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Victoria HarbourCats | Victoria Golden Tide Announce 2021-2022 Coaching Staff

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Victoria native and former LA Dodger prospect Kyle Orr highlight elite group of assistant coaches that will work with Golden Tide Head Coach Curtis Pelletier (above)

For Immediate Release

Friday, August 13, 2021

Victoria, BC – Victoria Golden Tide Head Coach Curtis Pelletier is pleased to announce today the full coaching and training staff that will guide the team during their inaugural season of the Canadian College Baseball Conference (CCBC), which begins fall play this September.

Of note is the addition of Victoria native and former Los Angeles Dodger pro Kyle Orr, who will serve as Hitting Coach. Joining Orr is Pitching Coach Ethan Fox, Third Base Coach Aaron Witzke, Assistant Coach Shawn Loglisci, Assistant Coach Ryan Haines, Strength and Conditioning Coach Jeremy Cordle and Athletic Therapist Tanner McGaw.

Orr was an all-star player in the BC Premier Baseball League and enjoyed success with Team BC at the 2004-2005 Canada Cups and with the Junior National team, winning bronze at the Worlds in 2006. He was offered a full scholarship to the University of Kentucky, but turned that down when the Los Angeles Dodgers selected him in the 4th round of the 2006 MLB entry draft. Orr spent five years as a position player in the Dodgers organization and then played a year for the Victoria Seals in the independent Golden League. In 2021 he signed as a pitcher with the Minnesota Twins and finished his pro playing career as a player/coach of the Montpellier Baracudas of the French Elite League.

“I’m thrilled to be joining the Golden Tide coaching staff for the inaugural season,” says Orr. “This program will play a vital role in developing the next generation of baseball talent, and will create endless opportunities for its players. I’m ready to get to work with our athletes and coaching staff and look forward to building an elite level program dedicated to the development of its players.”

Pitching coach Ethan Fox will be familiar to Victoria fans as he played for the Victoria HarbourCats in the 2017-2019 seasons. From Campbell River, BC, Fox played for the Parksville Royals (PBL 2013-2015) and Douglas College Royals (NWAC 2015-2017), before heading to the Avila University Eagles of the NAIA for the 2017-2019 seasons. He is the Pitching / Arm Care Coordinator of the HarbourCats Players Club and is currently completing his BSc in Kinesiology at the University of Victoria.

Third base coach Aaron Witzke played three years of college baseball at Vancouver Island University where he received a Diploma in Physical Education and then completed is Bachelor of Education at the University of Victoria and will begin the Masters of Education program there this fall. He is currently a teacher at Esquimalt High School and the Director of a Baseball Operations at the HarbourCats Players Club.

Another Victoria native, Assistant Coach Shawn Loglisci caught the eyes of the scouts in 2005 when he was drafted in the 34th round by the Dodgers, but chose instead to go to college where he played at Vancouver Island University, College of Southern Idaho and Indiana Tech University. He played for the Victoria Royals during their brief pro stint here and for a number of senior men’s teams including the Langley Blaze, Victoria Mavericks and Regina Red Sox and has coached the Victoria Eagles in the BCPBL from 2010-2015. He is now also working as the Junior Coordinator of the HarbourCats Players Club.

Assistant Coach Ryan Haines grew up in Calgary where he played at the Alberta Baseball Academy and at the Babe Ruth level during high school. He played college ball at the Prairie Baseball Academy in Lethbridge and Mayville State University and was a member of Team Alberta in 1997, where he won a bronze medal at the Canada Summer Games. He also won a summer league National Championship playing for the St. Albert Tigers.

Originally from Cardiff, Wales, Strength and Conditioning Coach Jeremy Cordle is a graduate of St. Michaels University School in Victoria where he was the Island’s top Male athlete in 1991 and was runner up for the same award at Provincial level. Jeremy has been part of multiple city, Island and provincial tittles in Basketball, Track and field , Cricket and Rugby as an alum of the Castaway Wanderers Rugby Club where he was a member of 4 provincial championship winning squads and a National Champion with the Vancouver Island Crimson tide (VIRU). Jeremy has worked as a private athletic trainer for the last 11 years , working with athletes at elementary, high school, university, professional and masters level.

Another face familiar to HarbourCats fans is Athletic Therapist Tanner McGaw. McGaw is part of the Camosun College Athletic and Exercise Therapy clinic (AET) and has been the lead Athletic Therapist for the HarbourCats for the past six years. He will be joined and assisted by student Athletic Therapists over the course of the season.

