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Victoria HarbourCats – Island not so Sweet for Walla Walla, ‘Cats win sixth in a row!

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A packed house of just over 5,000 fans, including these students from Spencer Middle School, enjoyed the HarbourCats 11-1 win Saturday (Photo: Don Descoteau)

June 7, 2023, VICTORIA, B.C. — The pitchers are pitching, the hitters are hitting, and the defence is defending.

That pretty much tells the tale of a season-starting hot streak for the Victoria HarbourCats (6-0), who completed a second straight series sweep at home with Wednesday afternoon’s 11-1 victory over the Walla Walla Sweets, at Wilson’s Group Stadium in Victoria.

The game, played in front of 5,008 on School Spirit Day sponsored by Mayfair Optometric Clinic, left onlookers with happy eyes indeed. A bases-clearing triple in the third inning by Jack Johnson (Baylor) started the onslaught of runs, and Victoria never looked back.

Johnson finished the day 2-4 with four runs driven in. Tyler Davis (Fresno State) was 4-5, and schoolmate Marco Pirruccello was 2-5 with two doubles — all part of a 14-hit attack, drawing six walks to spur the scoring.

HarbourCats starter Jack Seward delvers a pitch in front of a packed house Wednesday against Walla Walla (Photo: Don Descoteau)

Another Jack, as in Seward (Central Arizona), held Walla Walla bats silent for four effective innings, giving way to Josh Berenbaum, who was credited with the win. Chase Marshall, Loreto Siniscalchi and Darius Opdam Bak each threw an inning to complete the victory, with Walla Walla’s 10 hits and three walks scattered enough to prevent runs crossing the plate.

FULL BOXSCORE

Landon Webb took the loss with four runs allowed in as many innings.

Most of the fans on this special time-game arrived in school buses, which lined the streets around Wilson’s Group Stadium at RAP. Food trucks were wiped clean, and the main concession sold out of hot dogs. There was no ice cream to be had by game’s end in the Sub Zero truck.

The HarbourCats have Thursday off before heading out on a six-game road trip — three games in Wenatchee starting Friday, then moving to Port Angeles for three more. The next home action in Victoria is Friday, June 16, the start of three games (Friday-Saturday evenings and Sunday afternoon) against the Yakima Valley Pippins. The Edmonton Riverhawks then visit for a Tuesday-Wednesday-Thursday (June 20-22) series at RAP.

STANDINGS

The HarbourCats lead the North Division, while the Sweets (0-6), who were swept last weekend by Nanaimo, will be happy to get off of Vancouver Island and head home to regroup and add players to their roster in advance of their Friday home opener at Borleske Stadium.

Tyrus Hall is all smiles as he scores one of Victoria’s 11 runs Wednesday (Photo: Don Descoteau)

Tickets for all remaining games are available on-line ONLY at our official ticketing partner Select Your Tickets at https://harbourcats.com/tickets.   Tickets are also available at the HarbourCats office at 1814 Vancouver Street or by calling 778-265-0327.

 

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Summer Collegiate

NightOwls get the call for International Events

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Righthanded pitcher Moosa Nonomiya, a 2024 Owl from Skagit Valley College, is a Japanese resident but his grandmother was from Pakistan, so he is going to be playing for Pakistan in Dubai in November at the Baseball United Arab Classic.

The tournament features nine teams, including India, Palestine, UAE and Pakistan, and is the top competitive event in the history of the Middle East and South Asia.

Nonomiya is also an outfielder for Skagit. Last summer, he started three games and made seven appearances in his 13.2 innings of work — and he has added velocity this fall after strong developmental work with NightOwls pitching coach Gorm Heimueller.

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Nanaimo Boy Returns Home To Lead The NightOwls

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A local product is coming home to historic Serauxmen Stadium.

 

Cody Andreychuk, currently the Head Coach of the University of Pikeville (NAIA, Pikeville, Kentucky), has been named the new top coach with the West Coast League’s Nanaimo NightOwls. He assumes the post immediately.

 

“Cody is a perfect fit in so many ways to fill the role with Greg Frady stepping down last week,” said General Manager Tina Cornett. “We obviously love that he’s from Nanaimo and will connect with the community very well, but he has a track record of developing players and winning games and will bring that local pride to the NightOwls.”

