Summer Collegiate
Victoria HarbourCats – Shepherd returns in 2026 with sights set on new record and more
2025 All-Star Logan Shepherd returns in 2026 with his sights set on besting the HarbourCats franchise home run record and bringing a WCL title to Victoria.
By Norm LeBus
The HarbourCats’ designated hitter says he’s breaking the team home record this season. But Logan Shepherd is the first to admit he’s not really trying to.
Batting for long balls is a fool’s errand, he says.
“You’re going to start popping the ball up in the infield or hitting really lazy fly balls,” the 21-year-old Olympia, Washington native says. “Home runs for me are never necessarily on purpose, they’re always sort of an accidental thing.”
Oops – Shepherd went yard in his very first at bat of the ‘Cats home opener last year.
The count was 2-1, he recalls, and he was sitting on a fastball, middle, middle away. That’s the pitch Shepherd hits best, and what he focuses on at the plate.
“Because it’s a lot easier to adjust from a fastball to an off-speed pitch than the other way,” he says. “If you’re not on time ready to hit a fastball, you’re going to foul it off or you’re going to swing and miss. There’s no in between.”
Shepherd made big strides with his bat two years ago. During his first year at Tacoma CC, he lacked the hip rotation that powers explosiveness. In a classic swing, first the hips open (rotate), then the torso and shoulders follow, in concert and in synchronicity. The bat then extends in a slight upward arc at contact.
Shepherd explained that because he lacked hip flexibility, he couldn’t adequately “separate” his lower and upper body and was “falling” into pitches and rotating late.
He spent time with a private baseball company, Driveline, who incorporate data-driven player development through motion capture, force plates and physics to help fine tune a swing.
“They really helped me unlock untapped potential,” Shepherd says. “So that really helped with home run ball projection and all that kind of stuff.”
Last season, Shepherd was the Harbourcats DH; hitting .345 over 40 games with nine doubles and eight home runs (The team record is nine dingers).
Shepherd came to the ‘Cats last season projected as a first baseman. But he admits he was less of a natural at the bag than at bat. As a youth, Shepherd played middle infield. But at Tacoma Community College, he realized a 6-2, 210-pound athlete is not playing second base.
“They kind of threw me to the wolves at Tacoma,” he says. “I didn’t have a whole lot of coaching on that, playing first…so I kind of learned how to play the position by myself.”
Last year in Victoria, the ‘Cats had players with NCAA division one experience at first base, so Shepherd helped where he could.
“I was learning from them (‘Cats first baggers) all the time, but when coach Haney put me in the DH spot, I kind of was able to just focus on what I feel I’m best at, and that’s hitting, he says. “When I was able to lock in and focus on that, that was me making my contribution to the team and doing what I could to help us win.
Shepherd is currently on baseball scholarship at NCAA Division 1 school Mercer College in Macon, Georgia, where he’s been training at first base since last September. The school plays a Southern Conference schedule of 56 games that begins February 13 out of 1,500 seat OrthoGeorgia Park.
“Now that I have a coaching staff that’s been able to get down and work with me on certain positional things, it’s been a lot better,” Shepherd says. “I’ve really developed in the position a lot over that last six months or so, just being here.”
Shepherd is penciled in at first base and batting lead-off or in the three hole, he says. And playing first carries more defensive duties than spitting out sunflower seeds on the bench DH-ing.
“100 percent,” he says. “So I had to work on my flexibility a little bit, and over time that got better; it all goes hand in hand. It not only made me a better first baseman, but a little bit faster, as well.”
As savvy fans realize, first base is a huge responsibility. Infield outs aren’t registered if the first basemen doesn’t have a good stretch – and really good hands.
HarbourCats’ fans will look forward to Shepherd’s return in 2026!
“You always got to be prepared for a bad throw, it’s a lot easier to relax and then just catch it instead of having to react and pick something out,” Shepherd says, “You’re already in a good position to handle that bad throw, no matter how bad it looks.”
