Summer Collegiate

Victoria HarbourCats – HarbourCats best Wenatchee in Game 1 of Divisional Playoffs

Published

3 years ago

August 9, 2023

Dugout Wire Service

‘Cats come home for Game 2 of series, the first HOME playoff game, Wednesday at 6:35pm.

August 8, 2023

Wenatchee, WA – Jesse Brown had 2 hits and 2 RBI while Tyler Davis had 2 hits and scored twice, as the HarbourCats cruised to a 6-2 win over the Wenatchee AppleSox in Game 1 of their West Coast League North Divisional Playoff Series in Wenatchee Tuesday evening.

FULL BOX SCORE: http://baseball.pointstreak.com/boxscore.html?gameid=603412

Victoria jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the top of the first and never looked back as pitchers Daniel Gonzalez, Dustin Davidson, Cody Howard and Logan MacNiel held the AppleSox to their two runs on eight scattered hits, walking just three and striking out 10.

The ‘Cats will look to clinch the series in Game 2 on Wednesday night at Wilson’s Group Stadium in Victoria at 6:35PM. Should a Game 3 be needed in the series, it will be played on Thursday night in Victoria at 6:35PM.

Should the ‘Cats advance to the next round, note that this would be a ONE-GAME North Division Final on Saturday evening IN VICTORIA, with a 6:35pm start time against either Bellingham or Kelowna.

The winner of that game, then advances to a ONE-GAME WCL Championship Final on Monday, August 14th. If the HarbourCats advance to that, and anybody BUT the Corvallis Knights advance out of the South, that Championship Final would be played in VICTORIA!

Tickets for Wednesday’s game are still readily available and may be purchased on-line at https://harbourcats.com/tickets

TICKETING NOTES:

All season ticket holders should have been e-mailed their tickets for playoffs. If you have not received your tickets or are having trouble with the mobile aspect, please call the office Wednesday at 778-265-0327 or pop in and paper copies can be printed for you.

Any season ticket voucher equivalent ticket holders will NOT have automatically received playoff tickets. Please contact the office ASAP for tickets if you fall into this category.

Wednesday’s game is considered HOME PLAYOFF GAME #1 and anyone who ordered tickets prior to the exact date and opponent being known should make sure they bring and use their ticket that says PLAYOFF GAME 1 on it for Wednesday’s Game.

Should the HarbourCats need to play the third game in the series with Wenatchee on Thursday, this will be considered HOME PLAYOFF GAME #2 and anyone holding tickets that say PLAYOFF GAME 2 on them would use those tickets for that game.

If Thursday’s game is NOT needed because the HarbourCats sweep the series, then HOME PLAYOFF GAME #2 will shift to SATURDAY’s GAME and PLAYOFF GAME 2 tickets would be used for that game.

Anyone who ordered PLAYOFF GAME 2 tickets on-line will be e-mailed those tickets following the game WEDNESDAY night, once it is known what day that second home playoff game will be.

If you would like to order tickets for HOME PLAYOFF GAME 2, you can currently do so, but please make sure you are available either Thursday or Saturday to attend, or wait until the game Wednesday is completed to know for sure which day that game will fall on. Everything will be clear at that point.

PLEASE CALL THE OFFICE AT 778-265-0327 if you still have any questions regarding ticketing.

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Summer Collegiate

Victoria HarbourCats – Cats Pitching Shuts Down Elks to Clinch Series

Published

9 hours ago

July 9, 2026

Dugout Wire Service

Victoria, B.C. – Victoria’s pitching staff put on a show tonight in a 5-0 shutout over the visiting Bend Elks.

The Cats got the engine running early in game two, driving in the first run of the game on a Brady Hewitt (Fresno State) double in the bottom of the second inning. Second-year HarbourCat Logan Shepherd (Mercer) kept it rolling the very next inning, crushing his second homer of the year to double the lead.

BOX SCORE

Starting pitcher Jeremiah Arnett (Rice) put on an absolute clinic on the mound in his sixth start of the year. The Waco, Texas product went six innings and struck out 11 (yes, 11) Elks while only giving up two hits. No wonder he’s a WCL All-Star.

Arnett’s excellent start laid the groundwork for a robust Cats win. (Photo by JPM Photography)

Victoria honoured an impressive start by widening the lead further in the bottom of the sixth. After Rohne Klein (San Jose State) found his way on base on a fielder’s choice, high-contact outfielder Tristan Buehring (Whitman) squeaked a single through the infield to drive him in. A Bryan Bradshaw (UCSD) double kept the line moving and brought Buehring home to make it 4-0.

Right-handed reliever Will Zielinski came into the game in the top of the seventh and picked up right where Arnett left off. The Victoria local hit the ground running out of the bullpen, striking out the side in 15 pitches. Zielinski wasn’t done there, though, as he picked up two more strikeouts in the eighth before giving way to Jake Rafferty (Tacoma CC) to close out a shutout win.

WCL STANDINGS

The Cats will go for the sweep over the Elks in the final game of the series at 6:35 pm on Thursday night!

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 – Cats Stun Elks with Thunderous 18-5 Victory

Published

1 day 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.

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Summer Collegiate

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

Published

3 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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