Summer Collegiate

Victoria HarbourCats – In 2023, HarbourCats celebrating 10th Anniversary

Published

2 years ago

November 23, 2022

Dugout Wire Service

Above: Nick Pivetta throws the first pitch in HarbourCats history on June 5, 2013 (Photo David Nicholls)

For immediate release

November 22, 2023

VICTORIA, B.C. — It’s the first truly major milestone for your Victoria HarbourCats, and it’s well worth celebrating.

The West Coast League team will be marking 10 years since inception, that first season in 2013, when the team takes the field in June of 2023. And the HarbourCats will do it while both harkening back to the roots of the baseball club and officially recognizing part of what has become the fabric of the ‘Cats, along with welcoming a new twist.

“No one can say these 10 years have been boring, that’s for sure,” said HarbourCats Managing Partner/GM Jim Swanson. “From that eventful first season including hosting the All-Star Game, to setting attendance and win-streak records, to an ownership shift and welcoming new partners, to making regular trips deep into the playoffs — the list of accomplishments is very long.

“The league is now in an official partnership with Major League Baseball as well. Cap that with three of our players making the MLB level (Nick Pivetta, Andrew Vaughn and Alex DeGoti), and the HarbourCats continue to be a success in Victoria in every way.

“We look forward to the next 10 years at Wilson’s Group Stadium at RAP, and beyond.”

The team is proud to unveil a 10-year anniversary patch, that will be used on uniforms and merchandise this year — one that takes the team’s traditional HC cap logo and adds an intertwining twist with the letters. The traditional HC will remain the primary cap logo, the historic foundation, with the new twist a look to the future and another sharp option.

The HarbourCats are also officially adding the colour red to the team’s palette, something that grew out of ongoing work with Rawlings Canada in 2016 and the unveiling of the wildly-popular red CATS jerseys, originally planned to do little more than recognize Canada Day — but became such a smash with players and fans alike, they kept making their way to the field. The adoption of red replaces a spot colour of yellow that was supposed to be part of the original uniform options, but outside of one small run of caps, was never used.

The team will continue to proudly wear the Canada-tinged RED CATS jerseys both home and away, as that popular eye-popping alternate. White home jerseys, the highly-acclaimed all-baby blue set, the road navy HC jerseys, and the VicPD Forces Friday version will help celebrate the 10-year mark on the field in 2023. The white home jerseys are planned for the annual Odlum Brown Jersey Off Your Backs giveaway set, so a new white version will be revealed in 2024. (Early plans are for the red Cats set to be given away to fans late in the 2024 season, with a new replacement set in place for 2025.)

The HarbourCats red jerseys are being officially incorporated into the team’s colour scheme in 2023.

The bright addition of red — shown so prominently by co-owner Helen Edwards everywhere she goes, in her red/white HC cap — is also joined by the official recognition of the V-Cat hat logo as a secondary logo. The on-field cap for 2023 will be the Expos-inspired tri-colour fitted New Era cap with the V-Cat emblem (see below), a nod to HarbourCats Head Coach Todd Haney, who made his MLB debut with the Expos in 1992. Haney is the longest-serving manager in team history, in charge of the lineup since 2019 and signed through the summer of 2026.

“This is an important time to plan and get ahead of the curve, and we are excited about some of the new things that will thrill fans in 2023 — the two years away due to the pandemic have rekindled our energies, both at the field and with our online platforms,” said Swanson.

The HarbourCats have a number of special promotional days lined up to help celebrate the 10th Anniversary season in 2023. Some of those special events, the Top 10 of the HarbourCats 2023 promotions if you will, include:

1. 10th ANNIVERSARY OPENING NIGHT, Friday June 2, 2023, 6:35pm against the Kamloops NorthPaws

2. FIREWORKS, with The Wilson’s Group of Companies, Saturday June 3, 2023, 6:35pm against the Kamloops NorthPaws

3. SCHOOL SPIRIT GAME, with Mayfair Optometric Clinic, Wednesday, June 7, 2023, 11:05am against the Walla Walla Sweets

4. FATHER’s DAY GAME, Sunday, June 18, 2023, 1:05pm against the Yakima Valley Pippins

5. CANADA DAY FIREWORKS, Friday, June 30, 2023, 6:35pm against the Bellingham Bells

6. CANADA DAY MATINEE, Saturday, July 1, 2023, 1:05pm against the Bellingham Bells

7. HARVEY’s 10th BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION, Saturday, July 15, 2023, 6:35pm against the Wenatchee AppleSox