 

Andreychuk, who has a degree in Sports Management and a Masters in Business Administration, resides in Pikeville with his daughter Harper.

 

“I’m grateful and humbled for the opportunity to be the next baseball coach for the Nanaimo NightOwls, and I’d like to thank Jim Swanson and the ownership group for believing in a local guy to come in and lead this program at historic Serauxmen Stadium,” said Andreychuk, 32.

 

“My daughter and I are excited to be back home on the island for the summer and I look forward to meeting all the fans throughout the season.”

 

Andreychuk has been head coach at UPike since July of 2021, and his Bears team posted a 30-19 record this past spring. Prior to that, he was at Lindsey Wilson College as both assistant and head coach, and served as an assistant at UPike in 2016 and 2017.

Andreychuk knows summer collegiate baseball well — he was hitting coach and camps coordinator for the Hyannis Harbor Hawks of the Cape Cod League, the top collegiate summer baseball league.

 

“Growing up in Nanaimo and playing baseball through the Nanaimo Minor Baseball Association still to this day are some of the most special memories I cherish. I hope we can impact the youth the same way I was impacted growing up playing baseball in Nanaimo.”

 

Andreychuk is certainly not a stranger to the WCL. In addition to supplying strong UPike players to WCL teams — Riley Paulino and Richtter Castillo among those to be NightOwls — he played for the Kelowna Falcons in 2013, posting a .298 average in 33 games, driving in 17 runs. He played collegiately for the VIU Mariners, and with Tusculum Pioneers of the South Atlantic College before embarking on his coaching career. He batted .437 over 29 games in his first year at Tusculum, with two home runs and 29 RBIs. With VIU, he set records for batting average and triples.

 

His younger brother Griffin was a star with the Victoria HarbourCats, playing three seasons and having his number retired at Wilson’s Group Stadium at Royal Athletic Park. He helped lead the HarbourCats to a then-league record 40-14 record in 2016, a team that set a WCL mark with 19 straight victories.

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Frady steps down as NightOwls Head Coach

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It will be more than a little odd to not see Greg Frady in the Nanaimo NightOwls dugout next summer.

The veteran college and international coach has stepped down as Head Coach of the West Coast League team after three seasons of dedication to setting a strong culture with the Nanaimo NightOwls.

 

The search for a new Head Coach is expected to be completed shortly and even announced this coming week.

 

“Greg was our first coach, and his classy way of interacting with the community and leading our players and coaches will never be forgotten,” said Jim Swanson, Managing Partner.

 

“He set the tone for teams that performed well on the field, and handled themselves with tremendous class on and off the field — he set a professional tone for the NightOwls and was respected by the players and people around the league. We have been blessed to have someone I consider a close friend as our head coach.”

 

Frady, 61, and his wife Rhonda spent three summers in the Harbour City, enjoying the perfect weather and endless scenery. Frady, a US Open pickleball champion, gave back in many ways but one of them was to hold skills clinics with Nanaimo pickleball players, where he was always smiling and teaching.

Frady had the team in playoff contention all three years, alive for a spot the final week of the expansion 2022 season, and within a couple games of the top eight playoff spots in 2023 and 2024. The last two seasons, the NightOwls finished ninth overall in the 16-team WCL — and eight teams advance. Players selected in the MLB draft from those teams include Elijah Ickes (2023) and Connor Caskenette (2024).

 

Frady led the expansion edition to a 22-32 record, with a late shot to win the North Division second half, and then posted identical 26-28 marks in 2023 and 2024, for an overall mark of 74-88.

 

The Fradys have endured some exciting times in the last three years, including the wedding of daughter Bailey, and engagement of son Riley. They also, like all Floridians, have seen hurricanes make a mess of their lives and homes the last few years — Hurricane Ian did damage to their Port Charlotte home two years ago, and Hurricane Milton was a direct hit this past week, leaving the Fradys to deal with damage over the next while, and leading to the decision to let the NightOwls install a new Head Coach.

“We thank Greg and Rhonda — they are tremendous people, and they will always have so many friends in the mid-Island area,” said Swanson.

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