Titan Connection - March 27 edition

It was an eventful week for our Cal State Fullerton HarbourCats with Bryan Conant notching his first start and Joe Navilhon also grabbing a few meaningful innings.

First the numbers on Conant's start against Nebraska - 3 innings, 1 hit, 2 runs (both earned), 2 strikeouts and 2 walks. He faced 13 batters and threw 42 pitches, 23 for strikes. I'd say he was slightly unlucky in the way that the runs were scored on him - a couple of sacrifice bunts and some well placed ground balls - but he didn't do himself any favours by consistently falling behind in the count on most batters. He threw a first pitch strike to only 6 of the 13 hitters he faced but in this night, but so did most of the other Titan pitchers.

In the end, Conant left a tie ball game but with some big bats in the later innings, Cal State Fullerton ended up with a comfortable 10-4 win. After putting the first 2 batters on with a walk and an HBP, Conant seemed to shake off the first inning jitters and settle in a bit. He was hit pretty hard a couple of times but overall, I think it was a great experience that he can hopefully build on. He did struggle somewhat with his control and that is something he can work on, but he does throw hard and is an imposing presence on the mound, standing at 6 feet 5 inches.

Joe Navilhon

Later that same game, the other baby 'Cat, Joe Navilhon, pitched a perfect ninth inning to shut the
door. It seems like the Titans were giving some mid-week action to their freshman against a weaker hitting Nebraska team and both of our boys benefited by seeing some decent action.

Conant also saw the field in the most recent outing, a 3-2 loss to Loyola Marymount on Tuesday. Here he faced one batter in a the pivotal seventh inning. With the Titans clinging to a 1-0 lead, he entered the game with runners on first and second and one out. After getting behind in the count, Conant gave up a single to load the bases.

Enter Joe Navilhon. Our other baby 'Cat came in and ended up pitching the rest of the seventh and all of the eighth. Although his line looks respectable for 1 and 2/3 innings - 1 hit, no runs, one walk and 2 strikeouts - the seventh was a bit of a nightmare. With the bases loaded, Navilhon got behind in the count and threw a wild pitch to score a run before giving up a single to score another. With the Titans now down 2-1, a couple more wild pitches saw another run cross the plate before he settled in and got the last two outs.

The eighth inning was much better and after walking the first batter, he retired the next two and got some help from his catcher in nailing a runner attempting to steal second. Overall, Navilhon seems to have a decent fastball and definitely some nice bending pitches (slider and curve) that he struggled with a bit, but again, a pretty stressful situation to address. It was good to see the Titans stick with him after he cleared the bases in the seventh and I think he'll be the better man for it. Even though they lost the game 3-2, the experience that both our freshman got in this game, and in the previous one against Nebraska, is all part of the growing process. Getting a start or having to come into a bases-loaded jam is all part getting the feel at the next level of baseball.

It really is great being able to watch these guys on-line as the Big West network saves all the games so you can go back and watch pretty much any game. I'd encourage you to go and find these games and give them a look. Now I'm curious as to how they will be used this summer when they are getting even more seasoning here in the WCL. My guess is that Conant will end up a starter for the HarbourCats and I'm really not sure on Navilhon as I haven't seen him pitch enough yet. The fact that he entered the last game with the bases loaded makes me think he could be a set up guy or maybe the closer, even though I believe he was a consistent starter in high school.

In any case, check out the link above and take a look at what is in store for us at RAP this coming summer. I can almost smell the hot dogs already!

HarbourCanucks corner - March 24th edition

Nick Pivetta

Nick Pivetta of the New Mexico Junior College (NMJC) Thunderbirds continues to pitch extremely well this season. On Friday, he went the distance to lead the Thunderbirds to a 6-3 victory over Howard College and raise his record to 5-2. Pivetta gave up three earned runs on eight hits in his nine innings of work. He also struck out four and didn't walk a single batter. Pivetta now has a 3.05 ERA, a nifty 1.11 WHIP and he has walked fewer than two batters per nine innings. Given that his velocity took a big jump in the fall, it’s a wonder that his control has also improved from the 3.7 walks per nine innings that he issued with the Thunderbirds last season. It’s pretty easy to understand why the scouts have been flocking to Pivetta’s starts this year.

NMJC ended up taking three of four games from Howard College on the weekend to raise their record to 23-7 on the year. Their next action is this upcoming weekend when they take on Odessa College in a four-game series.

The VIBI Mariners played their first conference games of the season on Saturday and Sunday and Connor Russell earned the Opening Day start. Although the temperature in Nanaimo was 7C (45F) at game time on Saturday, it felt closer to the freezing mark with a stiff breeze blowing most of the afternoon. Russell got off to a great start by retiring the Prairie Baseball Academy (PBA) Dawgs in order in the first inning, but it was an uphill battle for the rest of the seven-inning game. After giving up a run in the top of the third inning, Russell was staked to a 4-1 lead in the bottom of the frame on an opposite-field grand slam by Darren Kolk. The score remained that way until the top of the fifth when the Dawgs struck for three runs to tie the game. Russell deserved a better fate in that inning, as the Dawgs used three consecutive flares to the opposite field and a pair of walks to draw even. PBA scored the eventual winning run with two outs in the top of the seventh inning on a throwing error by the catcher, making the final score 5-4 for the visitors.

Connor Russell

On the afternoon, Russell went seven innings and gave up four earned runs on eight hits. He walked six, struck out five and threw a total of 123 pitches. Although this wasn’t the result he was hoping for, Russell still impressed me with his resilience and compete level against the defending Canadian College Baseball Conference (CCBC) champions. Including non-conference games, he now has a 2-2 record and a 4.03 ERA on the year.

Unfortunately, things did not go any better for the Mariners during the rest of the weekend, as the PBA Dawgs won all four games. The Mariners have a heavy schedule in the next week with eight games coming up against the Sherwood Park A’s, Edmonton Prospects and the University of Calgary. All games are at Serauxmen Stadium in Nanaimo.

Austin Russell of the Southern Polytechnic Hornets failed to receive much playing time for the second consecutive week, although he did reach base on an error in his only at-bat. Russell’s average sits at .327, good for sixth best on the team. The Hornets can certainly use an offensive boost after being held by Lee University to one run and a measly 10 hits in a three-game series over the weekend, so perhaps Austin will be back in the starting lineup soon. The Hornets play a doubleheader against Point University on Tuesday and then they take on William Carey University in the three-game set next weekend.

The real HarbourCats of Santa Barbara - Mar 21 edition

Nesovic scores the winning run on Saturday

The UCSB Gauchos snagged two of three games from the Sacramento State Hornets last weekend and HarbourCats pitcher Robby Nesovic played a huge role in the series victory. Nesovic, who had multiple hits in all three games against Sacramento State, has been a man on a mission in the batter’s box of late. The freshman went 7-for-11 with a pair of RBI on the weekend and he now appears to be the team’s regular DH and cleanup hitter. Nesovic also has an impressive six-game hitting streak.

It’s difficult to select the high point of Nesovic’s weekend for the Gauchos, but perhaps it was in the eighth inning of Saturday’s game. With two outs and the score tied 4-4, Nesovic hit a liner over second to start a UCSB rally. Two batters later, he raced from second on a base hit and slid in safely at home on a close play for the eventual game-winning run.

Nesovic has posted some scary numbers so far this season – a .500 batting average, .541 on-base percentage and an out-of-this-world slugging percentage of .600. Ay, caramba!! This young man is going to be a joy to watch at Royal Athletic Park this summer, whether it is at the plate or on the mound.

The low point of the weekend came in the first inning of Sunday’s 13-7 loss when the Gauchos gave up eight runs and committed three errors. The lopsided first inning did have a bright side for HarbourCats fans, as it allowed Connor Baits to come in and help stop the bleeding. The freshman’s 3 1/3 innings of work was his longest relief appearance of the season, and he gave up four hits and two earned runs without walking a batter. Baits now has a 5.91 ERA in eight relief appearances.

Connor Baits

The other two H-Cats on the UCSB squad, Dillon Tate and Art Vidrio, remained on the sidelines this past weekend. Hopefully they’ll get into their first game of the season soon, but that seems less likely each week. The next bit of action for UCSB is this coming weekend when they play a three-game series against the Cal Poly Mustangs. The Gauchos are then off to Honolulu to play the University of Hawaii the following weekend in the first conference games of the season.

- Co-written by WC and Gus

Titan Connection - March 20 edition

Bryan Conant delivers against Pepperdine earlier this year

Since the last Titan post, none of the Cal State Fullerton HarbourCats have seen any action, but that's all about to change tonight when Bryan Conant "the Barbarian" - our six foot five inch tall, 220 pound lefty - takes the hill for his first start in the second game of a two game set against Nebraska.

CSF baseball (@BaseballTitans) just tweeted this tidbit of information, along with a picture of Mr. Conant's newly buzzed head. This is exciting news for Conant who has 4 appearances and 3 and a third innings of work so far this year. He enters the game with a 5.40 ERA and 1.61 WHIP - stats that are admittedly not that indicative of performance, given the small sample size.

If last night's game against the Cornhuskers was any indication (an 11-inning thriller won by CSF), tonight's game should also be a good one. The 'Huskers are only 6-12 and are hitting .235 as a team compared to 17-3 and .271 for the eighth ranked Titans so let's hope for many Nebraska zeroes and many crooked CSF numbers.

E-X-C-E-L-L-E-N-T

This is a great opportunity for the freshman Conant to show his stuff, not only to us (his summer hosts!) but to the Cal State bench bosses in charge of dolling out precious innings. He will be the sixth CSF pitcher to start this year, where they seem to have a pretty set four-man rotation. It would be EXCELLENT (said in best Mr. Burns voice) to see Conant have a solid outing.

Tonight's game is being streamed live at Big West TV if you want to check him out. Come on, take a lawn chair and your laptop out to your front porch so you get yourself warmed up for the balmy Victoria opener.

Here's hoping for a great start!

HarbourCanucks corner - March 18th edition

Nick Pivetta

It appears that the media blackout on information about the New Mexico Junior College Thunderbirds baseball team has mercifully ended. This means that we can finally give you an update on what Nick Pivetta has done on the mound in the last couple of weeks -- and the news is good.

On March 9th, Pivetta held Midland College to only four hits and two earned runs in six innings pitched. He struck out four and walked two. On Friday, Pivetta got the win against Cochise College by giving up no earned runs in seven dominant innings on the hill. He only gave up five hits while striking out six and walking one. Pivetta now has a 4-2 record on the year with a 3.06 ERA and an impressive 1.16 WHIP. The Thunderbirds, who are now 20-6 on season, are the 20th-ranked junior college baseball team in the country in the most recent poll. However, they have gone 5-1 since those rankings were released. The next action for the Thunderbirds is a four-game series against Howard College this weekend.

Connor Russell had his best start of the year on Sunday, leading the VIBI Mariners to a 3-1 victory over the Okanagan College Coyotes. Russell only gave up three hits and one earned run in six innings, striking out seven and only walking one batter. The win moved his record to 2-1 on the season and lowered his ERA to 3.68. Look for that earned run average to keep dropping, as his WHIP is a stellar 1.09. The Mariners play their first four home games of the season on Saturday and Sunday when they take on the Prairie Baseball Academy from Lethbridge, Alberta.

After posting a six-game hit streak, Austin Russell of the Southern Polytechnic Hornets has fallen abruptly into a hitting funk. Russell was held hitless in seven at-bats in the last week and his average has fallen to  .333. While that batting average may sound impressive, keep in mind that the Hornets' team batting average is .335. Not to worry -- we're confident that Russell will get right back into the hitting groove very soon. The Hornets have now won seven in a row to improve their record to 19-6 on the season. Next up is Tennessee Temple University on Tuesday and then a three-game series against Lee University on Friday and Saturday.

HarbourCatNip

• Matt "Coop" Cooper earned a couple of recent starts for the University of Hawaii after his outstanding relief appearance on February 22nd that saw him pitch 6 1/3 shutout innings. His first start against UNLV on March 4th didn't go so well, but last Tuesday's outing against Gonzaga was spectacular. Cooper threw a complete-game three-hit shutout, and he didn't walk a single batter. The win was the first of his NCAA career and he lowered his ERA to a team-leading 1.95.
• Andrew Nelson has been wildly inconsistent in his six starts for Cuesta College this season. However, his most recent start on March 12th against LA Pierce College was outstanding. Nelson (3-3, 4.29 ERA) threw a complete game, allowing one earned run on eight hits.
• Alex Real helped the University of New Mexico Lobos take two out of three from UNLV on the weekend, dropping the Rebels out of the Top 25 rankings. Real went 5-for-10 with a pair of RBI, raising his average to .328 and his on-base percentage to a sparkling .451.



Brett Urabe

• David Schuknecht hit his third homer in his last five games on Saturday for Riverside City College. He now leads the team with a monster .569 slugging percentage. Schuknecht has also played the last four games in left field, which is a good sign for his surgically repaired labrum.
• Brett Urabe got the first RBI of his college career on Saturday by successfully executing a squeeze bunt in the seventh inning of a 5-0 win by the UCLA Bruins over the Washington Huskies. Urabe only has two official at-bats this season and he is still looking for his first career hit.
• The West Coast League appears to be getting closer to expanding to Northern California, as Redding and Chico may be granted expansion teams for the 2014 season. As an interesting sidebar, a former Blue Jay is spearheading the effort in both cities: Rick Bosetti in Redding and Pat Gillick in Chico.

The real HarbourCats of Santa Barbara - Mar 14 edition

Mr. Utility, Robby Nesovic

When we last checked in with the Gauchos, they were stuck in neutral with a 4-4 record after getting pounded by the (then) 12th-ranked UCLA Bruins. UCSB then reeled off four straight wins against San Jose State and Saint Mary's College before being swept in a three-game series by the Texas Longhorns. Although they were humbled by the Longhorns, the Gauchos showed a good attitude on Tuesday night by bouncing back with a solid 7-2 win against the 17th-ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish. UCSB's record now stands at 9-7 on the year.

Helping out in the Gaucho resurgence has been our own Robby Nesovic. Nesovic, who is a relief pitcher by trade, appears to have taken over the full-time duties as the team's designated hitter. Although starting pitcher Greg Mahle began the season in that role, Mahle hasn't started a game at DH since his "o-fer" on March 1st that dropped his average to .152. Meanwhile, Nesovic has gone on a tear with five hits and seven RBI in the last three games -- he now leads the team with an impressive .421 batting average. Nesovic has walked more often than he has struck out and that great strike-zone judgement has propelled him to a nifty .500 on-base percentage, good for second best on the Gauchos squad.

Nesovic also made his third relief appearance of the season on Tuesday night against Notre Dame, giving up two earned runs in 1 1/3 innings of relief of Mahle. Nesovic's ERA for the year stands at 7.36, but he has plenty of time to turn things around on the hill.

Check out Notre Dame's exceptional retro uniforms!

Connor Baits has made two relief appearances since our last UCSB update. He pitched a scoreless inning against the Saint Mary's College Gaels on March 4th, and then he got roughed up by the Texas Longhorns on Sunday in an appearance that lasted 2 2/3 innings. Baits gave up four hits, including a three-run homer to the second Longhorns hitter that he faced. The round-tripper was the second long ball given up by Baits this season, and his ERA now sits at 6.14.

The other two HarbourCats freshmen on the UCSB roster, Dillon Tate and Art Vidrio, are still waiting for their first opportunity to show what they can do on the hill. Coach Checketts obviously isn't averse to using young guns on the mound -- 7 of the 11 pitchers used so far are freshmen. Since two of those freshmen sport ERA's of 8.64 and 15.43, perhaps it's time to see what guys like Tate and Vidrio can do. The next action for the Gauchos comes on Friday when they start a three-game series against the visiting Sacramento State Hornets.

