Summer Collegiate
Victoria HarbourCats – HarbourCats in Pro Ball
Led by Nick Pivetta (above), still going strong with the Boston Red Sox, there were 33 former HarbourCats active in affiliated professional baseball in 2024, including three new players who reached the MLB level. Here is a summary of all of them.
September 6, 2024
Victoria, BC – After a busy 2024 that saw three more former HarbourCats make their MLB debut and where seven former and current players were drafted or signed as part of the 2024 entry draft, we felt it would be a good time to update you on the status of all of our former players who were active in affiliated pro baseball in 2024.
In total, 33 former HarbourCats plied their trade at the professional level this summer, including our longest term MLB players Nick Pivetta (BOS) and Andrew Vaughn (CHW), while Nathan Lukes (TOR) made a long-awaited return to the Blue Jays big club late in 2024.
Three more players, Cade Smith (CLE), Jack Neely (CUBS) and Davis Wendzel (while with TEX), also made their MLB debuts in 2024.
In addition to those six players at the MLB level, five players were active on AAA rosters, including our only other MLB player to date Alex De Goti, nine at the AA level, five at the High A level, three at Low A, including 2024 draftees Sean Heppner and Hunter Omlid, and our other five 2024 draft picks still learning their way around development camps for their respective teams.
A full summary of all 33 players follows below (all stats and teams as of September 5, 2024)
Active Major Leaguers
Nick Pivetta – Boston Red Sox
Our very first pitcher (2013), our very first draft pick (Washington 2013) and our very first player to make his Major League debut (Philadelphia 2017), Pivetta is still going strong and completing his fifth year with the Boston Red Sox, where in 2024 to date, he has made 21 starts, has a record of 5-10 and an ERA of 4.53, striking out 141 batters and walking 28 in just over 117 innings of work.
Andrew Vaughn – Chicago White Sox
A 2017 HarbourCat, Vaughn is finishing his fourth season in the bigs, all with the Chicago White Sox, and while the 2024 version of the team has been woeful, Vaughn is holding his own with a .237 average, 16 home runs and 60 RBI.
Cade Smith – Cleveland Guardians
Smith, a 2019 HarbourCat, made his MLB debut with Cleveland this summer and has been nothing short of fantastic for the Guardians, appearing in 65 games, all out of the bullpen, amassing a 6-1 record and a 2.18 ERA. Over 66 innings of work, he has struck out 88 batters, while walking 17, holding opponents to a .196 average during that span. Potentially in the running for 2024 Rookie of the Year.
Nathan Lukes – Toronto Blue Jays
Our 2014 Player of the Year, Lukes has had an up and down go of it with the Blue Jays since cracking the opening day roster in 2023, but in 2024 was hitting .333 for AAA Buffalo before an thumb injury sidelined him for a bit. He was recalled to the Jays in September and has been on fire, hitting .455 with a double, triple and four walks in three games thus far in 2024.
Jack Neely – Chicago Cubs
2019 HarbourCat Jack Neely spent the better part of four seasons in the Yankees farm system after they drafted him in 2021, working his way up to AAA, but was traded to the Cubs AAA Iowa affiliate and then was called up to the big club and had his first MLB appearance on August 26th. He has now appeared in four games for the Cubs with mixed success in just four innings of work.
2019 HarbourCat Jack Neely made his MLB debut with the Cubs on August 26th, 2024.
Other Players who have played in MLB to date (and their current teams)
Davis Wendzel – Louisville Bats, AAA Affiliate, Cincinnati Reds
Drafted by the Texas Rangers in 2019, 2017 HarbourCat Wendzel worked his way up to AAA and then earned a call-up to the Rangers big club in 2024, where he appeared in 27 games and struggled at the plate hitting just .128 with a homer and two RBI. The Rangers traded him to the Cincinnati Reds at the 2024 trade deadline and Wendzel is now with the Reds AAA affiliate, the Louisville Bats. At the AAA level, Wendzel is hitting .260 for the season, with 6 home runs and 34 RBI.
Alex De Goti – Round Rock Express, AAA Affiliate, Texas Rangers
An original HarbourCat that played for us in 2013, 2014 and 2015, De Goti has had an interesting pro career since being drafted by Houston in 2016. After working his way up to AAA in the Astros system, De Goti was called up to the big club for a weekend in the 2021 Covid-19 season where in two games, he hit .333 with a pair of hits, a walk and an RBI. He then headed back to AAA and following the 2022 season opted for free agency and signed with Miami, who promptly traded him to the Minnesota Twins. He played in 2023 for the AAA St. Paul Saints, but was released in August of that year. In 2024 De Goti signed as a free agent with the Texas Rangers and has worked his way back to the AAA level with the Round Rock Express. Ironically, Round Rock was the Astros AAA affiliate when De Goti played for them while in the Astros system.
