Play Ball !!

The NCAA Division I baseball season gets underway on Friday, and we're excited to be able to finally follow the progress of the majority of our Victoria HarbourCats. The future 'Cats will be suiting up for the following games this weekend (all rankings according to the NCBWA):

• The third-ranked Oregon State Beavers (Gabe Clark) are taking part in the Husker Classic in Tempe, Arizona and they will face Nebraska, Gonzaga and the University of the Pacific (twice).
• The 29th-ranked Cal Poly Mustangs (Cameron Cotton) host the 18th-ranked Kansas State Wildcats in a three-game series in San Luis Obispo.
• The 33rd-ranked University of Arizona Wildcats (Jacob McAdams) play a three-game series in Tucson against Kent State.
• The University of Seattle Redhawks (Griffin Andreychuk and Will Dennis) are in California to take on UC Davis in a four-game set.
• Bret Helton and the University of Utah Utes are in Sacramento to play four games against the Sacramento State Hornets.
• The University of New Mexico Lobos (Carson Schneider and Danny Collier) are in San Diego to take on the USD Toreros in a three-game set.
• Matt Susac and the University of Nevada Wolfpack are in Santa Clara, California to play a pair of games against both Boston College and Santa Clara University.
• The University of Hawaii Rainbow Warriors, minus the rehabbing Quintin Torres-Costa, will host the 11th-ranked Oregon Ducks for a four-game series.
• Pepperdine University (Aaron Barnett and Devin Carter) will host St. John's in a three-game set in Malibu, California.
• Kelly Norris-Jones and the University of Illinois Fighting Illini are in Atlanta to take on the Georgia State Panthers in a three-game series.
• Oral Roberts University (Noah Cummings) hosts Southeast Missouri State for a three-game set.
• Andrew Calica and the UCSB Gauchos were supposed to play North Carolina State this weekend, but inclement weather prevented the Wolfpack from flying to California. The Gauchos are making arrangements to find an alternate opponent for the weekend.

Let the fun begin!

HarbourCatNip

• The Victoria Mariners announced this week that three of their players have signed letters of intent to play on U.S. colleges (with full scholarships) starting in the fall. Congratulations to Evan Willow, Colton Wood and Chris Fougner on their achievement. It's worth noting that Willow actually dressed for the Victoria HarbourCats in the last three games of the 2013 WCL season, but he did not appear in any games. Don't be surprised to see one or more of these players signed by the H-Cats in the future.
• The HarbourCats announced earlier today that they have renewed partnerships with Wilson's Transportation, Accent Inns, Kirby's Source for Sports, Spinnakers Brewpub, Coca Cola and the Pacific Institute for Sport Excellence for the 2014 season.