Above: HarbourCats third baseman Jack Johnson makes a play under the watchful eye of shortstop Hudson Shupe (Photo: Christian Stewart)
Story by Micah Collins
July 15, 2023
Victoria – Tyler Davis hit a pair of home runs, including a 2-run blast in the bottom of the 7th inning that propelled the HarbourCats to a 4-3 win over the Wenatchee AppleSox in West Coast League action Saturday Night at Wilson’s Group Stadium in Victoria.
The ‘Cats got off to a strong start in the bottom of the first, as catcher Tripp Clark knocked in an RBI single sending infielder Dallas Macias home taking the early 1-0 lead.
The bats stayed quiet for both teams until the bottom of the third as the HarbourCats extended their lead to two, with Tyler Davis hitting his first home run, a solo shot to left-centre field.
Another big crowd was on hand Saturday night to watch a great, playoff like 4-3 win over Wenatchee (Photo: Christian Stewart)
Wenatchee did not start their comeback until the top of the fourth, tying the game up with a two run home run from shortstop Izzy Lopez.
The ‘Cats then put the game just out of reach in the bottom of the seventh with Tyler Davis’ second home run of the night a few feet from the left field foul pole.
Wenatchee battled back in the top of the eighth as a costly error by Victoria led to a run scored by second baseman Frankie Carney. The AppleSox were unable to tie it up in the top of the ninth as closing pitcher Davis Franklin put in an excellent performance in the half inning, striking out two batters.
It was Harvey’s birthday Saturday and here he celebrates winning the mascot race for the first time this year, beating out Grizz from the Victoria Grizzlies and Stewie from Pacific FC (Photo: Christian Stewart)
The HarbourCats and AppleSox play their series finale at Wilson’s Group Stadium at Royal Athletic Park tomorrow afternoon at 1:05PM with lots of dogs in attendance for the HabourCats’ annual Bark In The Park game presented by Bosley’s on Yates. A special 11:30AM gate opening. Get your tickets at our one and only ticketing partner Select Your Tickets at harbourcats.com/tickets.
NANAIMO, B.C. — We aren’t curlers, but with the brooms out, we are feeling like it tonight as the NightOwls take all three games in the series against the Kelowna Falcons. It took Nanaimo 11 innings, but the team got the job done in a thrilling 6-5 game Thursday night at Serauxmen Stadium. The 840 fans in attendance got to watch a great baseball game as extra innings in the West Coast League got interesting.
Both teams put two runs on the board in the first inning before the pitchers settled down. Nanaimo was able to take the lead in the fifth inning with one run before taking on two more in the seventh. It looked to be smooth sailing, but the Kelowna Falcons were not going to go away easily and scored three runs in the top of the eighth and sent the game to extra innings.
If you are unfamiliar with the way extra innings work, in the 10th inning, the teams start with a runner on second base. In the eleventh and beyond, the teams start with a runner on second and third base. It makes for some tense times! We got to the bottom of the 11th, and with the bases loaded, Spencer Sullivan came through with a huge single to walk it off for the NightOwls.
Nanaimo NightOwls vs Kelowna Falcons (Photo Credit: Chad Frostad)
Both starting pitchers settled down after the first inning, and Lino Zepeda finished the night throwing three innings, giving up two runs on three hits and striking out two. Dillon Thompson pitched two scoreless innings for the NightOwls.
Nanaimo NightOwls vs Kelowna Falcons (Photo Credit: Chad Frostad)
A cool moment as we had International Day at the ballpark, and three of our players were on the the broadcast in their native language. Moosa Nonomiya, Vinny Bruno, and Richtter Castillo each did an inning in Japanese, Italian and Spanish.
— Nanaimo NightOwls WCL (@wclNightOwls) July 11, 2025
Not only did Moosa do an innings in the broadcast booth, he also came back down to the field and pitched 2.2 innings of two run two hit ball. That’s going to be a pretty impressive thing to throw (pun intended) on your resume. Then came on Jaedeyn Edwards in relief who took the win on the night. He had one of best performances you will see from a pitcher, coming in with runners on and getting out of a jam in the ninth.
