Summer Collegiate
Victoria HarbourCats – Tide Battle but fall short in semi-finals at Zack Downey Tournament
Story and Photos by Christian J. Stewart
September 12, 2021, Victoria, BC – The Victoria Golden Tide scored eight runs in the final two innings, but it would not be enough to overcome a 10-1 deficit and the Tide fell to the Saskatchewan Grizzlies in the semi-final of the Zack Downey Memorial Tournament Sunday morning at Layritz Park in Victoria.
Despite the best efforts of Tide catcher Ryan Whelan (left), the Grizzlies Noah Newman would score one of their 10 runs Sunday on this play at the plate (Photo: Christian J. Stewart)
The Grizzlies would go on to meet the Victoria Eagles in the finals, with the Eagles prevailing 7-0 to take the Premier Division title. The Eagles defeated Parksville in Sunday’s second semi-final 7-3.
Graeme Glynn got the start for the Tide and he was roughed up early, surrendering three runs to the Gizzlies in the very first inning, on three hits, two walks and an error.
The Grizzly’s Ethan Merk rounds second en route to scoring one of his two runs against the Tide (Photo: Christian J. Stewart)
While the Tide would respond with a run in the bottom of the first, the Grizzlies would continue to stay hot offensively, scoring a run in the second and three more runs in each of the third and fourth innings to run their lead to 10-1.
The Tide would finally shake off the cobwebs in the fifth, taking advantage of three Grizzly walks and two errors to score four and cut the lead to 10-5. They had a chance to score more, with one out and the bases loaded, but a pop out and strikeout ended the inning.
The Tide’s Tyler Burton would reach safely on this play as the throw eludes Grizzly first baseman Jonah Kuntz (Photo: Christian J. Stewart)
In the bottom of the sixth, the Tide struck again, with a big blow being a two-out, two-run double off the bat of Brendan Morrison. Morrison would then score when Austin Wall would reach on an error and the Tide had cut the lead to 10-9.
A two-out, two-RBI double from Brendan Morrison gave the Tide some hope in the final inning Sunday (Photo: Christian J. Stewart)
That would be it though, as a fly out to left field ended the game and eliminated the Tide from the tournament.
The Grizzlies were led offensively by Nathan Houston who had a double, two singles, an RBI and a run scored. Brady Bye also added a two-RBI double and scored, while Noah Newman had two hits, a walk and scored twice.
The Golden Tide’s Tristian Bolger would make a great catch of this sinking line drive against the Grizzlies on Sunday morning (Photo: Christian J. Stewart)
On the mound, Joe Stawarz got the start for the Grizzlies and he limited the Tide to just one run on one hit in his four innings of work. Cooper Ostlund and Adam Newton saw work in relief.
The Grizzlies Joe Stawarz would hold the Tide to one run and one hit through four innings of work (Photo: Christian J. Stewart)
For the Tide, in addition to Morrisons two-RBI double, Chase Thomson had a hit, walk and run scored and Ryan Whelan singled, reached on error, had an RBI and a run scored. Tyler Burton and Ben Natingor would also score twice in the losing effort.
On the hill, Jayden Puri, Jackson Leatherman and Brett Patterson all saw work in relief, with Patterson tossing two scoreless innings over the final two frames.
Brett Patterson pitched two scoreless innings of relief against the Grizzlies on Sunday (Photo: Christian J. Stewart)
In split-squad action on Sunday, the Golden Tide were also on the road to Nanaimo where they played a pair of games with Vancouver Island University. Details were not available at the time of writing this, but it sounds like it was a split with a Tide win in game one and a Mariner win in game two.
The Eagles Nick Lee would be safe on this play as Grizzly second baseman Thomas Stawarz could not hang on to the ball (Photo: Christian J. Stewart)
Next action for the Tide is the fall home opener on Friday September 17th at 6:00 pm against Thompson Rivers University. Tickets are just 5.00 or 10.00 for Grandstand (covered) seating Available at the gates or in advance at the HarbourCats office at 101-1814 Vancouver Street, 778-265-0327.
Nanaimo, B.C. – The HarbourCats evened the series with a titanic 11-2 win over their island rivals on Wednesday night.
It was a blink-and-you’ll-mis-it start for the Cats, who scored their first run just four minutes after the first pitch. David Krahn (UBC) and Matt Westley (George Mason) found themselves on base with a single each, and a double off the wall from Logan Shepherd (Mercer) drove Krahn in from second. Westley came in to score an an extremely well-placed bunt from Jacob Silva (UTSA), and a Rohne Klein (San Jose State) single swiftly made it 3-0 Cats after the first half-inning!
Krahn touched the plate once again in the second inning, reaching base on an error and being cashed in by a Logan Shepherd base hit. Westley followed suit, pushing the score to 5-0.