Others in Affiliated Pro Ball
AAA
Joe Record – Durham Bulls, AAA Affiliate, Tampa Bay Rays
Another original HarbourCat, along with Nick Pivetta and Alex De Goti, Record has been toiling in the minors since being drafted by Minnesota in 2017. He moved to the Astros in 2020 and worked through stints on the injury list to a spot in AAA, eventually signing a free agent contract with Tampa for the 2024 season. With the Bulls, he has appeared in 42 games, amassing a 4.31 ERA, striking out 62 batters in just over 53 innings of work.
Chase Meidroth – Worcester Red Sox, AAA Affiliate, Boston Red Sox
Drafted by the Red Sox in 2022, Meidroth, a 2019 HarbourCat, has worked his way up the minor ranks quickly to AAA Worcester, where he is having a solid year to date, hitting .300 with seven home runs and 49 RBI.
Wyatt Young – Syracuse Mets, AAA Affiliate, New York Mets
A flashy high-schooler when he played for the HarbourCats in 2016, Young went to Pepperdine and then was drafted by the Mets in 2021. He has spent most of his time at AA Binghamton (with former HarbourCat Rowdey Jordan, see below), but had call ups to AAA Syracuse in 2022, 2023 and once again at the end of the season here in 2024. Overall in his time in the minors, Young has appeared in 384 games and is hitting .262 with 16 home runs and 133 RBI.
Harrison Spohn – Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp, AAA Affiliate, Miami Marlins
2018/2019 HarbourCat Spohn was signed as a free agent by Miami in 2022 and has moved quickly up the minor league ranks, spending most of 2024 with the AA Pensacola Blue Wahoos, where over 89 games he had seven home runs and 29 RBI. He also struggled at the plate, fanning 117 times. He was called up to AAA Jacksonville in September and has appeared in three games to date with two walks and six strikeouts in nine at bats.
Harrison Spohn while playing for the HarbourCats in 2019
AA
Travis Kuhn – Arkansas Travelers, AA Affiliate, Seattle Mariners
A 2017 HarbourCat, Kuhn was drafted by the Mariners in 2019 and quickly rose through the low minor ranks, where after a one game appearance at AAA Tacoma in 2021, earned a spot on the AA Travelers in 2022. He has been there since and in 2024, has appeared in 42 games with a 4-6 record and 3.4 ERA striking out 62 batters in 53 innings of work.
Kekai Rios – New Hampshire FisherCats, AA Affiliate, Toronto Blue Jays
Drafted by Milwaukee in 2018, Rios, who caught for the HarbourCats in 2017, has bounced around the minors since then, eventually landing in the Blue Jays system where he played in Vancouver and then found his way to the AA level with the FisherCats. He struggled with an injury and rehab assignment in 2024, only playing in 18 games and while he was technically promoted to AAA Buffalo in late July of 2024, he was then released on August 2nd.
AJ Block – Northwest Arkansas Naturals, AA Affiliate, Kansas City Royals
Signed as a free agent by the Royals in 2020, Block, who pitched for Victoria in 2017, worked in the low minors for two seasons and then missed most of 2023 on the injured list. He returned healthy for 2024, pitching for the high A Quad City River Bandits and earned a call-up to the AA Naturals in September of 2024.
Carter Loewen – San Antonio Missions, AA Affiliate, San Diego Padres
Originally drafted by the Blue Jays in 2016. Loewen, a 2018 HarbourCat, opted to go to school (Hawaii) and then signed a free agent contract with San Diego in 2020. Since then he has battled injury and has now worked his way up to the AA Missions, where in 2024, he has appeared in 36 games and amassing a 5.16 ERA.
AJ Lewis – Hartford Yard Goats, AA Affiliate Colorado Rockies
A 2018 HarbourCat, Lewis was signed as a free agent by the Rockies in 2020 and has steadily worked his way up to the AA level with the Yard Goats, where in 2024 to date, he has seen limited action, appearing in just 24 games and hitting .197 with 10 RBI, four of which came in one game against Portland on May 22nd.