Then the Portal Transfer pitcher from Culver City, California, decided to strike out the next seven of the next nine batters. Edwards finished the night with 3.1 innings, zero runs, zero hits and eight, count them, eight strikeouts! 31 of 43 of his pitches were strikes and he gave the team a chance to win it in the 11th inning.
It was all hands on deck for the Nanaimo NightOwls as eight batters had hits in the extra innings win. Raoul Fabian Jr. sparked the offense on Thursday night going two for six with a double, single and scored three runs. Talan Zenk is on a hot streak, which makes sense as he was named an All-Star on Wednesday. He went one for four with a single, two RBI, two walks, and two runs.
Nanaimo NightOwls vs Kelowna Falcons (Photo Credit: Chad Frostad)
Nanaimo local, Easton Mould had a nice night at second base for the NightOwls. He stole a base, went one for four and had two RBI. I mentioned earlier that it was a group effort and despite Jacob not having a hit everyone got on base as the Kelowna Falcons walked 11 batters.
Next up for the Nanaimo NightOwls is a three game series with the Wenatchee AppleSox. The series starts with 6: 35 pm evening games on Friday and Saturday July 11th and 12th, before a 1:05 matinee on Sunday July 13th. Monday the NightOwls have a day off before two exhibition games against the Nanaimo Selects and the All-Star Break.
Jacob Hayes and Talan Zenk will be representing us down in Bellingham for the All-Star game so make sure to check that out on the stream in the link above. Make sure to follow us on social media to see what we are up to tomorrow and use the hashtag #IlluminateTheDark so we can interact with your posts on social media! Go Owls Go!!
Jake Butler started at shortstop tonight and had one hit (Photo: Justin P. Morash)
July 11, 2025
For immediate release
VICTORIA, B.C. – The Victoria HarbourCats could not carry the momentum from the road trip across the border as they lost to the Kelowna Falcons 6-3 Friday night.
It was a pitcher’s duel early with Shea Lake (West Texas A&M) making his sixth appearance of the season, and it was his best yet. The right-hander threw five shutout innings, giving up three hits, no walks, and striking out three batters. He retired 11 Falcons in a row to finish his outing.
It was scoreless until the fourth inning when Cayden Munster (Fresno State) led off the frame with a double and later scored on a Dillon Lopez (St. Mary’s) sacrifice fly to make it 1-0 HarbourCats.
Many friends around the community showed up to celebrate Harvey the HarbourCat’s Birthday (Photo: Justin P. Morash)
Logan Shepherd (Mercer U) came up in the fifth inning with the bases loaded and hit a grounder to short to score the runner from third, but a throwing error by the shortstop allowed a second runner to come home, and it was 3-0 for the home team.
Ryne Palmer (Cal Baptist) made his first appearance of 2025 after leading Victoria with 27-1/3 innings pitched last summer. It was a season debut to forget as he gave up five runs on three hits while walking two and striking out a pair. When the score was 3-1, Palmer was one strike away from escaping the jam relatively unscathed, but a wild pitch and a bad hop over Munster’s glove at first allowed the inning to continue. A Tyler Garritano RBI double then made it 5-3 Falcons.
Braxton Thomas hit a solo home run in the eighth inning off Oliver Mabee (Nebraska Omaha) to extend the lead to 6-3. Mabee completed 2-1/3 innings, giving up one run on three hits, while striking out four.
Ethan McNish-Heider (Niagara) made his sixth appearance of the campaign and threw a one-two-three ninth inning.
The Cats brought the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the ninth, but Ethan Coronel shut the door, striking out Isaiah Afework (TAMU-CC) to end the game.
Cayden Munster went one for five with a double (Photo: Justin P. Morash)
The two teams are back in action tomorrow at 6:35 PM, and it is Island Savings’ Fireworks night! Sunday’s matinee is the always popular Bark in the Park game, presented by Woofability, where all dogs are welcome! Get tickets at harbourcats.com/tickets.
