Summer Collegiate

Victoria HarbourCats – Tide Battle but fall short in semi-finals at Zack Downey Tournament

Published

3 years ago

September 13, 2021

Dugout Wire Service

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.

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Summer Collegiate

NightOwls get the call for International Events

Published

6 days ago

October 18, 2024

Dugout Wire Service

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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Summer Collegiate

Nanaimo Boy Returns Home To Lead The NightOwls

Published

1 week ago

October 17, 2024

Dugout Wire Service

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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Summer Collegiate

Frady steps down as NightOwls Head Coach

Published

1 week ago

October 15, 2024

Dugout Wire Service

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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