HarbourCatNip

• Justin Burba of the Oklahoma Sooners got the first hit of his college career on Wednesday night and it was a big one. Burba, who had only four previous at-bats this season, pinch hit in the bottom of the seventh inning with the Sooners trailing New Mexico State by a run. He smacked a double down the left field line on an 0-2 pitch and scored the tying run later in the inning (you can see his double on SoonerSports TV -- just advance to the 1:54:40 mark). The Sooners went on to win the game in the bottom of the ninth.
• Burba's teammate (on both the Sooners and the HarbourCats) Anthony Hermelyn has cooled off of late. He's 0-for-3 in his last three games and is now hitting .225 with 8 RBI in his 40 at-bats this season.

Titan Connection - March 13 edition

The Cal State Fullerton Titans continue to move up in the Baseball America rankings, settling in this week at #8 (up from #10 last week) after going 3-2 in their last 5 games. As expected, with such a busy schedule all of our baby 'Cats (HarbourKittens??) saw some limited action in this latest string of games.

In an eventual 7-2 loss at the University of San Diego, Bryan Conant came in to try and work starter J.D. Davis (who took the loss but remained in the game as the DH!) out of a jam in the fourth. Conant pitched to 2 batters giving up one hit and allowing an earned run for Davis and one of his own on a subsequent sacrifice fly.

Joe Navilhon also pitched a full inning in the loss to USD, giving up one hit (a big one...a round tripper), two earned runs, and finished with a walk and a strike out. It was the first work in a while for Navilhon, again in middle relief.

David Olmedo-Barrera

After an 11-4 win at USC where none of our boys saw any action, CSF went home for a 3 game set with Texas A&M. The first two games were again void of any future HarbourCats (a 6-1 loss and a 2-0 win) but in the series finale - a thrilling 7-6 win - there was another David Olmedo-Barrera sighting in the 7th when he entered the game as a pinch runner and ended up scoring what would turn out to be the winning run.

So all in all, not too much action for our boys last week. It seems like with such a big hitting team, Olmedo-Barrera will see very playing time but we'll keep an eye on him, for sure. As for the hurlers, at least they got some action. Hopefully they will bide their time, throw up some zeroes, and take advantage of some middle relief opportunities to earn even more innings in the coming few weeks. Again, we're talking about three freshmen here so the light duties are to be expected.

HarbourCanucks Corner - March 12th edition

Connor Russell

Connor Russell picked up his first win of the year on Sunday by leading the VIBI Mariners to a 6-4 win over Linn-Benton Community College. Russell (1-1) allowed only seven hits and two earned runs in his eight innings on work. He also struck out 10 batters while only walking two. Connor now has a 4.50 ERA and 1.25 WHIP in his two starts this season. The Mariners play a pair of games next weekend against both Wenatchee and Everett community colleges before returning to Nanaimo for their home opener on March 23rd.

Even though he has been on a roll of late for the Southern Polytechnic Hornets, Austin Russell only played in one of the three games against Emmanuel College last weekend. The Hornets swept the series and are now 15-6 on the year. Russell went one-for-four with two runs scored and a stolen base -- his first steal of the year in two attempts. Austin still leads the team in batting average (.390) and on-base percentage (.479), so I'd expect him to get some significant playing time this week. The Hornets play Lindsey Wilson College on Wednesday and then they take on Loyola University in a three-game series on Friday and Saturday.

Getting information on games played by the New Mexico Junior College baseball team seems to be tougher than extracting information on North Korea's nuclear program. We know that the NMJC Thunderbirds dropped three of four games to Midland College last weekend, but complete box scores are still not available. That means we have no idea how Nick Pivetta may have fared in his start against Midland College, but we'll let you know as soon as details are released. The three losses on the weekend dropped the Thunderbirds' record to 15-5 on the season.

A big weekend for the Schuknecht brothers

RCC's David Schuknecht

It was almost as if the two brothers on the HarbourCats, David and John Schucknecht, were trying to one-up each other this past weekend.

