HarbourCats release 2014 schedule

Thursday, November 14, 2013

HarbourCats release 2014 schedule

Mark your calendars, because the home opener for the Victoria HarbourCats is set for Tuesday June 10th when the Cowlitz Black Bears pay their first-ever visit to Royal Athletic Park. The 2014 schedule for the H-Cats was released on Thursday and it features 27 home games against a variety of West Coast League teams. Only two teams, the Kitsap BlueJackets and the Bellingham Bells, will make more than one visit to Victoria during the summer, so fans will get to see a good cross-section of the talent in the summer wood-bat league.

The highlight of the schedule – other than the home opener – is a Canada Day matchup on a Tuesday afternoon against the Kitsap BlueJackets. Fans may remember that the HarbourCats were on the road for Canada Day last season, but the tradition of Canada Day baseball will make a much-anticipated return in 2014. The team has also scheduled a fireworks night on the evening before Canada Day, so you can be sure that those two games will be well attended. The three-game series will also be Kitsap’s first trip to the Garden City.

A total of 13 of the 27 home games will be played on the weekend, although those games are heavily back-loaded. The team’s first 13 home games (including the Canada Day matinee) will be played during the week, but 13 of the last 14 games will be contested on the weekend, starting with the Friday July 11th game against the Medford Rogues.

The HarbourCats don’t play regular-season home games on more than three consecutive days next season and that can only help the attendance figures. Technically speaking, there is one six-game homestand that starts on June 16th, but the team has four consecutive off-days between the three-game sets against Bellingham and the Bend Elks. An exhibition series will likely be scheduled during the break to help keep the team focused and in playing shape. Last season the team had five consecutive off days in late June with no exhibition games scheduled and the layoff ended up becoming the turning point of the season. Although the HarbourCats posted a surprising 10-4 record to start the year, the team completely fell apart after the five-day layoff, posting a 12-28 record for the remainder of the summer.

The 2014 season concludes with a Sunday afternoon game at Royal Athletic Park on August 10th.

HarbourCatNip

You can expect announcements on the team's new General Manager, coaching staff and player signings in the next few weeks.
Victoria opens the season with a three-game series in Kelowna on June 6-8. The Falcons do not play in Victoria in 2014.
The All-Star Game will be held in Klamath Falls on July 21st.
The yet-to-be-named Yakima squad, an expansion team for 2014, will not make a visit to Royal Athletic Park in their inaugural season.
The breakdown of home games by day is as follows: 3 Mondays, 4 Tuesdays, 4 Wednesdays, 3 Thursdays, 5 Fridays, 5 Saturdays and 3 Sundays.
Here is the complete home schedule for Victoria: