Summer Collegiate

Victoria HarbourCats – HarbourCats Ink First Players for 2025

Published

2 years ago

October 25, 2024

Dugout Wire Service

Four returnees (above L to R: Wyatt MacDonald Jake Finkelstein, Jacob Thompson Kyle Hepburn) and two Fresno State infielders first to become 2025 HarbourCats

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

October 24, 2024

VICTORIA, BC — With the 2025 West Coast League (WCL) schedule close to being announced, Victoria HarbourCats Head Coach Todd Haney has been busy behind the scenes, assembling a 2025 roster that will look to bring home it’s first ever WCL championship.

Looking to build on the playoff success of 2024 and previous seasons, four familiar faces will make their return to the HarbourCats, including pitchers Jake Finkelstein (Georgia Gwinnett), Jacob Thompson (Minot State) and Wyatt MacDonald (Lower Columbia) — the last two are Victoria natives — and catcher Kyle Hepburn (Southern Illinois), who hails from the Lower Mainland.

Also joining the 2025 roster are first baseman Cayden Munster and middle infielder Jett Ruby, both at Fresno State, continuing a run of solid players from that school that last year brought us WCL All Star Sky Collins and Cam Schneider, in 2023, Team MVP Tyler Davis and Marco Pirruccello and in 2022, WCL All Star Grady Morgan.

Finkelstein was with the HarbourCats in 2022 and 2023 and brings veteran leadership to the pitching corps. In his two years to date, Finkelstein has appeared in 26 games, starting two, and earning a 4-3 record with a 3.16 ERA over 48.1 innings of work. He struck out 50 batters, while walking 18.

Thompson was solid for the HarbourCats out of the bullpen in 2024, appearing in 12 games (20.2 innings pitched) and amassing a 4-1 record and an ERA of 3.48. He struck out 13 batters and walked only four holding opponents to a .211 batting average.

MacDonald was with the HarbourCats late in 2023 as a call up from the Victoria Eagles and saw limited action on the mound appearing in just one game. He is just beginning his freshman season at Lower Columbia under in part the tutelage of Assistant Coach Mike Callia, a former HarbourCat.

Hepburn was an early season call-up for the HarbourCats in 2022, appearing in just five games and then returned for the 2023 season where he appeared in 12 games, hitting .286 with one home run and 11 RBI. He is transferring to Southern Illinois from Johnson Community College where in his freshman year in 2023 he batted .308 (28-for-91) with nine doubles, a triple, a home run, 20 runs scored and 26 RBI.

Munster (6-3/235) and Ruby (6-0/185) will look to provide some pop at the plate from the left side and see key playing time in the infield. Munster was the winner of the Mountain West Scholar-Athlete Award in 2024, one of the highest academic honors bestowed by the conference. Ruby played summer baseball in the PEL for the Humboldt Crabs hitting .345 in 27 games while being named the Team MVP.

“We have a great relationship with Ryan Overland, Head Coach at Fresno State, who consistently sends us quality players and quality individuals,” said HarbourCats Head Coach Todd Haney. “I am confident that Munster and Ruby will be key offensive players for us in 2025, the same way Schneider and Collins were last year, and the players before them” added Haney. “Finkelstein, Thompson, Hepburn and MacDonald, as returning players, know the championship expectations of playing in Victoria and will be able to pass that along to new players on the 2025 team.”

The HarbourCats, who joined the WCL in 2013, will enter into their 11th season of play at Wilson’s Group Stadium at Royal Athletic Park in 2025 (with the 2020 and 2021 seasons cancelled due to COVID) and have made the playoffs in six of those 10 previous seasons including the last four in a row (2016, 2017, 2019, 2022, 2023, 2024) with trips to the WCL Championship game(s) in 2017, 2019 and 2023.

The 2025 schedule, which will feature 27 home league games and (where possible) 2-5 non-league games, should be released in the next week. Season Tickets and 10-game Flex Packs are now on sale, with Season Tickets on at Early Bird Pricing until October 31st. Stop in to the HarbourCats office at 101-1814 Vancouver Street to order, or call 778-265-0327. Flex packs may also be ordered on-line in the Cat Shop HERE.

For more updates, be sure to follow the Harbourcats here on our web and on all social channels (Facebook, Twitter and Instagram).

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Summer Collegiate

Victoria HarbourCats – Bells Overpower HarbourCats to Avoid Sweep

Published

2 hours ago

June 28, 2026

Dugout Wire Service

The Cats scraped together just three hits this afternoon after totalling 28 in the last two games. (Photo by JPM Photography)

Victoria, B.C. – The HarbourCats came up short in the third game of the series, falling 10-2 to the visiting Bellingham Bells.

As the tradition seems to go in this series, the game stayed scoreless until the fourth inning. Power-hitting outfielder Rohne Klein (San Jose State) got his pitch and didn’t miss, launching a two-run rocket between the derby wickets in right field to take the lead for the Cats.

BOX SCORE

Klein’s fellow San Jose State ballplayer Landon Marchetti made in impact in his second start of the season, going four innings with just one hit and four strikeouts to keep the Bells in check. Marchetti was tagged out for Easton Reimers (North Dakota State) who gave up a solo home run in the top of the fifth.

Despite loading the bases after that homer, Reimers was able to bear down and pick up a clutch strikeout to stride back to the dugout with the lead intact. Determined not to let another run by on his watch, Reimers returned to the mound for the top of the sixth and powered through a scoreless frame. Bellingham would not be denied, however, as they sent one deep in the top of the seventh to take a 5-2 lead.

Landon Marchetti kept things clean in his four-inning start, allowing one hit and no runs. (Photo by JPM Photography)

That go-ahead homer from the visitors introduced the need for a new pitcher, namely Tate Collins (Arkansas State) of Little Rock, Arkansas. Collins gave up a 2-RBI double to extend Bellingham’s lead to 7-2. Right-handed sidewinder Pierce Stone (Regis) appeared on the mound in the top of inning the eighth, walking one batter and allowing a single to set the stage for a three-run dinger from the Bells.

Flynn Warren (Hawaii Pacific) tossed a scoreless top of the ninth out of the pen, but Victoria’s offence went down quietly in their last chance at the plate, giving up the chance at a series sweep with a 10-2 loss.

WCL STANDINGS

With their clash with the Bells complete, the Cats will regroup tomorrow before hosting the Nanaimo NightOwls on Tuesday night at 6:35 pm for the first of a three-game set.

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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Summer Collegiate

Victoria HarbourCats – Cats Clinch Bellingham Series with 6-2 Win

Published

15 hours ago

June 28, 2026

Dugout Wire Service

Cats hitters have racked up a total of 28 hits over two games in this series so far, 12 of them coming from tonight. (Photo by JPM Photography)

Victoria, B.C. – The HarbourCats clinched a series win over the Bellingham Bells on Saturday night, outworking the Bells on the way to a 6-2 victory.

Seattle native Quincey Brown (UCSD) was not messing around in his first start as a HarbourCat. Brown sat down three Bells on strikes on the first inning and stacked up two more punchouts before stepping aside for Davis Lee (Calgary) in the third inning.

BOX SCORE

The Cats finally broke the deadlock in the bottom of the fourth inning. Shortstop Brady Hewitt (Fresno State) got on base with a leadoff single and stole second, later wheeling around third on a Rohne Klein (San Jose State) base hit to score the first run of the game. Lukas Le Gras (Westmont) doubled the lead with a double off the wall, bringing Klein in to score before stealing home on a wild pitch to widen the lead to 3-0. David Krahn (UBC) clubbed his second homer in two games over the left field fence, and a double from Jacob Silva (UTSA) capped off the inning with an RBI double to widen the lead to 5-0.