The Canadian College Baseball Conference, is an eight-team domestic league for university students that in addition to Victoria, has teams in Nanaimo (Vancouver Island University), Kelowna (Okanagan College), Kamloops (Thompson Rivers University), Chilliwack/Abbotsford (University of the Fraser Valley), Calgary (University of Calgary), Lethbridge (Prairie Baseball Academy) and Edmonton (Edmonton Collegiate Baseball Club).

The Golden Tide begin their fall exhibition season on September 11, with 11 home games, plus inter-squad games at Wilson’s Group Stadium at Royal Athletic Park in Victoria. The fall home opener is on Friday, September 17th at 6:00 pm against Thompson Rivers University.

Tickets are $10 for Grandstand seating (Section 10) and $5 everywhere else (all rush seating) and are available at the gate or in advance at the HarbourCats office (101-1814 Vancouver Street) or by calling 778-265-0327.

FULL FALL SCHEDULE AVAILABLE HERE

BECOME A TIDE BOOSTER!
Fans who wish to enjoy priority seating in the Diamond Club or Campbell Club seating areas for all games may now join the Golden Tide Booster Club, where a $200 fee secures a spot, gets one a Golden Tide hat and t-shirt and access to other Booster Club perks and benefits. E-mail chris@harbourcats.com or call the office at 778-265-0327 for details.

 

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Victoria HarbourCats – Hemmerling tosses gem, Hawks win game one

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The HarbourCats were held to just four hits tonight (Photo: Justin P. Morash)

August 8, 2025

For immediate release

VICTORIA, B.C. – Fueled by a complete game from starter Reece Hemmerling, the Edmonton Riverhawks cruised to a 6-1 win over the Victoria HarbourCats in game one of this best-of-three divisional playoff series.

Shea Lake (West Texas A&M), who was recently named one of two HarbourCats Pitchers-of-the-Year, was on the bump for the Cats and started strongly in the first inning. However, in the top of the second, the Hawks’ batters went to work. Anthony Kodama and Stevie Waters both hit RBI singles on the first pitch they saw to give the visitors a 2-0 lead.

BOX SCORE

Trent Lenihan hit a solo home run in the top of the third inning to make it 3-0. Cats left fielder Isaiah Afework (TAMU-CC) could not have come any closer to robbing that homer, as the ball went in and out of his glove as he jumped and reached over the fence.

Kamana Nahaku had two hits, including his fifth home run of 2025 (Photo: Justin P. Morash)

Lake completed four innings, giving up three runs on six hits, while striking out three and walking a pair. Meanwhile, Hemmerling was inducing soft contact all game long with his wipeout slider. Early on, there was a stretch where he retired nine Cats in a row, all while keeping his pitch count down.

Dustin Davidson (Freed Hardeman) was first out of the bullpen for Victoria and gave up two singles to begin the fifth inning. A sacrifice bunt attempt was then fielded by Davidson, but his attempted throw to get the lead runner at third was off the mark, sailing past his third baseman and allowing a fourth run to cross the plate. A wild pitch from the big lefty allowed a fifth run to score, which was followed by a bases-loaded walk to Waters, giving the Hawks a 6-0 advantage. Ethan McNish-Heider (Niagara) replaced him and got out of the bases-loaded jam on one pitch, getting Shiryu Sato to ground into an inning-ending double play.

WCL PLAYOFF SCORES

Hemmerling continued to dominate for Edmonton, allowing just three hits through eight innings of work. Kamana Nahaku (Hawaii) crushed a solo home run in the bottom of the ninth to break the shutout and give the home fans something to cheer about. That was all Hemmerling gave up as he went the distance, pitching a complete game for the first time this season.

Shea Lake has been a workhorse all summer, pitching a total of 37.2 innings after tonight’s outing (Photo: Justin P. Morash)

Marcus Janovsky (UBC) pitched the final 3-1/3 innings for Victoria, giving up no runs on one hit, while striking out five.

Game two is tomorrow night at RE/MAX Field in Edmonton. First pitch is 7:05 PM local time, 6:05 PM PST. Hard-throwing right-hander Ryne Palmer is your HarbourCats projected starter. You can watch the game HERE or on the Edmonton Riverhawks YouTube channel.

2026 SEASON TICKETS – Season ticket renewals and sales are now on for the 2026 season! Existing season ticket holders can log in to their Showpass account and navigate to the Memberships link, where they can easily renew their seats online. Members can also drop in or call the office at 778-265-0327, and we can process the renewal for them. New Season Ticket buyers can click HERE to purchase seats for 2026!

For more updates, be sure to follow @HarbourCats on all social channels (Facebook, Twitter and Instagram).

