The real HarbourCats of Santa Barbara

This blog post is the first of our regular updates on the four Victoria HarbourCats who are currently playing for the University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB) Gauchos. This first installment was a joint effort by Gus and the newest addition to our team of bloggers, WC. We hope that our series of UCSB blog posts will give you a useful introduction to these four HarbourCats before you come out to see them play at Royal Athletic Park this summer.

The UC Santa Barbara baseball program will be supplying four outstanding young athletes to our HarbourCats this summer. Aside from a future that includes taking to the hill at Royal Athletic Park, the foursome of Connor Baits, Robby Nesovic, Dillon Tate and Art Vidrio have another thing in common -- they are all freshman pitchers who will start the season in the Gauchos bullpen.

The “Fab Four” appear to be in very good hands as they set out on their college careers. UCSB’s head coach, Andrew Checketts, has a great reputation for both recruiting and developing young talent. Before taking his current job, he became known as one of the best pitching coaches in the country thanks to three highly successful seasons at the University of Oregon, seven at UC Riverside and one at Riverside City College (working under HarbourCats head coach Dennis Rogers). While serving as the pitching coach for Rogers in 2001, the RCC hurlers set a school record for team ERA. That record of success and level of familiarity helps to explain the strong relationship between Checketts and Rogers – otherwise we wouldn't have acquired one third of our pitching staff from a single program. This elite coaching connection will help boost the development of a lot more ballplayers than just these four HarbourCats.

UC Santa Barbara got their 2013 season off to a successful start this past weekend, taking two out of three at Fresno State. Game one of the series saw the Gauchos fall by a score of 8-1, but they turned the tables for an 8-1 win on Saturday to even the series. The Sunday rubber match was a convincing 11-3 win for UCSB.

Nesovic (6) and Baits (41) during batting practice

The most highly-touted pitcher of the four HarbourCats, Connor Baits, threw a scoreless ninth inning to close out Saturday’s victory. He didn’t allow a hit and recorded one strike out and one walk. Trusting Baits with the lead in the final inning is a pretty good indication that Checketts already has a lot of confidence in the freshman.

Robby Nesovic didn’t pitch on the weekend, but he started the first game as the designated hitter. He went 0-for-2 on the night and narrowly missed becoming the hero for the Gauchos. Trailing 2-0 in the fourth inning, UCSB had the bases loaded when Nesovic came to the plate. Unfortunately, he lined out to the shortstop who then doubled off the runner on second to end the threat. It will be interesting to see how many plate appearances Nesovic gets with the Gauchos this spring and whether or not the HarbourCats use him as a two-way player as well. It’s always good to have guys on your team with the athleticism required to play the role of utility man.

Neither Dillon Tate nor lefty Art Vidrio saw any action on the weekend, but hopefully Checketts will be able to ease our young recruits into some games in the near future. The next opportunity comes on Friday afternoon when the Gauchos open up a four-game weekend series against the University of San Francisco.

HarbourCatNip

The Sooners opening-day lineup

• Alex Real is listed as a catcher on the HarbourCats roster, but he started all three games at first base for the University of New Mexico Lobos this past weekend. Real is off to a bit of a slow start with the bat, as he picked up three hits in 14 at-bats. However, he did walk twice to keep his on-base percentage at a respectable .313. The Lobos lost two of three games against Oklahoma State and dropped out of Baseball America’s College Top 25 rankings.
• One of the most common words used to describe Anthony Hermelyn as a ballplayer is "versatile". While I was aware that he played a number of infield positions and can pitch (effectively), I wasn’t aware that he also was a catcher. So you can imagine my surprise when I checked the opening-day lineups and saw Hermelyn pencilled in behind the plate for the Oklahoma Sooners. He apparently played first base in the fall, but a last-minute decision was made to use the freshman as Oklahoma’s regular catcher instead.
• Hermelyn has started four of the first six games at catcher. He is off to a decent start offensively, hitting .250 with 4 RBI in 13 at-bats. The Sooners now have a 6-0 record and are ranked 18th in the country by Baseball America. They appear to be a team on the upswing and they could do some serious damage in the College World Series in June.
• You can watch the first game of Tuesday’s doubleheader between the Sooners and Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Sooners Sports TV. Anthony Hermelyn’s four at-bats come at the 29:38, 56:56, 1:28:28 and 2:07:23 marks.
• Look for Alex Real and Anthony Hermelyn to be two of the big boppers in the middle of the HarbourCats lineup this summer.
• In case you haven’t had enough of the Harlem Shake phenomenon, check out the version released by the Cal State Fullerton Titans.

Titan connection

This blog post is the first of our regular updates on the three Victoria HarbourCats who are currently playing for the Cal State Fullerton (CSF) Titans. Although the Titans’ goal is to play in the College World Series (June 15-26), only eight teams will succeed in that quest. No matter how the CSF season ends, our intrepid blogger Darth will be keeping us up-to-date on the contributions made by our players along the way. We hope that our series of CSF blog posts will give you an interesting look at our HarbourCats before you come out to see them play at Royal Athletic Park this summer.

Due to the nature of the WCL, there are a lot of future players who are just now kicking off the US college baseball season. One of these teams - the #19 ranked Cal State Fullerton Titans - has 3.5 HarbourCats playing for them this year. Three of these recruits are freshmen - LHP Bryan Conant, RHP Joe Navilhon and INF David Olmedo-Barrera - and the .5 is a senior...for Woodrow Wilson HS in Long Beach, CA (SS Timmy Richards) who has committed to CSF for next year.

In this opening weekend of NCAA action, CSF went a clean 3-0 at home, defeating USC 3-2 in their season opener and then sweeping Nebraska in a doubleheader 10-5 and 9-0. On Sunday, they travelled to CSU Bakersfield and grabbed an 8-2 win, preserving their perfect 4-0 record. As for the "BabyCats", they will most likely see limited action given they are freshmen on a very strong team. Both pitchers did, however, get into the 2nd game against Nebraska, each pitching a scoreless inning. Navilhon pitched a perfect 7th getting a strikeout in the 3 batters he faced, while Conant allowed 1 hit and struck out 2 to close it down.

RHP Joe Navilhon

LHP Bryan Conant

It will be interesting to see how they use these 2 pitchers in relief but I suspect it will be spot duty in these back to back games to start. Hopefully, they will keep up the solid work and earn some more meaningful innings as the season progresses but with such a strong CSF staff, this will be tough. In fact, the opening day winner - Thomas Eshelman (who played for Klamath Falls last summer) - was ranked the #10 Top prospect in the WCL by Baseball America, and is himself a freshman. He will be entertaining to watch at RAP, given CSF gave him the ball on opening day which was, by the way, the first time a freshman pitched on the first game of the season at CSF since 1987.

David Olmedo-Barrera did not get a plate appearance in any of these 4 games and as with the pitchers, I expect he will see very limited playing time unless CSF gets hit with a serious injury bug. Even then, they are a pretty deep team so cracking this line-up on a regular basis will be tough this year. On the bright side, here's to hoping that David comes to Victoria this summer all fired up and ready to show CSF how he can light it up for the hometown 'Cats.

Pivetta tosses complete-game shutout

Nick Pivetta

Nick Pivetta raised his record to 2-0 on Saturday by leading the New Mexico Junior College Thunderbirds to victory in the second game of a doubleheader against Otero Junior College. The big right-hander from Victoria pitched a complete-game shutout, dropping his ERA to a miniscule 0.84 after his first two starts of the season. Although box scores for New Mexico Junior College baseball games have been very slow to be posted on the internet this spring, an unconfirmed report lists Pivetta as having given up only three hits in his seven innings of work while striking out five. Pivetta's next trip to the mound will likely be on Friday or Saturday when the Thunderbirds take on Weatherford College in a three-game series.

Austin Russell was the only other Victoria native on the HarbourCats roster who was in action this weekend. His Southern Polytechnic Hornets swept Talladega College in a three-game series on Friday and Saturday. Although Russell only had four at-bats on the weekend, he made the most of his limited opportunities by rapping a pair of base hits and knocking in two runs. Russell raised his average to .364 on the season, good for sixth best on the team. The Hornets, who now sport a 9-3 record, take on the University of Mobile in a three-game set next weekend.

The third local player on the HarbourCats, Connor Russell of the VIBI Mariners, opens his season on March 2nd.

Play ball!!

It's another sign that spring is on the way: today marks the beginning of the NCAA Division I baseball season. That means that 25 of the 32 players on the HarbourCats roster are suiting up in a meaningful game for the first time this year. The only HarbourCat who is still waiting for opening day is pitcher Connor Russell of the Vancouver Island Baseball Institute, and he'll have to wait until March 2nd before he can take to the hill.

Two HarbourCats who will be playing prominent roles on their respective Division I teams are Anthony Hermelyn and Alex Real. Hermelyn's Oklahoma Sooners take on Hofstra University in a four-game series this weekend, while Real's UNM Lobos will play a three-game set against Oklahoma State.

Of course, we'll be providing regular updates on the HarbourCats between now and the start of the West Coast League season on June 5th. Next week we'll debut two regular features that will each highlight a team that is a key supplier of talent to the Victoria HarbourCats. Stay tuned... 

Alex is the real deal

It's quite something that all three catchers on the HarbourCats roster have been previously drafted by an MLB club. We have already introduced our readers to David Schuknecht and Casey Schroeder, so now it's time to turn the spotlight on Alex Real.

Real, a 48th-round draft pick of the Atlanta Braves, is a sophomore with the University of New Mexico Lobos. The 6'0" 215 lb. slugger played in 41 of the Lobos' 61 games in his freshman season, although he did not make any appearances as a catcher. Real hit a solid .271 with 3 homers and 29 RBI, but his production in the clutch was remarkable. Not only did he collect 20 of his 29 RBI with two outs, but he knocked in seven runs in last year's Mountain West Tournament championship game.

Real will play a much more important role with the 21st-ranked Lobos this season. Although he'll primarily be used at first base, he'll also get a significant amount of playing time behind the plate -- something that probably wouldn't be possible without the catching experience he gained playing for the Eau Claire Express in the Northwoods League last summer. Real, who had only ever caught in his senior year of high school, did more than just hold his own playing summer collegiate baseball. Real surprised even himself by being selected as the starting catcher for the South Division in the Northwoods League All-Star Game. He then went on to homer in that game, which was played in front of 6,073 fans. He finished the summer with a .235 batting average, .316 on-base percentage, 5 homers and 22 RBI in 183 at-bats.



The University of New Mexico baseball team opens their season with a three-game set against Oklahoma State this weekend. Ray Birmingham, head coach of the Lobos, is obviously a big fan of Real's. Birmingham was recently quoted as saying "Alex will be an All-American before he leaves here."

I don't know about you, but I'm really looking forward to seeing Real suit up for the HarbourCats at Royal Athletic Park -- no matter which position he is playing. Just make sure you don't park your car on Pembroke Street when he's in the lineup.

HarbourCatNip

• In case you were busy with the Family Day long weekend and missed the announcement, the HarbourCats are running a "Name the Mascot" contest. You have until the end of the day on February 24th to enter. Go to the team's website for contest rules. 
• I love the idea that our new mascot will be both roly-poly and pantless -- my favourite mascot of all time also fit that description. Now can we get the colour of his/her fur changed to orange?
• Austin Russell has cooled off a bit of late after a good start with the Southern Polytechnic Hornets. Although our hometown boy still has a .333 batting average, the Hornets are hitting .363 as a team and have scored an incredible 75 runs in the their 9 games. Russell has been on the bench for the last couple of games, but we're sure he'll be back out there cranking out the base hits very soon. The Hornets host Talladega College in a three-game series this weekend.
• In spite of some scorekeeping glitches, we were able to confirm that Victoria's Nick Pivetta did in fact make his debut for the New Mexico Junior College Thunderbirds this past weekend. On Saturday, he earned the win in the Thunderbirds’ 15-7 victory over Blinn College. Pivetta surrendered five hits and one earned run in 3 2/3 innings of work, while he walked two and struck out four batters. According to Clayton Jones of the Hobbs News-Sun, approximately ten scouts were in attendance at the game. New Mexico is scheduled to play a doubleheader against Otero Junior College on both Friday and Saturday afternoons.

HarbourCats roll out an impressive expansion roster

Tim Richards

I must admit that I was initially a little worried about the quality of players who might be suiting up for an expansion franchise's inaugural season, but the release of the full HarbourCats roster on Thursday put those concerns completely to rest. Head coaches Dennis Rogers and Bob Miller are to be commended for their recruiting efforts, as the 32-man roster is chock full of highly skilled players from top-notch baseball institutions.

The roster includes a grand total of seven players who have been previously drafted by MLB teams and it's highly likely that other HarbourCats will be selected in this June's draft. In addition, 10 of our guys will play this spring for teams listed on Baseball America’s ranking of the Top 25 NCAA Division I baseball squads: two players from the University of Kentucky (ranked 11th), one from UCLA (12th), two from the University of Oklahoma (19th), one from the University of New Mexico (21st), three from Cal State Fullerton (22rd) and one from the University of San Diego (25th).

Although the team is long on skill, the players are a bit less experienced than I was expecting. Of the 32 players, 19 are currently college freshmen and one -- slick-fielding shortstop Tim Richards -- is in his senior year of high school. Of course, the Wenatchee AppleSox carried a similar number of youngsters on their roster last year and they went on to win their fifth WCL championship.

Although not many guys play in the WCL prior to their freshman season of college, Richards certainly won't look out of place competing against more experienced opponents. Last summer, he narrowly missed making USA's U18 national team. ESPN recently ranked Richards as the second-best middle infield prospect in high school, while some have even predicted that he'll be taken late in the first round of this year's MLB draft. He has been compared to Dustin Pedroia for his "high energy approach to the game" and he should be a joy to watch play.

A modest total of seven sophomores and five juniors are also included on the HarbourCats roster. Most of those veterans are found on the pitching staff, which at first blush appears to be the strength of this team. Given the skill, size and experience of our hurlers, opposing batters probably won't be feeling all that comfortable in the Royal Athletic Park batter's box this summer.

HarbourCatNip

• All 32 players on the current roster have been signed to a full-season contract. The team expects to sign other players to 10-day contracts as we get closer to opening day. In the West Coast League, 10-day contracts are typically used to fill out the roster at the beginning of the season (e.g. when full-season guys are still involved in playoffs with their college team).
• More info on the other players signed can be found on the HarbourCat's official site. 
• Stay tuned to this space for additional player profiles.

Rogers wins matchup between HarbourCats coaches

The two co-head coaches of the Victoria HarbourCats squared off on Tuesday, with Dennis Rogers' Riverside City College (RCC) Tigers taking on Bob Miller's Cuesta College Cougars in Riverside, California. Rogers came away with bragging rights at the end of the day, as his Tigers outlasted the Cougars 13-11. The HarbourCats’ David Schuknecht went 2-for-4 with 2 RBI and 2 runs scored for Rogers' squad.

The RCC Tigers raised their record to 3-0 with the win, while Cuesta College fell to 1-3. Tuesday’s game was the only scheduled meeting between the two clubs this season.