10 and 32-Game Flex Passes and Single Game Tickets are on sale for all home games and “Showcase” events through the HarbourCats’ new and 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).
NANAIMO, B.C. — I want to do something a little different this season and introduce our players to the fans. I will be doing player profiles, so you can get to know your Nanaimo NightOwls a little bit better! The first player profile is one of our catchers, Brock Wirthgen, who wasn’t always a catcher and didn’t always play baseball. We will take a look back at the past and find out what’s in store for these young student-athletes in the future.
I started off asking Brock how he got into baseball, “I got into baseball at the young age of 4, my dad kind of pushed me to play the sport.” Which completely contradicts what his dad Phil told me. Nice try Phil! He would continue, “I started getting serious about the sport when I was around 10. I was watching my cousins play, and ever since then, I fell in love with the sport.”
Brock’s parents were also in town from California for a homestand, and I was lucky enough to catch up with his dad and ask him some questions about Brock. I asked about the family’s sports history. Phil played Water Polo and swam, and Brock’s mom and her family had a baseball background. Brock started as a pitcher, they told me, and had to adjust to how competitive things are down in California. He could hit and catch, and made the switch to Catcher. I asked him about changing positions from the mound to behind the plate.
“Well I’ve always grown up as a catcher, that was my first position I played. Then I started to pitch when I was 12 and I threw the ball hard so I continued pitching and catching. But as soon as I hit high school my coach told me to prioritize pitching but I always worked catching and hitting in. But my senior of high school I started as a pitcher and none of our catchers were hitting so my coach put me behind the plate and then I started hitting and that’s when I made the decision to scratch pitching and continue as a catcher.”
Catcher Brock Wirthgen (Photo Credit: Chad Frostad)
The 6’1 catcher who has now committed to Hawai’i Pacific University has been a fan favorite this season with his fun personality and great play behind the plate. He has been hitting for power this season, and opposing pitchers would rather give him a free pass than pitch to him. Brock has 14 hits, five walks, two home runs, and six RBIs so far this season for the Nanaimo NightOwls. I wanted to know his approach at the plate.
“The approach I take to the box is pretty simple. I want to beat the pitcher doesn’t matter if I get out or get a hit. I just want to beat the pitcher.” You can see why he does so well at the plate from that answer.
Brock was a multi sport athlete and played baseball and football and was a defensive end and offensive line his dad Phil told me, “So he played Football all the way up until high school…O-Line and D-Line so he was on the ends, left tackle and he was pretty good on special teams.” I wanted to know if anything from football translated over to baseball for Wirthgen?
“Playing football when I was younger helped tremendously both physically and mentally. Physically it put me in a better shape and mentally it made me tougher. It also helped me with my plan, because with being on the o line and d line made me think more and more about the game of football. Like what blocking assignment I had and it made me more patient because of the snap count.”
NightOwls Catcher Brock Wirthgen (Photo Credit: Chad Frostad)
The Nanaimo NightOwls are a summer league so I wanted to get his plans for the future and what he hopes to accomplish in his career? ” My future plans and goals are of course to try and play baseball for as long as possible. But I do want to get my degree and find a possible route in sales or become a fire fighter or something with law enforcement.” With Mustache Brock would make a pretty mean cop but I Imagine his baseball career could get in the way of that for now.
The NightOwls continue their homestand Friday, Saturday and Sunday, July 11th, 12th, and 13th as the Wenatchee AppleSox head into town. Make sure to come out and support the team and tag any social media posts with the Hashtag #IlluminuteTheDark and we will try share your pictures on our social media!
Of course, I needed an embarrassing story about Brock from his dad, instead he gave me a golden quote when I asked, “You know what, he does a pretty good job of embarrassing himself.” He went on to spill Jam all over the locker room a couple of days later so I didn’t need any follow up.
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