8. BARK IN THE PARK, with Bosley’s on Yates, Sunday, July 16, 2023, 1:05pm, against the Wenatchee AppleSox

9. 10th ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION FIREWORKS, Saturday, July 29, 6:35pm against the Kelowna Falcons

10. 10th ANNIVERSARY JERSEY OFF OUR BACKS NIGHT, with Odlum Brown, Wednesday, August 2, 6:35pm against the Nanaimo NightOwls

2023 Season Tickets
Season ticket renewals and new season ticket sales are now underway for 2023, the HarbourCats 10th Anniversary season! Lock in the best seats in the house by the end of November prior to single-game tickets going on sale. Existing Season Ticket holders should also renew their seats by the end of the month! Contact chris@harbourcats.com or call the office at 778-265-0327 for details or to renew your existing seats!

2023 Flex-Packs
2023 10-Game and Season Ticket Equivalent Flex Pack vouchers are also now on sale! These can be purchased at the office in-person or by phone and can also be ordered on-line via The Cat Shop at https://victoria-harbourcats-official.myshopify.com/products/10-game-flex-pack-general-admission. All flex pack vouchers will be eligible to be exchanged for games in the 2023 season once single-game tickets are available (see below).

2023 Single Game Tickets
Single-game tickets for the HarbourCats 10th Anniversary season will be available both on-line and in person at the HarbourCats office starting at 10:00am December 1, 2022. At that time, 10-game flex pack vouchers will be eligible to be exchanged for games in the 2023 season.

Stay tuned to all of our social media for updates and details as they become available.

Web: www.harbourcats.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/harbourcats
Facebook Fan Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/harbourcats
Twitter: https://twitter.com/harbourcats
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/harbourcats

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Summer Collegiate

NightOwls Split Double-Dip in Edmonchuck

Published

2 days ago

July 25, 2024

Dugout Wire Service

EDMONTON, Alta. — Less smoke, more offense.

The Nanaimo NightOwls, seemingly stranded on the road toward the end a six-game road trip that started with a sweep of three games in Kamloops, ended the game action portion with a 12-1 thumping of the Edmonton Riverhawks on Wednesday night.

The NightOwls, smoked out from the planned Tuesday game — and our hearts go out to those affected by the tragic wildfire in Jasper — went an impressive 4-2 on the trip.

The first game of Wednesday’s doubleheader was a 7-1 Edmonton win, spurred by a four-run second inning. Starter Joshua Torres took the loss, while Sammy Kahler was 2-3 as part of a combined team effort of eight hits.

In the second game, Deshon Thomas was 3-4 with four runs driven in to pace the offense. The NightOwls scored seven runs in the second inning then piled on with three in the fifth and two in the sixth, bashing 10 hits and adding seven walks to set the stage for all the runs.

Noah Hata and Drew Rutter drove in two runs each, and Mitchell Middlemiss was 2-4 with three runs. Hsu He-Chieh was 2-3 with two runs scored.

Game 1 Boxscore Game 2 Boxscore

Jacob Fleury of Skagit Valley was stellar on the mound, giving up five hits and one run in five innings and improving to 3-2 on the season. Paul Montgomery and Issac Araiza pitched an inning each in relief. Araiza struck out two in the final inning for the punctuation.

Standings

The NightOwls are now 20-22 overall and 8-7 in the second half, very much in the playoff hunt for both the second half crown or one of two wildcard playoff spots in the North Division.

NightOwls TV WCL Pixellot

The next home action for the NightOwls, after a Thursday off day, is hosting the Bellingham Bells at historic Serauxmen Stadium for a Friday-Saturday-Sunday series. Every game counts with how tight the standings are for playoff positions with three spots from the North still to be determined.