HarbourCatNip

• David Schuknecht has been in RCC's starting lineup for the first three games of the season – two games behind the plate and the other as the DH. He is hitting .364 with 3 RBI in his 11 at-bats.
• Austin Russell has started five of the first six games of the season for the Southern Polytechnic Hornets and four of those starts have been in right field. In 15 at-bats, he is hitting .400 with 3 RBI and 7 runs scored.  
• On Monday, the University of Kentucky held their preseason media day. During the press conference it was revealed that Casey Schroeder will initially be battling with two other MLB-drafted freshmen for the Wildcats’ backup catching position.
• The NCAA Division I baseball season gets underway on February 15th. HarbourCats playing at this level include Connor Baits (UCSB), Will Ballowe (UW), Josh Cushing (UW), Anthony Hermelyn (Oklahoma), Casey Schroeder (Kentucky) and Brett Urabe (UCLA).
• Keep an eye out for the HarbourCats logo on the back of two local Coca-Cola delivery trucks. The team just announced the signing of a partnership agreement with the company to supply beverages at Royal Athletic Park.

Pivetta and Schuknecht named top prospects by Baseball America

Nick Pivetta

At least two Victoria HarbourCats made the cut in Baseball America's list of the top 25 junior college prospects. Our hometown boy, Nick Pivetta, was named as the 6th-best prospect, while catcher David Schuknecht came in at number 22.

Pivetta turned heads this fall by consistently throwing his fastball in the mid-90's and topping out at 97 MPH. The big right-hander will suit up for the New Mexico Junior College Thunderbirds this season, the third-ranked junior college team in the nation according to Baseball America. Pivetta could easily end up being drafted in the first five rounds of the MLB draft in June.

Scouts will be watching Schuknecht closely this spring to see how he has recovered from a torn labrum injury. He'll be under the tutelage of HarbourCats' head coach Dennis Rogers at Riverside City College (RCC) this season. Spring can't be far away, because the RCC Tigers kick off their season on Friday with a game against East Los Angeles College.

You can read more about both of these HarbourCats in the blog post that reported the signing of the team's first six players.

HarbourCatNip

• Jackie Robinson was born 94 years ago today and Google commemorated his birthday with the doodle shown on the right. Incidentally, Robinson played baseball at Pasadena Junior College before transferring to UCLA. 
• The other co-head coach of the HarbourCats, Bob Miller, is the head coach at Cuesta College. On Tuesday, Dennis Rogers' RCC Tigers will take on the Cuesta College Cougars in what should be an interesting match-up.

Top 10 baseball songs for a HarbourCats home game

The subject of my favourite baseball song

On Tuesday, the Victoria HarbourCats sent out a tweet asking fans to share some of their favourite ballpark tunes. Never afraid to volunteer my opinion, I decided to compile a list of my Top 10 baseball songs.

My list doesn't include some of the ballpark staples like Glory Days (Bruce Springsteen), YMCA (Village People) or Cheap Seats (Alabama), mainly because I think there are more interesting tunes out there. Of course, compiling any Top 10 music list is a highly subjective activity and is likely to result in never-ending arguments. With that in mind, here is my list of the Top 10 baseball songs to listen to at a HarbourCats home game:

10.	All Future and No Past, The Baseball Project The Baseball Project is a rock supergroup that includes the former guitarist of REM, Peter Buck. Formed in 2007, the group has been churning out quality baseball tunes at an impressive clip. Their song All Future and No Past is about the springtime optimism that fans can have for their beloved team in spite of overwhelming odds ("The Tribe could end up drenched in champagne..."). After all, everyone is in first place on opening day.
9.	The Boys Are Back in Town, Thin Lizzy When the HarbourCats return to Royal Athletic Park after a road trip, this is the perfect song to play when they take to the field for the top of the first.
8.	Talkin’ Baseball, Terry Cashman Nothing says baseball like "Willie, Mickey and the Duke". The song may not have aged as well as some of the other oldies on this list, but it gets bonus points for including a reference to one of the most underrated players of the 1970's, Rusty Staub.
7.	Joltin’ Joe DiMaggio, Les Brown Orchestra with Betty Bonney This swingin' tune pays tribute to the Yankee Clipper's incredible 56-game hitting streak in 1941. It's a fitting homage to a record that will likely never be broken.
6.	Take Me Out to the Ballgame, Carly Simon Although just about everyone who has ever seen a professional baseball game probably knows the chorus to the 1908 composition by Jack Norworth, few are familiar with the two surprising verses. For all the details, check out my 2010 blog post on the subject. While I wouldn't recommend playing the full song during the seventh-inning stretch, it's perfect for when fans are trickling into RAP.
5.	Sweet Caroline, Neil Diamond I was hesitant to include the anthem of the Slightly Less Evil Empire on my list, but one can't deny the universal appeal of this Neil Diamond ditty. "So good, so good, so good..."
4.	Big League, Tom Cochrane Tom Cochrane may have been thinking about hockey when he wrote this song, but it easily does double-duty as a baseball tune ("All the right moves when he turned eighteen, Scholarship and school on a big U.S. team..."). It's a Canadian classic.
3.	Harvey Haddix, The Baseball Project In 1959, Harvey Haddix pitched one of the greatest games in baseball history -- and lost. Although he retired the first 36 batters in order, he wound up on the losing end of a 1-0 score. In spite of his 12 perfect innings, Haddix doesn't get credit for pitching a perfect game, and this Baseball Project tune aims to set the record straight. The heartbreak in this song is palpable.
2.	Centerfield, John Fogerty Unless The Boys Are Back in Town is playing, this is the song you want to hear when the HarbourCats take to the field. Add a hot dog and a cold beverage and all is good in the world.
1.	Did You See Jackie Robinson Hit that Ball?, Natalie Cole Old number 42 is perhaps the most significant person in baseball history, and Natalie Cole's incredible 1994 version of this tune is a fitting tribute. As far as baseball music goes, it just doesn't get any better than this.

