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Summer Collegiate

Victoria HarbourCats – HarbourCats Sweep Wenatchee! Advance to North Division Final

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9 months ago

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Victoria to host the Bellingham Bells in North Division Final at Wilson’s Group Stadium, Saturday night at 6:35pm

Story and Photos by Christian J. Stewart

August 10, 2023

Victoria, BC – A sixth inning triple from Marco Pirruccello, double from Hudson Shupe and two-run homer from Tripp Clark, were the HarbourCats first three hits of the game Wednesday night, leading to a 3-0 HarbourCats lead that they then rode to an eventual 4-2 win over the Wenatchee AppleSox in West Coast League playoff action at Wilson’s Group Stadium in Victoria.

FULL BOX SCORE

The win gives the HarbourCats a two-game sweep over the AppleSox in the best of three Divisional Series and now pits them against the Bellingham Bells  – who also swept their series over Kelowna – in the ONE-GAME knockout North Division Final that will be held at Wilson’s Group Stadium at 6:35 pm on Saturday evening.

The winner of that game will advance to Monday’s WCL Championship game, also a one-game win or die affair, that still potentially could be played here in Victoria.

For that to happen, the HarbourCats obviously must win, but then hope that either Portland (who swept their two game Divisional Series over Ridgefield) or Cowlitz (who play a deciding game three against Corvallis in the Divisional series) emerge as the South Division Champions. If Corvallis should emerge, then the HarbourCats would travel south for that game Monday.

Tickets for Saturday’s North Division Final are now on sale and going fast. They can be purchased on-line HERE!

Note:  Fans who have pre-purchased tickets for this game prior to teams and dates being decided, ad season ticket holders who were e-mailed their tickets vis mobile,  should use HOME PLAYOFF GAME #2 for their ticket.

Tickets are also on sale for the potential West Coast League Championship game on Monday evening. These can also be purchased via Select Your Tickets HERE.   If the HarbourCats should not advance, or if this game ends up being played in Corvallis, fans will have their accounts credited accordingly.

Tickets are also on sale in advance at the HarbourCats office at 101-1814 Vancouver Street. The office will be open all day Friday from 10AM to 5:30 PM, as well as Saturday 10AM to 5PM for this purpose. Tickets will also be on sale at the gate Saturday starting at 5:30 PM.

On Wednesday night, things were looking down for the HarbourCats as Wenatchee starter Andrew Monson held Victoria hitless through the first five innings of the game.  He did start to tire a bit in the fifth and the decision was made to pull him and go to reliever Evan Canfield, who was greeted out of the pen by a lead-off triple from Pirruccello. Shupe then followed with an RBI-Double and after a circus catch off the bat of Tyler Davis by AppleSox left fielder Frankie Carney, Clark deposited a 1-0 pitch over the left-field fence to put the ‘Cats up 3-0.

Meanwhile, the AppleSox were also having early trouble scoring as starter Davis Franklin was almost as good as Monson, holding the Sox to just three hits through the first five innings of play.  Jake Finkelstein came on in relief in the sixth and was brilliant, throwing a three-up, three-down inning and then doing the same in the top of the seventh.

Davis Franklin delivers a pitch Wednesday night.

The ‘Cats would add an insurance run in the bottom of the seventh thanks to an RBI single from Piruccello and that would be all the scoring until the AppleSox mounted a bit of the rally in the top of the ninth against HarbourCats reliever Skyler Manelski.  That did not last long, as Brett Harvey came out of the pen to record the final two outs and get the save.

This will mark the first time the HarbourCats are advancing to a ONE GAME North Division Final.  They have been in the best-of-three North Division finals three times previous to this, losing to Bellingham in 2016, defeating Kelowna in 2017 and defeating Wenatchee in 2019.  In their only other playoff appearance, Victoria lost to Bellingham last season in the Divisional Playoffs.

 

 

 

 

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Summer Collegiate

Victoria HarbourCats – HarbourCats 2024 Summer Kids Camps now open for registration

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19 hours ago

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April 27, 2024

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April 27, 2024

VICTORIA, BC – The Victoria HarbourCats are pleased to announce that their always popular summer baseball camps are now open for registration.