David Schuknecht hit a solo home run for Riverside City College on Thursday afternoon and then followed that up with a three-run homer and four RBI on Saturday. The round-trippers were the first two home runs in David's college career. His batting average currently sits at only .255, but he now leads RCC with 11 RBI and an impressive .511 slugging percentage. Although he is a catcher by trade, David has been used almost exclusively as the DH since he had a pair of early season starts behind the plate. Hopefully that isn't an indication that his surgically repaired labrum is giving him issues.

Not to be outdone by his older brother, John Schuknecht hit a three-run homer and had four RBI on Friday afternoon for the Cal Poly Mustangs. The homer was also the first of John's college career. He may only be hitting .238, but the freshman has been earning more playing time of late thanks to a solid .393 on-base percentage. Although John has only 21 at-bats in the Mustangs' 15 games, 12 of those at-bats have come in the last five days.

John Schuknecht

I'm sure that the Schucknecht siblings will continue to push each other when they both don a HarbourCats uniform this summer -- and that's going to be a lot of fun for Victoria baseball fans to watch.

HarbourCatNip

• Alex Real of the UNM Lobos split his time equally between first base and catcher this weekend.  He went 4-for-13 with an RBI and five runs scored in a four-game split with UC Riverside. He's now batting .321 on the year.
• Alex DeGoti and Logon Lombana are two Victoria HarbourCats currently playing for the Long Beach State Dirtbags. ESPN recently published a very interesting article explaining the origins of the Dirtbags name.
• If second baseman Alex DeGoti is at a loss for a walk-up song at Royal Athletic Park, he could always select this gem from the summer of 2000:

Alex Real bounces back in a big way

The true test of any athlete is how he or she battles back when facing adversity. By that measure, Alex Real passed with flying colours last night.

While he will definitely be one of the offensive leaders this summer for the HarbourCats, Real's defensive play is still a work-in-progress. Although his UNM Lobos thumped Lasalle University by a score of 16-3 in Tuesday's game, it was a night to forget for Real. After making three errors at first base in the top of the third inning, Lobos head coach Ray Birmingham promptly lifted Real for a pinch hitter in the bottom of the inning. Ouch. Birmingham, who is known as a bit of an ornery old-school type of guy, must have had steam coming out of his ears by the third miscue.

But you have to give coach Birmingham some credit -- he trotted Real right back out there on Wednesday night, only this time it was for his first appearance of the season behind the plate. Real was used as a DH almost exclusively last season, but he polished his catching skills playing summer baseball for the Eau Claire Express in the Northwoods League. Birmingham's move paid dividends, as Real responded with the first four-hit game of his college career. In addition to his three singles and a double, Real knocked in three runs and scored one himself. His batting average now stands at .325, good for fifth best on the team.

I would expect to see Real back at first base for a good portion this weekend when the Lobos take on UC Riverside in a four-game series. In a post-game interview last night, Birmingham was quoted as saying "He's (Real) a good catcher, but we need him to play first base too and he's gotta get it." After everything that has gone on over the last couple of nights, it's pretty clear that Real gets it.


The post-game interview with Real starts at the 1:42 mark of this video.

HarbourCanucks corner

Our other two regular features have catchy names, so why not brand our periodic updates on the three Victoria natives on the HarbourCats? That sounds like a good idea to me, so here is the first official installment of "HarbourCanucks corner."

On Sunday, Nick Pivetta of the New Mexico Junior College Thunderbirds raised his record to 3-1 on the season in a 14-4 victory over Clarendon College. The game was called after five innings by the "mercy" rule. Pivetta gave up six hits and three earned runs in his five innings of work, striking out seven without walking a single batter. His ERA now stands at 4.19 for the year.

Photo of Austin Russell by ReactionImages.com

The Thunderbirds -- the second-ranked junior college team in the country -- scored 54 runs on the weekend and swept all four games against Clarendon College. Their next test is a four-game set against Midland College that starts on Friday.