HarbourCatNip

• Before joining the HarbourCats, freshman Anthony Hermelyn looks like he will play a significant role for the Oklahoma Sooners in the college season that kicks off on February 15th. According to a preseason scouting report in Baseball America, he is projected to start at first base and could even be the team's closer. The scouting report states that "Hermelyn has a quick bat and a high baseball IQ... the Sooners have high hopes for him." It also mentions that he throws in the 92-94 MPH range.
• HarbourCats GM Holly Jones was the special guest at the local Society for American Baseball Research's SABR Day meeting in Victoria on January 26th. A recap of the event can be found on the organization's Pacific Northwest Chapter website.
• Pointstreak, the organization that manages the West Coast League's statistics, has recently setup their WCL web site for the 2013 season. It looks good to see the Victoria HarbourCats included in the official North Division standings, especially since we're already listed ahead of our soon-to-be rivals, the Wenatchee AppleSox.

HarbourCats sign five players from big-name schools

Brandon Smith

On Monday the Victoria HarbourCats announced the signing of five players, four of whom are NCAA Division I players, while the other is a Division II player who was recently selected in the MLB draft. All five are currently in their freshman season of college baseball.

Brandon Smith is a speedy outfielder who was selected by the Washington Nationals in the 15th round of last June's First-Year Player Draft. Smith stole an impressive 21 bases in only 77 at-bats in his senior year of high school in Irvine, California. He chose not to sign with the Nats and instead plays for Grand Canyon University, a Division II school.

Brett Urabe is an infielder with the UCLA Bruins, the fifth-ranked team in the nation according to the Collegiate Baseball Preseason Top 40 Poll. Although he is a diminutive player, Urabe has a powerful hitting stroke that he used to club seven homers in only 80 at-bats in his senior year at Huntington Beach High School. He played second base last year (among other positions) and seems to be cut from the same cloth as Craig Biggio -- he's the kind of player who could become a crowd favourite at Royal Athletic Park this summer. There is a good chance that UCLA will participate in the College World Series again this year (eight teams qualify), so we might not see him in a HarbourCats uniform until the Kelowna Falcons make their second visit to RAP on July 5th.

Brett Urabe at the plate

Anthony Hermelyn is a versatile infielder from McKinnney, Texas. Hermelyn, who is now playing for the 14th-ranked Oklahoma Sooners, received first team all-state infield honours in his junior year of high school. That year he clubbed 13 homers, including this bomb that can be viewed on YouTube.

Will Ballowe is a hulking 6' 4" 237 lb. pitcher with the University of Washington Huskies. Ballowe actually pitched in the West Coast League last season straight out of high school, posting an 8.52 ERA in eight relief appearances for the Bellingham Bells. The imposing southpaw struck out seven batters and walked six in those 6 1/3 innings of work. With a season of pitching for the Huskies under his belt, he could make huge strides forward with the HarbourCats this summer.

Josh Cushing

Josh Cushing is a teammate of Ballowe's at the University of Washington. The athletic infielder has a strong throwing arm and some serious power potential. Cushing, who can play any infield position, hit .400 with five homers as a senior at Campolindo High School last season. We may see him manning the hot corner at RAP on opening day.

There are now eleven players listed on the official HarbourCats roster, four of whom have been previously drafted by MLB teams. We can expect to hear the news of additional signings in the not-too-distant future, so stay tuned for more information on our new team. Go Cats Go!

For additional information on the signings, check out the official HarbourCats site.

HarbourCats' Austin Russell earns All-Canadian honours

Austin Russell

Although we only learned the identity of the first six HarbourCats players two weeks ago, one of those players has already earned his first award since signing with the team. Austin Russell has just received All-Canadian honours from the Canadian Baseball Network as a second-team outfielder. The All-Canadian voting was done by 18 college and elite coaches, 14 scouts, 10 Canadian Baseball Network writers, 9 front-office staff, three other writers, two broadcasters and two former players.

Russell, who is set to begin playing for Southern Polytechnical State University in Georgia, hit .402 with one homer and 37 RBI in 56 games for Colby Community College last season. He also stole 18 bases in 20 attempts and had an excellent .462 on-base percentage.

In addition to Russell, two other players from Victoria received All-Canadian Second Team honours. Scott Jones, a teammate of Russell's with both Colby Community College and the Victoria Mariners, was named the second-team second baseman. Jones hit .358 with 8 homers and 37 RBI last season for Colby CC. He will play for the UBC Thunderbirds this season.

Jag Gordaya

Victoria's Ricky Alvernaz was named as the second-team designated hitter. Alvernaz hit .372 last season as a senior at Mayville State, an NAIA school in North Dakota. He smacked three homers and knocked in 43 runs in only 145 at-bats.

Three other Victoria players received honourable mentions in the All-Canadian voting: Kelly Norris-Jones (catcher, University of Illinois), Jag Gordaya (second base, Texas Southern University) and Duncan Blades (third base, Abilene Christian University).

As we pointed out in an earlier post, over 700 Canadians were playing college baseball in the United States last year and 24 of those were from Victoria. The fact that six out of the 24 Victorians went on to receive All-Canadian honours is an impressive feather in the cap for this city's baseball community. Congratulations to everyone named, especially the HarbourCats' Austin Russell!

HarbourCats announce first six player signings

The baseball season seems a lot closer now that the HarbourCats have started to unveil their roster. On Tuesday morning at Lambrick Park Secondary School, the team announced the signing of six players, three of whom are from Victoria. I must say that Lambrick Park was an excellent choice as a site for the press conference, since it's the home of the highly successful Diamond for Excellence Program.

(L-R) Austin Russell, Nick Pivetta and Connor Russell sign their contracts

The three local players signed by the HarbourCats are Nick Pivetta, Austin Russell and Connor Russell (no relation). All three played premier baseball in the city: Austin and Connor Russell were teammates on the Victoria Mariners and Pivetta played for the Victoria Eagles. These guys are not token local content either -- they can all play the game.

Pivetta is a flame-throwing right-hander who will pitch for New Mexico Junior College this season. He was recently awarded a full scholarship at the University of New Mexico, so he'll suit up for that NCAA Division I school beginning in September of 2013. According to the scouting service Perfect Game USA, Pivetta's fastball was 88-92 MPH last season but recently jumped into the 95-97 MPH range. If that's the case, he could have a monster 2012-13 season and be a high draft pick in next June's MLB draft.

Austin Russell is a speedy outfielder who played two seasons at Colby Community College (Kansas) before recently transferring to Southern Polytechnical State University (NAIA Division I). He hit .402 last season at Colby CC and received first-team all conference and first-team all region honours. You may see Austin hitting near the top of the HarbourCats batting order and stealing more than his share of bases at RAP next June.

Connor Russell is a right-handed starting pitcher in his third season with the Vancouver Island Baseball Institute (VIBI) Mariners, a team that plays in the Canadian College Baseball Conference (CCBC). Last season, Connor broke school records for innings pitched (77), strikeouts (76) and ERA (0.90). He pitched for the Okotoks Dawgs in the Western Major Baseball League (WMBL) during the last couple of summers, registering a 1.88 ERA in 2011 and a 5.25 ERA in 2012. Fans of the defunct Victoria Seals may remember that Jeff Duda also played for the Okotoks Dawgs just prior to becoming a solid pitcher with the Seals.

The HarbourCats also announced the signing of three American players who were recently drafted by MLB clubs out of high school. In all three cases, the players did not sign a professional contract and chose to play college baseball instead. However, they will be eligible to re-enter the draft in the future.

David Schuknecht is a left-handed hitting catcher who was taken by the Colorado Rockies in the 12th round of the 2011 draft. The Rockies offered Schuknecht $500,000 to sign with them, but he chose to attend the University of Arizona instead (the Arizona Wildcats are the fourth-ranked Division I team in the country). Unfortunately, Schuknecht tore his labrum early in his freshman year and had to shut it down for the season. He now attends Riverside City College and will be coached by Dennis Rogers, head coach of the HarbourCats.

Casey Schroeder

Casey Schroeder, a switch-hitting catcher from Ohio, was selected by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 22nd round of the 2012 draft. Schroeder is a freshman at the University of Kentucky, a solid Division I school that is currently ranked 18th in the country.

Connor Baits is a freshman right-handed pitcher at the University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB), another NCAA Division I school. Baits was taken by the New York Mets in the 23rd round of the 2012 draft after being named as a Rawlings 2nd Team All-American. He was one of the top-ranked high school pitchers in California and he can throw in the low to mid 90's.

I would expect that we'll learn of additional signings periodically over the next few months, but for now it's good to know at least some of the players who will be wearing a HarbourCats uniform in the team's inaugural season. The college baseball season begins in February, so we'll be able to post updates on the progress of our HarbourCats as we get closer to opening day. Only one hundred and sixty-eight more days...

For additional information on the signings, check out the official HarbourCats site.

HarbourCats ticket policies are the cat's meow

Lost in the shuffle in the last couple of weeks of HarbourCats news was the release of the team's ticket policies. I recently went through the details listed on the HarbourCats web site and as a long-time sports fan and a current Victoria Royals Season Ticket holder, my reaction was very positive. Check out some of these gems:

• "Season Ticket holders will be able to manage their tickets online, including e-mailing tickets to friends or donating them to charity."  As a Royals Season Ticket holder, it’s a real pain to schlep paper tickets across town when I want to give away or swap tickets. This online ticket management feature will definitely save HarbourCats Season Ticket holders a fair bit of time. On top of that, charities will receive more tickets than they would otherwise. As a volunteer Big Brother, I really appreciate this option.

• “The Flex Pass can be managed online or at the box office to select your seats and send tickets to friends or charity.”  I’m impressed that Flex Pass holders are also granted this feature. That's a nice touch.
• Yellow Reserved Flex Pass holders will be able to, subject to availability, upgrade their seats to Blue Reserved for $2, or Grandstand for $4 per ticket, per game.  In my opinion, the Yellow Reserved Flex Pass is a steal of a deal. For only $99 (all in) you get 10 person-games of entertainment (e.g. a pair of tickets for five games) and the ability to upgrade your seats for a nominal fee. This is a great entry point for fans new to Royal Athletic Park who aren't sure where they want to sit. Insiders Tip: The Yellow Reserved seats along the first base line are the sunniest reserved seats in the park, so if you're going on a cool June evening make sure to sit in section 6, 7 or 8 (the further away from home plate you sit, the longer you bask in the sun).    
• “A ‘No Ticket Left Behind’ policy means an unused ticket can be exchanged for a future game ticket of the same level subject to availability.”  This straightforward statement sounds like common sense, but it’s actually a step up from the convoluted exchange policy of the Victoria Royals.

The HarbourCats front-office is in the process of getting their ticketing system up and running and they hope to have it operational by early in the New Year. The system will not be run by Select Your Tickets -- a successful company with a solid background in minor-league baseball will have that responsibility instead.  On top of a whack of extra features, the new ticketing system is rumoured to have lower service charges than Select Your Tickets. For instance, I recently paid $8 in service charges to buy a pair of Royals tickets valued at $16.50 each – the equivalent of a 24.2% surcharge.

The Victoria Royals and the folks at Select Your Tickets will have some serious catching up to do once sports fans in Victoria get used to buying (and managing) HarbourCats tickets on a state-of-the-art ticketing system.

Top 5 HarbourCats home dates to circle on your calendar

The return of elite baseball to Royal Athletic Park seems a lot closer to reality now that the HarbourCats regular-season schedule has been released.

Overall, the schedule for the Victoria squad looks quite good. Local fans will get to see a wide variety of teams and there are plenty of weekend games. The 27-game home schedule sees every team in the league other than the Kitsap BlueJackets and the Cowlitz Black Bears pay a visit to RAP, and 15 out of 27 home games are on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday. Fans of the defunct Victoria Seals will remember a seemingly endless number of home games against the Calgary Vipers and Edmonton Capitals, but the West Coast League can almost play a balanced schedule thanks to the close proximity of its teams. My only quibble with the schedule -- and it's a minor one -- is that the HarbourCats aren't playing at home on either Canada Day or BC Day.

There are less than six months to opening day, so it's time to start planning your trips to the ballpark. With that in mind, we present our Top 5 Home Dates to Circle on the HarbourCats Schedule:

1. Wednesday June 5th vs Kelowna Falcons
   This one is a no-brainer. The HarbourCats play their inaugural game on June 5th and you won't want to miss it. Come on out and celebrate baseball's return to Royal Athletic Park and witness the West Coast League's first-ever "Battle of British Columbia".
2. Tuesday July 23 - West Coast League All Star Game
   This is a great chance to see the top prospects in the WCL in action. A few years from now, you'll likely see a number of players from this game playing in the big leagues. Then you can turn to your buddy and say "I remember seeing him play at Royal Athletic when he was in college..."
3. Friday July 19 vs Wenatchee AppleSox
   The AppleSox are the New York Yankees of the West Coast League. The defending WCL champions make their first visit to Victoria on July 19th and they will likely be near the top of the standings once again. Wenatchee has won five championships in the league's eight-year history and have only failed to appear in the Championship Series on two occasions. Have I mentioned how much I hate the New York Yankees?
4. Sunday August 11 vs Bellingham Bells
   This is the last regular-season home game of the year and possibly the last HarbourCats game of 2013. Unless of course Dennis Rogers works some magic and takes an expansion team to the playoffs...
5. Friday June 21 vs Bend Elks
   What better way to celebrate the Summer Solstice than by coming out to RAP and watching the HarbourCats and Elks square off? With the sun setting at 9:19 that night, there's even a chance that the last out could be made before sundown. If the HarbourCats decide to start night games at 6:30 instead of 7:00 then you're almost guaranteed to be leaving the park in sunshine.

If you're a hardcore fan, our top pick for making a road trip to watch the HarbourCats in 2013 is the June 28-30 weekend series against the Cowlitz Black Bears in Longview, Washington. Not only is it the Canada Day long weekend, but the drive to Longview is less than 3 1/2 hours once you get off the Coho Ferry in Port Angeles. Story Field, home of the Black Bears, looks like a very cute ballpark and I'd love to spend an evening sitting in the Party Deck or Home Plate Club. Who's in?!?

HarbourCatNip

• Six games is the length of both the longest homestand and the longest road trip for the HarbourCats.
• With an odd number of teams in the league, the HarbourCats have consecutive off days on three separate occasions (excluding the two-day All Star break). The team does not currently have any scheduled games from June 8-10, June 24-27 or July 11-12. I wouldn't be surprised to see exhibition game(s) scheduled during the season to keep the players in game shape, especially during the four-day layoff in late June.