Jeremiah Arnett (Rice) powered through six innings in his fifth start of the season, allowing three hits, no runs, and striking out nine. (Photo by JPM Photography)
The onslaught continued in the middle innings, highlighted by a two-run homer from infielder Brady Hewitt (Fresno State) in the fifth. A Tristan Buehring (Whitman) single brought home another before the end of the frame. Victoria followed up with another two tallies in the sixth, a result of some wild pitches and a knock from Bryan Bradshaw (UCSD). 10-0 Cats after six.
That strong start carried over to the other side of the baseball as well, with Jeremiah Arnett putting on a pitching clinic. The Rice University starter let up three hits in a scoreless six innings, striking out nine NightOwls. Daniel Tovar (Northern Kentucky) took over in relief for the seventh and eighth, keeping things clean and keeping Nanaimo off the board.
Matt Westley was on fire at the dish in Nanaimo, badgering NightOwls pitching for a four-hit game. (Photo by JPM Photography)
David Krahn stayed hot in the top of the ninth, crushing an RBI double to extend the lead to 11. Hunter Daniels (Phoenix) was sent in from the bullpen with a safe cushion to work with, giving up the first runs of the game for the NightOwls but ultimately closing out an 11-2 victory.
The Cats finish off the series in Victoria at 6:35 pm Thursday night before hitting the road for a weekend series in Kelowna.
Single game tickets for all HarbourCats games are now on sale at http://harbourcats.com/tickets. Season tickets, 12-pack and 32-pack game vouchers may also be bought online or by stopping by the HarbourCats office at 101-1814 Vancouver Street.
GET YOUR ALL-STAR TICKETS BEFORE THEY ARE GONE! Tickets for the 2026 WCL All-Star Home Run Derby (featuring former Blue Jay Kevin Pillar) and the West Coast League All Star Game on July 14-15 are selling fast. Get yours today! Each event is now on sale separately, or grab the package deal for both and save a few bucks at http://harbourcats.com/tickets! Or call the office at 778-265-0327 to order by phone.
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Victoria, B.C. – The HarbourCats’ late comeback bid was unsuccessful this fireworks night, dropping the first game of the Nanaimo series 10-7
Usual relief pitcher Austin Lindsey (Hill College) settled into his newfound starting role nicely tonight. The Lufkin, Texas righty was straight up impenetrable in his first four innings, pocketing eight strikeouts over that span. A rare walk from Lindsey came back to bite him in the fifth, driven in by the second hit of the game for Nanaimo to put the NightOwls on top.
Rohne Klein (San Jose State) retorted with a blistering line drive straight to the right field wall, cruising into second with a double and tagging up to third base on an ensuing flyout. Despite Klein’s effort, the bats sputtered and the first baseman was stranded on third to end the inning, still down by one to the visiting side.
Nanaimo made another edit to the scoreboard in the top of the sixth, battling with two strikes and two outs to turn a ball the other way and double their lead to two. Lindsey got into a bit of hot water following that second run, loading the bases and relinquishing the mound to Houston Tomlinson (Arkansas State).
It was a packed house on Tuesday night for the postgame fireworks show! See if you can spot Harvey the HarbourCat in the crowd . . . (Photo by JPM Photography)
The sticky situation only got stickier, with an error by the Cats shortstop allowing two more runs to slip by on Tomlinson’s watch. The NightOwls added a three-run homer as the exclamation point on the inning, taking a 7-0 lead before the Cats got out of it.
The NightOwls loaded them up once again in the seventh, but the inning was saved by third baseman Matt Westley (George Mason). Westley made a diving stop in the hot corner, stepped on third base, and fired a bullet to first base to keep the score from getting further out of hand.
Victoria finally found their way on the board in frame number seven. Rohne Klein’s screamer off the glove of the Nanaimo first baseman moved catcher Jacob Silva (UTSA) over to third base, and Silva came in to score on a wild pitch for the first Cats run of the game. A sacrifice fly from Marcus Nolen (Fresno State) brought home Klein and yet another wild pitch made room for Bryan Bradshaw (UCSD) to score, whittling the deficit down to four with two innings to go.
Tomlinson’s struggles to find the strike zone in the eighth inning gave way to Jake Rafferty (Tacoma) from the bullpen. Rafferty let three more runs fly by before eventually retiring to the dugout.
The Cats put some serious pressure on the NightOwls in the bottom of the eighth, running the bases loaded and scoring four runs on a couple of walks, a sac fly, and an RBI single right back up the middle by Tristan Buehring (Whitman). The comeback effort came up short, however, as the bats returned to dormancy in the bottom of the ninth.
The series goes to Nanaimo on Wednesday night for a Canada Day showdown with the NightOwls, before the third game of the Remax Island Cup takes place in Victoria at 6:35 pm on Thursday.
Single game tickets for all HarbourCats games and the 2026 West Coast League All-Star Game and Home Run Derby are now on sale at http://harbourcats.com/tickets. Season tickets, 12-pack and 32-pack game vouchers may also be bought online or by stopping by the HarbourCats office at 101-1814 Vancouver Street.
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