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Victoria HarbourCats – HarbourCats Ink First Players for 2025

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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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Riverhawks bats take flight in game two victory over NorthPaws

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The Kamloops NorthPaws lost game two of their weekend series against the Edmonton Riverhawks 14-8. The NorthPaws got off to a 6-0 lead, but Edmonton scored 14 unanswered runs, stunning the home crowd. On the mound, the Riverhawks were able to pitch seven straight scoreless innings, shutting down the NorthPaw bats.

“I think we went into cruise control today and took our foot off the gas, and it hurt us tonight,” said Assistant Coach Trey Newman.

Kamloops got the lead first with second baseman Elijah Clayton walking and advancing to third on a throwing error. Center fielder Jared Hall drove him in on a sacrifice fly.

In the second inning, the NorthPaws had the bases loaded with no one out, as Clayton doubled, scoring two more runs. Hall would follow suit, doubling to make it four in the inning and a 5-0 ballgame. Brendan Burke singled, scoring the sixth run for the NorthPaws as they took control of the game.

Things would take a sharp turn, however, as Edmonton’s offence came to life. Two doubles, a single, a triple, two wild pitches and two walks lead to six Riverhawk runs, tying the game. In the top of the sixth, the Riverhawks delivered more fatal blows, batting around and scoring five more runs, making it 11 unanswered to that point. The NorthPaws didn’t know what hit them, but in two innings, the game was flipped on its head.

Five Riverhawks had multiple hits, including Trent Lenihan and Shiryu Sato, who combined for seven RBIs. The offensive outburst, mixed with quality pitching, was a duo the NorthPaws couldn’t overcome on Saturday night.

“This team can prove a lot to us coaches and themselves about how they respond in these situations. We’re in a good spot in the first half so far, but we need to win a series at home, so tomorrow’s going to be a big identity game for this group,” said Newman.

The NorthPaws and Riverhawks will wrap up the three-game set on Sunday afternoon. It will be a fun one at the ballpark, especially since it’s Father’s Day. Tickets are being offered at a discounted price. The first pitch is set for 12:05.

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A Late Rally By The Falcons Put An End To The NightOwls Win Streak

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KELOWNA, B.C. — A late rally from the Kelowna Falcons saw the Nanaimo NightOwls fall 2-1 on Saturday night from Elks Stadium. A two-run rally from the home side was enough to tie up the series in the 8th inning.

It wasn’t the pitching that hurt the NightOwls on the night, as starter Richtter Castillo threw four innings of two-hit ball while striking out six batters. Not to be outdone, Teague Van Dyke had three scoreless innings not giving up a hit and adding another 4 strikeouts to the NightOwls total.

Trey Langan is the picture of record for Nanaimo despite only giving up two hits and two runs. It is safe to say that pitching could not be blamed on the evening, as the three pitchers combined for just two runs on four hits and 11 strikeouts. The NightOwls couldn’t deal with the Kelowna starting pitcher.

Joel Hogan went all nine innings for the Falcons and had to face just 31 batters in the process. He only walked two and got 3 strikeouts, so he wasn’t carving up the Nanaimo batters; they were just hitting them right at people, and sometimes you have a game like that.

At the plate for the Nanaimo NightOwls there were still a couple of bright spots as Owen Wessel went one for three with a double, run, and a walk. Jacob Hayes continued to keep his hitting streak alive as he went one for four with a single. That moves the streak now to 10 games for the 6’5 first basemen from Azusa Pacific University.

Nathan Davis, Raoul Fabian Jr., and Brady Morse all added in with one hit on the evening. I spoke with Brady after the game,

“Yeah, it was a hard-fought game, and we just didn’t have some hard-hit balls fall our way. Baseball is a weird game like that, sometime where even if you play great, you can still lose. Their pitcher threw really well and attacked the zone. With wood bats, sometimes that’s enough to get the job done.” He finished it off perfectly for the NightOwls, “All we can do is get back tomorrow and bring some intensity.”

It was a hard night to come by hits and runs as the NightOwls had just one run on 5 hits with an error, while the Kelowna Falcons had two runs on four hits, but they didn’t come until late in the game. The series is on the line Sunday, and like Brady said, all we can do is get back tomorrow and bring some intensity!

The Nanaimo NightOwls finish their road trip in Kelowna against the Falcons on Sunday, June 15th. Nanaimo heads back to Victoria for a three-game stint before returning home on June 20th against the Port Angeles Lefties for a weekend series. Make sure to get your tickets and follow the team on our website and social media when they are out on the road for the latest information and updates!

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Victoria HarbourCats – Bells even up series with huge win

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Isaiah Afework came into the game as a defensive replacement in the seventh inning (Photo: Raphael Oliveira)

June 14, 2025

For immediate release

VICTORIA, B.C. – The Bellingham Bells returned the favour Saturday night with an emphatic 14-3 against the Victoria HarbourCats, after the Cats’ blowout win Friday night.

For the sixth game in a row, the Cats got off to a quick start, scoring in the first inning. Jacob Silva (TCU) drove in two runs with a single down the left field line to give the hosts a 2-0 lead.

The lead didn’t last very long as the Bells put up five runs in the top of the second, including an Andrew Lamb grand slam, to give them a 5-2 lead.

BOX SCORE

Logan Rumberg (George Mason) made his HarbourCats debut on the mound and pitched two innings. He gave up five unearned runs, due to a two-out error before the grand slam, walked three batters, and struck out three. He showed flashes of what he can do with his fastball reaching 95 MPH in the early going, but lost velocity and control as the game progressed.

The runs kept coming for the visitors, and it was Lamb again at the heart of it. The left fielder hit his second home run of the game, this time a three-run shot, to give the Bells a 9-2 advantage in the fourth inning. Lamb finished the game with three hits, two walks, and eight RBIs.

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One bright spot in the game for Victoria was their switch-hitting catcher Silva, who hit his first home run of the season in the fifth, a solo shot. On the defensive side, the freshman was also impressive, picking off two runners. In 23 plate appearances this season, he leads the team with a .565 on-base percentage.

Bellingham had 16 hits on the night and continued to tack on runs late in the game, scoring a pair in the fifth and seventh, and one more in the eighth.

WCL STANDINGS

Oliver Mabee (Nebraska Omaha) pitched two innings, giving up four runs on six hits. Nolan Bushko (ETBU) walked five batters over two innings of work, giving up two runs. Jalen Sami (Golden Tide) also pitched two innings, giving up three runs on six hits. Jake Finkelstein (Georgia Gwinnett) made his second appearance of the campaign and threw a three-up-three-down ninth inning.

Owen Clyne (George Mason) went three for three, Jack Johnson (Baylor) had a pair of hits, and Logan Shepherd (Tacoma CC) increased his hit streak to eight games with a third-inning single.

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The rubber match is at 1:05 PM tomorrow for our Father’s Day matinee and the second Family Fun Sunday of the season. Buy tickets at harbourcats.com/tickets

Season Tickets, 10 and 32-Game Flex Passes and Single Game Tickets are now on sale for all 33 home games and four “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.

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