• The divisional alignment for the 2013 season is as follows:

North Division

• Bellingham Bells

• Kelowna Falcons

• Victoria HarbourCats

• Wenatchee AppleSox

• Walla Walla Sweets

South Division

• Bend Elks

• Corvallis Knights

• Cowlitz Black Bears

• Kitsap BlueJackets

• Klamath Falls Gems

• Medford Rogues

HarbourCats roster likely to have Canadian flavour

Here's a trivia question for you: True or False? There are more Canadians playing college baseball in the United States than there are playing college hockey.

If you said "False" you are... wrong! According to Bob Elliott of the Toronto Sun, there were over 700 Canadians playing American college baseball in the 2011-12 season, but fewer than 500 Canucks were lacing up their skates south of the 49th to play college hockey. Those 700 Canadian ballplayers are spread across schools that are part of the NCAA, NAIA or NJCAA and all of these institutions are potentially a supplier of talent for our HarbourCats. Given those numbers, we can expect a number of Canadians on the HarbourCats roster and likely a few local boys.

Kelly Norris-Jones

The HarbourCats have not announced any player signings so far, but I'm guessing that the roster is pretty close to being finalized. Rumour has it that we'll be learning of at least some of the player signings before the end of the month, but it's not too early to speculate on who we might see donning a HarbourCats jersey in June.

So who are some of the Canadians that might appear on our roster? A quick scan of Bob Elliot's list of Canadians playing U.S. college baseball yields a slew of possibilities. Much to my amazement, there are 24 ballplayers from Victoria on the list. The Garden City has been considered a Canadian baseball mecca for some time now, but that number puts it all in perspective.

One name that that immediately jumps out at you is Kelly Norris-Jones, a Victoria native who is the starting catcher for the University of Illinois. He was selected by the Blue Jays in the 50th round of the 2010 draft, but opted to go the NCAA route and did not sign with Toronto. Norris-Jones is a Victoria Mariners alumnus who suited up for the WCL's Kelowna Falcons in 2011 in preparation for his debut with the Fighting Illini. He hit .266 with no homers and 14 RBI in 46 games last season and was solid defensively. Incidentally, his father Brad is the owner of M.V.P. Sports Collectibles on Douglas Street.

Chase Cuckovich

Another possible local boy for the HarbourCats is Chase Cuckovich, an outfielder who used to play for the Victoria Eagles. He now attends Riverside City College (RCC) and is coached by -- you guessed it -- HarbourCats head coach Dennis Rogers. As a freshman at RCC last year, Cuckovich saw minimal playing time and went 3-for-12 with 4 RBI. Chase's older brother Nic also played at RCC and he was selected by the Kansas City Royals in the 17th round of the 2011 draft.

Cuckovich won't be the only Canadian under the tutelage of Dennis Rogers this season. Toronto-native Bryan Saucedo is a redshirt freshman who is also attending Riverside City College. He was taken by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 29th round of the 2012 draft, but chose to play for Rogers instead of signing with the Brew Crew. The first baseman / outfielder has impressive power and a very high ceiling.

Below is a list of the 24 Victorians playing college baseball in the United States. I'm sure there are a few errors and omissions, but it's a pretty impressive list nonetheless -- and I didn't even attempt to compile a list of other Vancouver Islanders playing down south.

Level	Position	Name	School
NCAA Division I	C	Kelly Norris-Jones	University of Illinois (IL)
	LHP	Jason Gibson	McNeese State University (LA)
	INF	Jagit Gordaya	Texas Southern University (TX)
NCAA Division II	C	Connor Moughtin	Minot State University (ND)
	RHP	Dustin Robirtis	Colorado Mesa State University (CO)
	C	Connor McDougall	Concordia University-St. Paul (MN)
	3B-SS	Duncan Blades	Abilene Christian University (TX)
NCAA Division III	RHP-1B	Dallen Russell	Principia College (IL)
	CF	Mike Turcotte	Minot State University (ND)
	INF	Ryan Adkins	Jamestown College ND
NAIA	RHP	Nick Kearley	Dickinson State College (ND)
	OF	Brendan Magee	Jamestown College (ND)
	INF	Dustin Sandberg	Clarke University (IA)
	RHP	Adam Wilson	University of Science and Art of Oklahoma (OK)
	1B	Ricky Alvernaz	Mayville State University (ND)
	1B	Sam Lawless	Jamestown College (ND)
Junior/CC Division I	OF	Chase Cuckovich	Riverside City Community College (CA)
	RHP	Cole Holt	Colby Comunity College (KS)
	RHP	Colton Lindsay	Volunteer State Community College (TN)
	C	Daniel Peakman	Trinidad State Junior College (CO)
	RHP	Nick Pivetta	New Mexico Jr. College (NM)
	RHP-INF	Cooper Skjeie	Cloud County Community College (KS)
	C-INF	Scott Jones	Colby Community College (KS)
	INF	Austin Russell	Colby Community College (KS)

With that big of a pipeline, I doubt we'll be lacking local talent on the HarbourCats anytime soon.