Opening day starter

Opening day starter Nick Pivetta

The Victoria HarbourCats Baseball Blog has learned that the local boy, Lambrick Park and Victoria Eagles product Nick Pivetta, will get the inaugural start for the Victoria HarbourCats when they take the field against the Kelowna Falcons on opening day next Wednesday.

It looks to be a big week for Pivetta, with the Major League Baseball draft also coming next week on Thursday. The big right-hander is currently the third ranked Junior College (Juco) prospect and number 155 overall (ranked by Baseball America) heading into the draft and is expected to go as high as the third round. While this is outstanding for our local lad, it puts the big question in his lap of either signing and becoming a pro, or keeping his NCAA eligibility (for now, anyway) and remaining a HabourCat. If he does sign with a big league club, he will be yanked away from us to most likely play some sort of affiliated ball.

Whatever happens, Pivetta gives the 'Cats a great chance for an opening day victory with his mid-high 90's fastball and good control of the strike zone. There have been a couple of recent articles on this blog about him that are worth a peek to familiarize yourself with The New Mexico Juco star before he takes to the hill next Wednesday.

And speaking of opening day, it looks to be a good crowd and with a decent forecast for the next week or so, if you don't already have your tickets I'd suggest you go and grab them - unless you fancy the view from the football stadium. No matter where you sit though, it will be great to have ball back in Vic-town!

Only 6 more sleeps...