Davis Lee called it a night in the top of the sixth after holding the line for 2.2 innings and keeping Bellingham’s score at a nice round number. Leif Friedrich (Concordia-Nebraska) came in for his HarbourCats debut and kept it rolling, securing the outs needed to move on to the bottom of the inning.

Lukas Le Gras had a strong offensive showing, going 2/4 with a double. (Photo by JPM Photography)

The Cats added some insurance in the bottom of the sixth, a Tristan Buehring (Whitman) sacrifice fly for Victoria’s sixth run. Carson Ackermann (Tacoma) was the next arm out of the pen for the HarbourCats. The right-hander quickly found himself in a bases-loaded jam and allowed the first two runs of the ballgame for the Bells before escaping the frame.

Ackermann stuck it out until the top of the ninth, when Anson Stuckly (Texas A&M Corpus Christi) took over, stranding a couple of runners and closing out a 6-2 win.

WCL STANDINGS

The Bellingham series comes to a close at 1:05 pm on Sunday afternoon, preceding a midweek series against the Nanaimo NightOwls beginning on Tuesday night.

Source

Summer Collegiate

Victoria HarbourCats – Cats Pummel Bells in 17-6 Victory

Published

2 days ago

June 27, 2026

Dugout Wire Service

Victoria unleashed 11 runs in the sixth inning, paving the way to a resounding win over the top team in the West Coast League. (Photo by JPM Photography)

Victoria, B.C. – A grand slam followed by an 11-run inning led to a robust win over the Bellingham Bells on Friday night, with the Cats claiming a 17-6 win.

BOX SCORE

The Cats looked a little trigger-happy in the first third of the game, only seeing 15 pitches from Bellingham’s starter. This enthusiasm didn’t earn much, with just two HarbourCats reaching base in a quick three innings.

On the other side of the coin, Jeremiah Arnett (Rice) made quick work of the Bells as well, refusing to allow them the luxury of a hit through four innings and earning five strikeouts on the side. Jake Rafferty (Tacoma) took up the torch for the fifth, getting himself into a sticky situation with a couple of wild pitches before finding his way out with a zero on the board.

Jeremiah Arnett allowed zero runs in a four-inning start. (Photo by JPM Photography)

The HarbourCats finally dug their claws in for the bottom of the fifth, loading the bases just in time for David Krahn (UBC). The British Columbia local stepped up to the plate and delivered, utterly pulverizing a ball to left field for an electrifying grand slam, breaking the seal and taking a 4-0 lead for the home side.

Bellingham responded passionately in the next inning, sneaking a run in on a base hit followed by a three-run blast off of Cats reliever Spencer Kratt (San Jose State). Victoria shrugged it off and pulled out all the stops in the bottom of the fifth, taking advantage of a Bellingham error and finding hits from Lukas Le Gras (Westmont), Bryan Bradshaw (UC San Diego), Rohne Klein (San Jose State) et al to jump out in front of the Bells. By the time the smoke cleared on a long sixth inning, the Cats were suddenly up 15-4. Not too shabby.

Surrey, B.C.’s Marcus Janovsky (UBC) entered the game in the seventh to face a battered and bruised group of Bells, who snuck home on a sloppy relay from the outfield to scratch away at the 11-run lead standing over them.

Unwilling to let up after taking a comfortable lead, the Cats kept their foot on the gas in the bottom of the seventh. Designated hitter Jacob Silva (UTSA) batted in a pair of runs with a one-out single, pushing the score to a humble 17-6 with two innings to go.

Hunter Daniels (Phoenix College) came in from the bullpen to dot the i’s and cross the t’s on a booming victory for the HarbourCats in their first game against the top team in the West Coast League Standings.

WCL STANDINGS

The Cats get another crack at the Bells on Saturday night at 6:35 pm, and the series comes to an end with an afternoon game on Sunday.

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