Shane McGuire – Midland RockHounds, AA Affiliate, Oakland As
The HarbourCats Player of the Year in 2017, McGuire was drafted by Oakland in 2019 and quickly moved up the ranks, landing in AA Midland for the 2023 season where he has been since. Over his four-year minor league career to date, he has appeared in 270 games, hitting .246 with nine home runs and 112 RBI.
2017 Player of the Year Shane McGuire is quickly working his way up the ranks in the Oakland A’s system.
Rowdey Jordan – Binghamton Rumble Ponies, AA Affiliate New York Mets
The Mississippi State speedster played in Victoria in 2018 and was then drafted by the Mets in 2021, ascending quickly to Binghamton in 2022 where he has been since. In his minor league career to date, Jordan, through 352 games, is hitting .234 with 27 home runs and 160 RBI. He has 67 doubles and 70 stolen bases as well.
Adam MacKillican – Hartford Yard Goats, AA Affiliate Colorado Rockies
The HarbourCats Pitcher of the Year in 2017, MacKillican was signed as a free agent by the Texas Rangers in 2021 and then moved to the Rockies organization with Spokane in 2022 and Hartford in 2023. The injury bug then hit and MacKillikan missed most of the 2024 season, appearing in just four games, three on a rehab assignment in Rookie ball and one more in Hartford on August 15th before going back on the injured list yet again.
Caleb Ricketts – Reading Fightin’ Phils, AA Affiliate, Philadelphia Phillies
Drafted by the Phillies in 2022, 2018 HarbourCat Ricketts moved quickly through Rookie and A ball, earning a spot on AA Reading for 2024. He has battled through some injuries this season to appear in 75 games (71 at catcher), hitting .219 with seven home runs and 91 RBI.
High A
Indigo Diaz – Hudson Valley Renegades, High A Affiliate, New York Yankees
Diaz, a hard-throwing pitcher for the HarbourCats in 2017, was drafted by the Atlanta Braves in 2019 and later traded to the Yankees in 2022. He has battled injuries over his minor league career to date including a rehab assignment in 2024, but is now back with the Renegades and has appeared in 10 games since his return on July 25th.
Jack Owen -Lansing Lugnuts, High A Affiliate, Oakland A’s
The HarbourCats and West Coast League Pitcher of the Year in 2017, Owen was originally drafted by St. Louis in 2019, but opted to attend Auburn and later signed as a free agent with the A’s in 2021. He rose quickly to the AA level where he has been since the 2022 season. Overall in the minors, he has a 17-8 record and 4.52 ERA, having appeared in 106 games and a total of 221 innings pitched.
Joe Redfield – Tri-City Dust Devils, High A Affiliate, Los Angeles Angels
The 2022 HarbourCats Player of the Year was drafted by the Angels in the fourth round in 2022 and since then, has spent just over half his minor league time (64 of 124 games total) with Tri-City. In those 124 games, Redfield is hitting .264 with six home runs and 59 RBI. He has 51 walks, 30 stolen bases and 84 runs scored in that same time span.
2022 HarbourCat Joseph Redfield is doing well so far in the Angels minor league system.
Dakota Hawkins – Brooklyn Cyclones, High A Affiliate, New York Mets
Pitcher of the Year for the HarbourCats in 2019, Hawkins was signed as a free agent by the Mets in 2023 where he saw minimal time at the Rookie and A level. In 2024 he was assigned to AA Brooklyn, where he has appeared in 26 games, amassing a 4-4 record with nine saves and 4.30 ERA. He has struck out 72 batters while walking 23 in just over 81 innings of work. In late July Hawkins earned a call up to AA Binghamton, appearing in two games for the Rumble Ponies.
Matthew Clayton – Cedar Rapids Kernals, High A Affiliate, Minnesota Twins
A catcher for the HarbourCats in 2018 and 2019, Clayton was signed as a free agent by the Twins in 2023 and has performed well thus far in 2024 in the minors. With Ft. Myers (A, 35 games) and now Cedar Rapids (AA, 7 games) Clayton is hitting .269 with three home runs and 19 RBI.
Low A
Noah Takacs – Bradenton Marauders, Low A Affiliate, Pittsburgh Pirates
A 2022 HarbourCat and local Victoria native, Takacs was signed by the Pirates as a free agent in 2023. He promptly went on the injured list to have Tommy John surgery and is now working his way back from that having appeared in 27 games thus far in 2024, all in relief, 20 of which with the Rookie League Pirates and seven with Bradenton. In those 27 games Takacs is 5-7 with three saves over 39 innings of work.
Sean Heppner – Lynchburg Hillcats, Low A Affiliate, Cleveland Guardians
A 2023 HarbourCat, Heppner was one of seven former HarbourCats drafted or signed in the 2024 draft and was immediately moved to Lynchburg, the Low A affiliate of the Guardians. To date, he has appeared in five games, amassing a 5.06 ERA while striking out 13 and walking eight batters in a total of 10.2 innings of work.
Drafted by Cleveland this past summer, 2023 HarbourCat Sean Heppner has already seen minor pro action with Single A Lynchburg.
Hunter Omlid – Fresno Grizzlies, Low A Affiliate, Colorado Rockies
A 2019 HarbourCat and another of the seven HarbourCats drafted or signed in the 2024 draft, Omlid was immediately put to work at Low A Fresno, appearing in two games, where in four innings of work, he struck out six and walked two, giving up one run on just one hit.
MiLB Development Camps
Other than Sean Heppner and Hunter Omlid (noted above), the remainder of the HarbourCats 2024 draft picks and free agent signees, were not officially assigned a team to close out 2024 and remained in the development camps of their respective clubs. This includes:
Ryan Magdic, 2023 HarbourCat (Oakland A’s)
Lucas Ramirez, 2024 HarbourCat (Los Angeles Angels)
Connor Dykstra, 2024 HarbourCat (Seattle Mariners)
Jesse Brown, 2022-2023 HarbourCat (Miami Marlins)
Jagger Beck, 2024 HarbourCat (Houston Astros)
2025 SEASON TICKETS: 2025 Season Tickets and 10-Game Flex Packs are now on sale through the HarbourCats office at 101-1814 Vancouver Street. Drop in or call 778-265-0327 to renew your seat or to lock in news seats for 2025. Early-bird pricing on Season Tickets in effect until September 30, 2024!
Pitcher Hudson Lance is a strong believer in faith, and it is that faith that will guide him in his return to the HarbourCats in 2026 (Photo: Christian J. Stewart).
By Norm LeBus
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 6, 2026
Victoria, BC – As a devout Christian and a business student, athlete and leadership intern at Coastal Carolina University, Hudson Lance already walks the road less travelled.
And now his path is even more remote.
A middle-inning reliever last summer with the ‘Cats, Lance has walked away from Division One baseball this season to follow the Lord.
Returning to Coastal Carolina in fall of ’25, Lance was informed he was surplus as the Chanticleers’ roster swelled with talent after last season’s appearance in the College Baseball World Series.
Lance hit the transfer portal and relocated to D1 mid-major Winthrop, also in South Carolina. But two weeks before his arrival, Lance changed his mind. It was August 1.
“I shocked my entire world,” Lance says. “Everyone who knew me thought I was crazy. But I have not regretted it for a second.”
Photo: Christian J. Stewart
Lance went from D1 scholarship student athlete to Christian, club baseball player, business student and leadership intern at…Coastal Carolina. He never left the school that rejected him after initially recruiting Lance to play baseball.
“I just never had peace with the decision to go to Winthrop,” he says. “My faith is really a giant part of my life, and I really felt like the Lord was calling me to step away from baseball. I absolutely love Coastal Carolina – the friends I’ve made there, the community I have.”
At Carolina this year, Lance is running long distance to build stamina, bullpen training and pitching live at-bats with the schools’ club baseball team. But he’s just as excited about his internship with FCA, Fellowship for Christian Athletes – a major time commitment for the business major.
“It’s really just something the Lord has put on my heart and I’m really passionate about,” Lance says. “It is time consuming, but to me it doesn’t feel like work, or something that’s this great burden because it’s something that I love.”
But Lance is returning to the WCL without a season of Division One baseball – an anomaly in the Pacific Northwest circuit.
“When I get to Victoria, it won’t be like I haven’t faced a batter in several months,” he says of the pitching he will be doing at Coastal Carolina with its club team. “I will just have faced hundreds of batters training throughout the entire spring.”
Last season in Victoria, Lance was a middle reliever who had a solid rookie season – one bad outing ballooned his ERA, but the ‘Cats won five of the seven games he appeared in.
Photo: Christian J. Stewart
“He was a good, reliable middle inning guy for us, came in in situations and got batters out when we needed it, a reasonable number of strikeouts, ‘Cats GM Christian Stewart recalls. “More importantly, he only walked three guys – that’s a big plus in this league.”