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Victoria HarbourCats – Hawks rally late to clinch second half

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Jack Johnson’s sixth home run of the year was 98 MPH off the bat (Photo: Christian J. Stewart)

August 6, 2025

For immediate release

VICTORIA, B.C. – The Edmonton Riverhawks scored six runs in the final two innings to beat the Victoria HarbourCats 7-2, clinching the second half North Division title, and the #2 seed in the playoffs.

This result means that game one of the first-round playoffs will be played in Victoria on Friday, August 8, at 6:35 PM. Tickets are on sale now HERE. Game two, and a potential game three if necessary, will be played in Edmonton on Saturday and Sunday.

The visitors got off to a quick start when Kyle Yip hit a two-out single to bring Shiryu Sato home in the top of the first inning to make it 1-0.

Jack Johnson (Tulane), who was named one of the HarbourCats Players of the Year along with Tanner Beltowski (Westmont) yesterday, hit a no-doubt solo home run in the bottom of the first to level things up 1-1. From there, it was a pitchers’ duel with former HarbourCat Mason Chamberlain on the bump for the Hawks and Carson Burks (Hill College) starting for the hosts. Burks threw three innings, giving up one run on five hits while striking out three.

BOX SCORE

Carson Burks finishes the season with a 3.85 ERA in 30.1 innings pitched (Christian J. Stewart) 

He was replaced by Jack Finn, who produced 3-1/3 innings of shutout ball, striking out a season-high five batters.

After the Johnson home run, the Cats couldn’t solve Chamberlain until the sixth inning when Kamana Nahaku (Hawaii) hit a double off the left field wall, which brought up Dillon Lopez (St. Mary’s). The catcher has produced clutch hits all season, and tonight was no different, as he hit a single to left to bring Nahaku home and give his team their first lead of the night.

Dillon Dibrell (Rogers State U) replaced Finn in the seventh and inherited runners on second and third with one out. He struck out Trent Lenihan and got Yip to fly out, escaping the threat and holding onto the slim 2-1 lead.

The crowd of more than 2000 fans at Wilson’s Group Stadium at Royal Athletic Park was silenced in the top of the eighth when Stevie Waters hit a three-run home run off Dibrell to give the Hawks a 4-2 lead.

WCL STANDINGS

Kamana Nahaku has reached base safely in all 16 games he has played in this season (Photo: Christian J. Stewart)

Yip hit a two-run homer in the top of the ninth, and Waters drove in his fourth run of the night with an RBI single to make it 7-2, putting the game beyond doubt.

Tristin Thomas (West Texas A&M) recorded the final three outs in the ninth, striking out a pair.

After a hard-fought four-game series this week, these two teams are back at it when it matters most this weekend in the playoffs. Don’t miss out on what is sure to be an incredible atmosphere Friday night at the ballpark as the WCL Playoffs return to Victoria.

BUY TICKETS HERE

Tickets and merchandise can also be purchased in person at the HarbourCats office at 101-1814 Vancouver Street or by calling 778-265-0327.

For more updates, be sure to follow @HarbourCats on all social channels (Facebook, Twitter and Instagram).

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Hayes goes deep again, Owls win final home game

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NANAIMO, B.C. — Jacob Hayes, and Owen Wessel, but the punctuation on it.

The Nanaimo NightOwls ended the home portion of their fourth season in the West Coast League with a convincing 6-1 triumph over the visiting Kamloops NorthPaws in an entertaining game played Sunday afternoon at Serauxmen Stadium.

Hayes, with a team-record 10th home run, and Wessel, with his first of the season, went deep for Nanaimo, while Dawson Schultz and Vinny Bruno kept the Kamloops bats silent.

Wessel hit a two-run shot in the second, and Hayes had a solo shot in the third. Both were to left field.

The NightOwls (22-29, 10-14 in second half) close out the season with three road games in Bellingham, on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

Season tickets will start renewal shortly after another exciting season of WCL baseball in Nanaimo, with local product and head coach Cody Andreychuk returning in 2026, and the expectation that veteran pitching coach Gorman Heimueller, one of the best in all of baseball, will be with Nanaimo next season for what will be his 50th year in the game — leading to a season-long celebration.

Dawson Schultz started and was masterful, going six innings with four hits allowed while striking out five. Vinny Bruno, the Italian right-hander, closed it with a save and three innings with two strikeouts.

Hayes, named team MVP before the game, was 2-3 with two RBIs, a walk, and a run scored. Andrew Ivy, Easton Mould and Spencer Sullivan also had two hits each. Andew Nykoluk had two runs and Wessel had two RBIs.

Sullivan was given the team’s Development Award, right-hander Aidan Boice was given the top pitcher award, Ryder Florence earned the citizenship award, and concession stalwart Jo-Ann Hammond was named the volunteer of the year.

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