So.
Faster, more flexible and coming back to Victoria in June in with a first season at first base at Mercer College.
Sounds like a home run record.
“Home runs for me are never on purpose, they are always kind of an accidental thing,” Shepherd says. “But once you catch it on the sweet spot of the barrel, it doesn’t feel like you’ve hit anything; it’s like you hit a marshmallow. You know you got it real good.
Harbourcats fans say: sweet.
Shepherd and the HarbourCats begin their 2026 season on May 29th with a visit to Portland and then return to Victoria for the Home Opener against the Edmonton Riverhawks on Tuesday, June 2, 6:30 pm.
Season tickets, single-game tickets, 12 and 32-game flex packs and 2026 All-Star Game ticket packages are now on sale at harbourcats.com/tickets or at the HarbourCats office at 1814 Vancouver Street.
May 12, 2026
NANAIMO, BC — Once players have landed in Nanaimo, they definitely want to come back.
Right-hander Blake Hager has signed to return to historic Serauxmen Stadium— celebrating its 50th year — and pitch for a coach in Gorm Heimueller who is now in his 50th year in the game.
Hager is a NCAA Division 1 starting pitcher and brings immediate experience and stability to the pitching staff.
Hager, Parker King of Campbellsville and Damian Pasillas have been signed as pitchers, along with and exciting group of position players by Head Coach Cody Andreychuk:
RHP Damian Pasillas, Azusa Pacific, 6-1/195, San Diego, CA
RHP Blake Hager, Morehead State, 6-3/205, Pikeville, KY
SS Beau Musser, University of Hawaii, 5-9/150, L/R, Los Gatos, CA
C Blake Helsper, Hawaii Pacific, 5-8/175, L/R, Irvine, CA
RHP Parker King, Campbellsville, 5-11/160, Anaheim, CA
OF Diego Escandon, Columbia Basin, 5-10/170, R/R, Edmonds, WA
Hager previously pitched for the NightOwls in the 2025 season, 2-1 with a 7.71 ERA in six appearances, one of them a start. He’s started five games this spring for Morehead State, going 2-0 with a 6.84 ERA.
Pasillas has 45 innings this spring for Azusa Pacific, with two wins.
Musser is a highly-regarded, lefty-swinging shortstop signed to be a freshman at UH in fall. Described as a Brett Gardner type who plays a strong shortstop. Is being groomed to take the role at UH when former NightOwls star and Texas draft pick Elijah Ickes moves to the pro level.
Helsper handled the majority of the catching duties for Div2 Hawaii Pacific this season, especially down the stretch — a tough, scrappy hitter and hard worker behind the plate, he struck out just nine times and walked 12 times, hitting .328, in 112 at bats over 39 games. He started 30 games and had 38 hits, five of them doubles, and stole four of five attempted bases.
King was at Orange Coast in junior college before landing at Campbellsville, where he is 3-0 with a 4.28 ERA this season over 14 appearances. He has a save and 26 punch-out’s with just nine walks in 33.2 innings for a very good NAIA school.
Escandon has identical .291 averages the last two seasons, and has an exciting mix of power and speed — seven home runs and 51 stolen bases combined.
Summer Collegiate
Victoria HarbourCats – Vancouver Island Brewing and Victoria HarbourCats unveil the Islander FanZone
By Norm LeBus
Victoria, BC – He works fast and he likes a crowd. That makes third-year pitcher Shea Lake a hit with his teammates – and even former coaches.
In the relative pressure cooker of Wilson’s Group Stadium at Royal Athletic Park, there’s an electricity on good summer nights that’s not coming from the overhead lights.
“It’s kind of like that white line fever,” former pitching coach Scott Anderson tells me from Portland. Scott spent three seasons mentoring the ‘Cats mound prospects. “Some of those guys when they come out across the foul lines and they get 3,000 people in the stands it’s a little bit different story.”
But at 6-3, Shea Lake stands tall on the mound.
“First off, when we’re in Victoria it’s a much better crowd than anywhere else,” he says.
“I just think the way that RAP kind of fits – all those people packed in close together, the energy just fills the room, especially playing night games, firework nights, all the stuff like that.”
Lake is one of the rare three-year players with Victoria. And like many of the ‘Cats, he’s had a nomadic path to BC’s capital.
In his case, ‘Cats fans can thank the U.S. Department of State.
After his freshman year at Hawaii Pacific the coaching staff placed Lake with the Swift Current 57s of the Westen Canadian Baseball League. But Lake’s passport did not arrive in time to play summer baseball. Instead, he’s in town for a trifecta: ’24, 25 and now 2026.
And the 2025 campaign was a busy one: Lake appeared in nine games and pitched 34 innings, compiling a 2-2 record and 3.20 ERA. And both fans and teammates appreciated his efficient pace on the hill. Lake works quickly.
“It’s one of the more underlying things in baseball that people don’t really see,” Lake says. “When your D is out there for a while, it kind of wears them out throughout the game. Getting them off the field and staying on their hitting side, it’s always good for the offense and the fans kind of like it — especially when you have an offense like us.”
And how would he describe himself on the hill?
“I’ve never been a big velocity guy,” he says. “It’s kind of just playing with the hitter and keeping them off balance, control the count and generating ground balls. The longer I’m out there the more it becomes like work, so keeping the pitch count low and trying to get the guys off the field as fast as I can.”
“He’s a pitcher that can pitch,” Anderson says. “Shea’s a solid guy that works with a good tempo and he changes speeds really well. He’ll be a good leader to the team. He’s a smart kid.
Lake is a mechanical engineering student at West Texas A &M near Amarillo. When it comes to his baseball future he thinks like an engineer – sound, fundamental concepts built on proven principles. About 10% of NCAA baseball players are drafted, but a much, much smaller percentage make it all the way to Major League Baseball.
“Of course there’s that chance,” he says. “If a big jump happens, that’s great; I think I have the ability, the capabilities to do it, you never know.
“I just keep my head down and work hard and we’ll see what happens. I wouldn’t say nothing’s really changed: I think just being the best version of myself every day and working as hard as I can is all I can really do.
“As long as I do that, I’m happy with myself.”
It’s a winning attitude.
Before he even crosses those white lines.
The HarbourCats season begins May 29th on the road versus the Portland Pickles, before returning to Victoria for the Home Opener against the Edmonton Riverhawks on Tuesday, June 2, 6:30 pm.
Season tickets, single-game tickets, 12 and 32-game flex packs and 2026 All-Star Game ticket packages are now on sale at harbourcats.com/tickets or at the HarbourCats office at 1814 Vancouver Street.
Hager returns, exciting bats added to NightOwls roster
Victoria HarbourCats – Vancouver Island Brewing and Victoria HarbourCats unveil the Islander FanZone
Victoria HarbourCats – Shea Lake Returns for Third Season with HarbourCats
-
Summer Collegiate2 weeks agoVictoria HarbourCats – HarbourCats announce 2026 A&W Summer Kids Camps
-
Summer Collegiate1 week ago
Victoria HarbourCats – Arms Race Speeds Up for Cats, Seven Pitchers Signed
-
Summer Collegiate7 days ago
Victoria HarbourCats – Peninsula Co-op Makes Special Events Happen This Summer with HarbourCats
-
Summer Collegiate3 days ago
Victoria HarbourCats – Shea Lake Returns for Third Season with HarbourCats
-
Summer Collegiate2 days ago
Victoria HarbourCats – Vancouver Island Brewing and Victoria HarbourCats unveil the Islander FanZone
-
Summer Collegiate2 days ago
Hager returns, exciting bats added to NightOwls roster
You must be logged in to post a comment Login