In bullpen work with the club team this spring, Lance says he’s working on direction, speed and location in bullpen training. Then there’s the live at bats.
“My plan is to hit the ground running and be ready to roll when I hit Victoria,” he explains.
It’s far from the first time a player has arrived in Victoria in May without recent D1 experience.
“The fact that he’s a player without a home right now is kind of interesting – there’s no stats to look at and see how he’s doing, so whether that’s a plus or a minus, hard to say,” Stewart says. “Hopefully we can he’s working hard and ready to show somebody what he can do.”
That seems a safe bet.
—
Hudson Lance and the HarbourCats begin the 2026 West Coast League season on the road in Portland on Friday, May 29th and then return to Wilson’s Group Stadium for the Home Opener against the Edmonton Riverhawks on Tuesday, June 2 at 6:30 pm.
Tickets for that game and all 2026 HarbourCats games, as well as the 2026 All-Star Game and Home Run Derby July 14-15, Season Tickets and Flex-Packs are now on sale at harbourcats.com/tickets or at the HarbourCats office at 101-1814 Vancouver Street just around the corner from the stadium.
Summer Collegiate
Victoria HarbourCats – School Spirit Games partners pleased with near-sellout status
March 4, 2026
Nanaimo NightOwls head coach Cody Andreychuk is from the Harbour City — but spends most of his time now as dugout boss at the University of Pikeville in Kentucky.
So, it’s no surprise the next nine players signed are playing college baseball in the Bluegrass State — talent from UPike, and Western Kentucky.
And two of them? From Nanaimo, of course, continuing the tradition of local flavour with the NightOwls.
Announced today by “Coach Chuk”:
LHP Bryson Vawter, Western Kentucky, L/L, 6-1/210, Topeka, Kansas
LHP Rodney Whaley, Western Kentucky, L/L, 6-2/195, Ashland, Nebraska
RHP Jacob O’Day, Western Kentucky, R/R, 6-3/185, Bloomington, Illinois
RHP Jack Schroeder, UPikeville, R/R, 6-1/205, Cody, Wyoming
RHP/IF Reed Sutton UPikeville, L/R, 6-2/215, Nanaimo
LHP Caleb Morrison, UPikeville, L/L, 5-10/170, Georgetown, KY
IF Easton Mould, UPikeville, R/R, 5-10/165, Nanaimo
SS Francis Subero, UPikeville, S/R, 5-11/185 San Jose De Ocoa, Dominican Republic
OF Ethan Reynolds, Western Kentucky, R/R, 5-11/210, Bowling Green, KY
“There is a hard-nosed way of playing the game in Kentucky that our fans at Serauxmen Stadium will like — these guys all work hard and grind,” said Andreychuk. “The pitching depth from this group will important, and I really like having Nanaimo guys in Mould and Sutton. I know these players very well, what they can do.”
This is an intriguing group of additions —- it includes returning local second baseman Mould, and fellow Pirates product Sutton, who got a short stint as a NightOwl in 2025. Mould played 37 games for the NightOwls in 2025 and is the double play partner this spring at UPike with Dominican shortstop Subero, who is batting .356 with 11 runs driven in over 13 games.
O’Day fanned 63 hitters in 58 innings for Heartland CC before transferring to WKU. Vawter had a 3.84 ERA and 87 strikeouts in 72 innings at Kansas City CC, while Whaley is another lefty and a product of power junior college program Iowa Western.
Schroeder and Morrison will be counted on for quality bullpen innings, and Reynolds is a versatile fielder with a bat that finds gaps.
Victoria HarbourCats – Faith guides pitcher Hudson Lance as he returns for 2026
Victoria HarbourCats – School Spirit Games partners pleased with near-sellout status
Kentucky Influence Will Be Strong For NightOwls, Nine Players Signed
-
Summer Collegiate2 weeks agoVictoria HarbourCats – Iconic Victoria location to lead off West Coast League All-Star Game Festival
-
Summer Collegiate2 weeks ago
Victoria HarbourCats – Community-first approach for All Star Game committee, leading WCL showcase
-
Summer Collegiate5 days ago
Kentucky Influence Will Be Strong For NightOwls, Nine Players Signed
-
Summer Collegiate3 days ago
Victoria HarbourCats – School Spirit Games partners pleased with near-sellout status
-
Summer Collegiate3 days ago
Victoria HarbourCats – Faith guides pitcher Hudson Lance as he returns for 2026
You must be logged in to post a comment Login