Summer Collegiate

Victoria HarbourCats – In 2023, HarbourCats celebrating 10th Anniversary

Published

1 year 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

Record-setting HPU closer, five others added to roster

Published

2 days ago

May 1, 2024

Dugout Wire Service

The players announced as signed by the NightOwls today:

RHP Ryan Inouye, Hawaii Pacific, 5-9/165, Honolulu

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C Cassidy Watt, Dakota State, 6-1/215, Coquitlam, BC

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RHP Aidan Boice, Salt Lake City CC, 6-5/225, Millcreek, UT

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LHP Connor Abadie, San Diego State, 6-0/165, Apple Valley, CA

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IF/OF Cole Carmichael, East LA College, 6-1/185, Petaluma, CA

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RHP Kai Hanasaki, College of the Desert, 6-0/160, Kofu, Japan

Source

Summer Collegiate

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

Published

6 days ago

April 27, 2024

Dugout Wire Service

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

Source

Summer Collegiate

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

Published

2 weeks ago

April 22, 2024

Dugout Wire Service

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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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