Tickets

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Summer Collegiate

Victoria HarbourCats – HarbourCats end road trip with sweep of Lefties

Published

2 days ago

July 25, 2024

Dugout Wire Service

July 24, 2024

For immediate release

PORT ANGELES, WA – Michael Crossland stayed hot increasing his hit streak to five games with a three-hit night, leading the Victoria HarbourCats to a 6-3 win against the Port Angeles Lefties.

Shea Lake started his fourth game of the season and was impressive, pitching into the fifth inning for the first time. The Hawaii Pacific right-hander went 4-1/3 innings giving up two unearned runs on one hit, while striking out three.

BOX SCORE

Lake received run support early through RBI singles from Tyrus Hall and Ny’Zaiah Thompson in the second inning to give the Cats a 2-0 lead. With that base knock, Hall increased his hit streak to six games

Crossland’s second double of the evening drove home a run in the fourth inning to make it 3-0. Gunner Antillon followed that up with a single to score Crossland giving Victoria a commanding 4-0 lead. The second baseman had two hits to increase his season average to .308 and add to his on-base streak of 20 games.

WCL STANDINGS

Nick Frers gave up one unearned run while pitching 1-2/3 innings, striking out one.

Crossland’s third hit of the game was a sixth-inning RBI single which made it 5-3 HarbourCats. Victoria added an insurance run in the ninth with Michelle Artzberger getting in on the action, hitting a two-out double to give his team a 6-3 lead. The first baseman now has a .408 batting average in 18 games.

WATCH GAMES HERE

Garrett Villa recorded the save pitching the final three innings striking out a season-high five batters while giving up three hits and zero runs.

The sweep of the Lefties means the Cats are back to .500 on the season with a 21-21 record. In the second-half standings, they sit two and a half games back of the Wenatchee AppleSox for the North Division lead.

BUY TICKETS HERE

The HarbourCats now return home on Friday, July 26 at 6:35 pm to begin a three-game series against the Kamloops North Paws. That game kicks off “Kids Free Weekend” where all kids 12 and under get in free thanks to Peninsula Co-op. Simply come to the gate on any of the three game days, or get your tickets for these games in advance at the HarbourCats office. The Kids Free option is NOT available online.

REMINDER: If you have HarbourCats ticket vouchers of any kind, 10-game flex packs, or season ticket equivalent vouchers, just a reminder that all vouchers must be used for any of our remaining nine home games. Should we make playoffs, vouchers are not eligible for any games no matter where they are played. You can exchange your vouchers in advance for game tickets at the HarbourCats office at 101-1814 Vancouver Street.

Source

Summer Collegiate

NightOwls Lose a Tough One in Edmonton

Published

3 days ago

July 24, 2024

Dugout Wire Service

EDMONTON, Alta. — One more strike was all that was needed.

The Nanaimo NightOwls, fresh off an impressive sweep of a road series in Kamloops, were one pitch away from a fourth straight win on Monday night in Edmonton, but a clutch two-out single in the bottom of the ninth scored two runs to give the host Riverhawks a 5-4 win in West Coast League action.

The NightOwls are now 19-21 on the season and 7-6 in the second half, within grasp of top spot in the North Division lead for snaring home field advantage in the playoffs.

Boxscore

The NightOwls scored two runs in the first and sixth innings and the pitching was strong, from starter Moosa Nonomiya to relievers Tahj Orona, Kai Hanasaki, Grant Jakobson and Ryan Inouye, who was within that one pitch of another save.

Second baseman Hsu He-Chieh had two hits, a run and an RBI, and Wylie Waters had a first-inning double to lead the NightOwls on offence. Waters drove in his 34th run of the season.

Standings

The NightOwls were outhit 13-8 in warm, hazy conditions. In a rarity in today’s game, there were just four strikeouts total, three of them at the expense of Nanaimo batters.

NightOwls TV WCL Pixellot

The NightOwls are in Edmonton for a Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday battle with the Riverhawks, one of the teams Nanaimo will want to get ahead of in the very tight North Division standings.

Right-hander Joshua Torres will start the Tuesday game for Nanaimo, with Jacob Fleury slated for Wednesday night.

Tickets

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