for both and save a few bucks at http://harbourcats.com/tickets! Or call the office at 778-265-0327 to order by phone.

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Summer Collegiate

Victoria HarbourCats – Former HarbourCat Austin Russell, a WCL all-star, hired to coach Collegiate Cats program

Published

2 days ago

July 6, 2026

Dugout Wire Service

July 5, 2026

VICTORIA, B.C. — Former HarbourCat and WCL All-Star Austin Russell has been handed the reins of Victoria’s year-round collegiate baseball program.

The local product has been hired to lead the Victoria Collegiate Cats of the Canadian College Baseball Conference (CCBC), effective August 1. The team formerly called the Golden Tide will enter its sixth season this fall, based primarily out of Wilson’s Group Stadium at Royal Athletic Park.

“I’m incredibly grateful for this opportunity and excited to help build a Victoria Collegiate Cats program that the players, alumni and community can be proud of,” said Russell, who played with his brother Ty on the 2013 HarbourCats team. “My time playing college baseball had a tremendous impact on my growth as a person, both on and off the field, and my priority is to provide these young men with that same opportunity — an experience they can look back on with pride and one that helps prepare them for success as they move forward in life.”

Russell, 34, was a member of the inaugural HarbourCats team and the outfielder was selected to play in the WCL all-star game in 2013. He also played summer collegiate baseball in Moose Jaw, and played collegiately at Colby Community College, Southern Polytechnic State, and MacPherson College.

Russell won conference awards as a player at Colby and MacPherson, and still plays in the Mavericks League locally. He represented Victoria in the 2018 Baseball Canada Men’s Nationals on home soil, earning a silver medal.

Russell (left), along with Nick Pivetta (centre) and Connor Russell (no relation)(right) were three of the first HarbourCats players to be signed for the 2013 season (Photo: Christian J. Stewart).

He coached for many years in the Victoria Mariners youth system, and is excited to return to the college level. Pitching Coach Darius Opdam Bak and Assistant Coach Colton O’Brien will return and round out the coaching staff.

Russell will also join Opdam Bak and other WCL HarbourCats coaches in taking an active role with community development initiatives and youth camps.

“This is an exciting announcement for us and we could not be happier to put Austin into the leadership role with the Collegiate Cats as Head Coach,” said Jim Swanson, Managing Partner of the group that owns the Collegiate Cats, the Victoria HarbourCats and Nanaimo NightOwls (West Coast League), and the Edwards Family Training Centre (EFTC) indoor facility.

“Austin is well-known and respected in the baseball world, especially locally, and we know he will put tremendous effort and skill into the role as we continue to grow the Collegiate Cats. He’s excited to get started.”

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Summer Collegiate

Victoria HarbourCats – Cats Drop Third Game of Kelowna Series

Published

3 days ago

July 5, 2026

Dugout Wire Service

Kelowna, B.C. – The HarbourCats took on the Kelowna Falcons for the third game a row this afternoon, losing the final matchup by a score of 9-2.

The Falcons were the first side to find purchase on the offensive side in a long third inning. Cats starter Daniel Tovar (Northern Kentucky) allowed a couple of baserunners on a walk and an error, and was swapped out for right-hander Houston Tomlinson (Arkansas State). Kelowna strung together a few singles together on Tomlinson over the course of the inning, taking a 3-0 lead.

BOX SCORE

The home team followed that up with an uppercut in their next trip to the plate, smashing a three-run homer off of Tomlinson in the fourth to blow the game wide open.

Tate Collins (Arkansas State) took over for the fifth and pitched a clean inning, but was accosted for another scoring trio in the home half of the sixth. A single, a wild pitch, and a sacrifice fly gave the Falcons a daunting 9-0 lead.

The Cats at last found life in the seventh frame, kicked off by a solo bomb off the bat of Fresno State outfielder Marcus Nolen. Matthew Westley (George Mason) followed that homer up with a fine job of manufacturing a run. The Virginia product drew himself a walk, stole two bases, and advanced all the way home on a wild pitch to continue cutting a chunk out of that mountainous lead.

Carson Ackermann (Tacoma) took to the pitcher’s mound in the seventh and only allowed two baserunners across his two innings of work, but in the end the lead proved insurmountable and the Falcons secured a 9-2 win on home turf.

WCL STANDINGS

The HarbourCats will now travel back to Victoria and look to rebound on Tuesday night in the first matchup of a three-game mid-week series versus the Bend Elks.

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