Catering to kids in the 8-11 and 12-15 year-old age groups, a series of half-day camps will take place both outdoors at Royal Athletic Park – the home of the HarbourCats, and indoors at the Edwards Family Training Centre, the official off-field training facility of the HarbourCats and the Victoria Golden Tide.

Camps are set up as half-day sessions and by two age groups: 8-11 and 12-15. For Outdoor camps only, you may register your child for both the morning and afternoon camps according to age, but you must add both the morning camp and afternoon camp to your cart when registering. This option is NOT available for INDOOR camps.

Spaces in each session are limited and sessions may be cancelled if there are not enough participants.

Camps schedule and pricing as follows:

July 2-5th  INDOOR – $200.00 (four half-day sessions per age group)
July 8-12th OUTDOOR – $300.00 (five half-day sessions per age group)
July 15-19th OUTDOOR – $300.00 (five half-day sessions per age group)
July 22-26th OUTDOOR – $300.00 (five half-day sessions per age group)
July 29-August 2 OUTDOOR – $300.00 (five half-day sessions per age group)
August 6- August 9th INDOOR – $200.00 (four half-day sessions per age group)
August 12-16th INDOOR – $250.00 (five half-day sessions per age group)

All camps will be run by Victoria Golden Tide College Baseball coaches and players and/or HarbourCats players when available pending their schedule.

TO REGISTER, please head to The Cat Shop at https://victoria-harbourcats-official.myshopify.com/collections/harbourcats-youth-camps

 

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Summer Collegiate

Japanese pitcher, Hawaiian speedster, big bat from VIU among eight added by NightOwls

Published

6 days ago

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April 22, 2024

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The pitching staff, it is growing — and adding interesting storylines.

Japanese pitcher Moosa Nonomiya, who is at Skagit Valley College in Washington, will add more to the international flavor of the Nanaimo NightOwls for 2024 — already with players from Venezuela, Puerto Rico and Taiwan

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Not all are far flung — lefty-hitting DH/1B Brayden McClary of the VIU Mariners and returning lefty arm Hayden Cuthbertson are islanders who know Serauxmen Stadium well.

Hata can fly — he started 40 games as a freshman and will top that this spring, piling up 28 stolen bases over two seasons. He’s not just speed, he hit a game-winning grand slam in extra innings earlier this month and has three home runs and 25 runs driven in, batting .320 with a low strikeout rate.

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Cuthbertson has had a breakout year with a 3-1 record and four saves, striking out 27 in 17 innings and earning a Division1 spot with Miami-Ohio. McClary, also an Islander, will be the first married player on the NightOwls — he’s a key offensive force in the middle of the VIU lineup, hitting a ball out of Serauxmen this weekend against TRU.

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Felix is a young star catcher with position versatility— and he’s big at 6-2/200 as he goes to Cal Poly this fall. Jakobson is a righthander who will have ample innings available for the summer, a oower arm with bullpen potential.

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Ariaza is a great mix of power and strikes, and he’s the biggest NightOwl to date at 6-5/270. He didn’t walk a batter in 10 outings as a freshman and has 25 strikeouts in 18 innings, along with a save, this spring.

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Hanning has had success at the junior college level and has proven to be a workhorse, including 61 innings already this season, tops on his staff.

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Nonomiya has moved into a starting role in the NWAC conference and is now over 30 innings for a team that has NightOwls assistant Sean FitzGerald on the staff.

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Summer Collegiate

Three returning players, one a WCL all-star, and local infielder highlight eight NightOwls signings

Published

2 weeks ago

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April 17, 2024

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Those announced today:

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OF/LHP Riley Paulino, University of Pikeville, 5-11/180, Fife, WA (returning player)

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C Sammy Torres, University of Pikeville, 5-9/200, Yuaco, Puerto Rico (returning player)

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LHP Richtter Castillo, University of Pikeville, 6-0/215, Maracay, Venezuela

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IF Lucas Laukkanen, Cloud County commit, 6-0/190, Nanaimo

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LHP Carson Jones, St. Martins, 6-0/180, Walla Walla, WA (returning player)

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RHP Christian Lucero, Arizona Christian, 6-1/190, Sacramento

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OF Sammy Kahler, San Diego State, 6-0/185, Stockton, CA

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OF Drew Rutter, San Diego State, 6-1/190, Trabuco Canyon, CA

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