As we predicted, Austin Russell has been moved up to the top of the Southern Polytechnic Hornets batting order. Russell got the start in right field and batted second in two of his team's three games last weekend. In the series against Southern Wesleyan University, he went 4-for-9 with an RBI and a run scored. His RBI on Saturday was a significant one -- he drove in the tying run in the sixth inning of a seven-inning game and the Hornets went on to win the game in extras. Russell now leads the team in both batting average (.405) and on-base percentage (.488). The Hornets, now 12-6 on the year, take on Emmanuel College in a three-game series this weekend.

The Vancouver Island Baseball Institute Mariners opened their season with four games in Yakima this past weekend. That allowed the third HarbourCanuck, Connor Russell, to finally take to the hill in a meaningful game. Unfortunately, Russell had a disappointing outing against Yakima Valley Community College, giving up eight hits and six earned runs in his eight innings of work. He struck out seven and walked three. Russell's next chance to pitch will be this weekend when the Mariners return to Yakima for a pair of games against both Clackamas and Linn-Benton.

HarbourCatNip

• Going into last weekend, five freshmen on the HarbourCats had yet to appear in any of their team's games. However, Kentucky’s 21-2 blowout over the University of Akron on Friday allowed Zach Storm to make his debut for the Wildcats. He went 0-for-1 and played three innings at second base. On Sunday, Brett Urabe got the start at DH for the UCLA Bruins and he went 0-for-2 with a run scored. David Olmedo-Barrera of the Cal State Fullerton Titans also made his first appearance on Sunday; He walked in a pinch-hit appearance. That leaves two HarbourCats who are still waiting for their first taste of game action: pitchers Art Vidrio and Dillon Tate of the UCSB Gauchos.
• Freshman Logan Lombana got his first career NCAA win on Saturday for Long Beach State by pitching a perfect top of the ninth inning in a 4-3 win over Seattle University. Lombana now has a 3.60 ERA and a stellar 1.00 WHIP in five relief appearances. 

Titan Connection - March 5 edition

The Cal State Fullerton Titans continue to roll along, taking a weekend match-up from the previously 14th ranked Oregon Ducks 2-1. CSF won the first 2 games 8-2 and 9-2 respectively before dropping the finale 9-1. Sunday's game was the first loss of the season for the 10-1 Titans, but the weekend series was enough to propel them up to #10 in the Baseball America rankings.

As for our HarbourCats, they saw limited action in the series with the Ducks. Bryan Conant pitched 1/3 of an inning in the Sunday loss facing two batters. He did give up a hit but also struck out one in middle relief. There was no appearance from the other HarbourCat pitcher - Joe Navilhon - but there was a David Olmedo-Barrera sighting as he came into Sunday's game as a pinch hitter. In his first appearance of the season he drew a base on balls. This Titan team is very strong, so earning playing time will be tough for our baby 'Cats since they are all freshman. With 5 games in the next 6 days though - all against unranked opponents -  there may be a chance to see our boys get some innings/at bats.

Saturday's game had a special meaning for the Titans as they honoured Nick Hurtado, a CSF Titan who passed away following a brave battle with bone cancer. There was a moment or silence before the game and Titan's first baseman Carlos Lopez wore Hurtado's number 56 in his memory.

The real HarbourCats of Santa Barbara - Feb 28 edition

Winning the 50/50 raffle at a sold-out sporting event would be something, but splitting a four-game weekend series at home is “like kissing your sister” according to UCSB coach Andrew Checketts. The Gauchos easily defeated the University of San Fransico “Dons” 6-1 on Friday night, but lost both games of a doubleheader on Saturday by a combined score of 15-6. They bounced back with a 6-2 win on Sunday to salvage the series split. Unfortunately, UCSB got thumped on Tuesday by the 12th-ranked UCLA Bruins, dropping their record to 4-4 on the season.

Freshman reliever Connor Baits continues to get plenty of chances to pitch, as he appeared in four of the five games this past week. The high point for Baits was when he picked up his first career NCAA save in Friday night's win. His low point came on Tuesday when the Bruins touched him up for a pair of earned runs in only 2/3 of an inning. The runs boosted his ERA to 7.36, although that figure can change quickly since he has only pitched 3 2/3 innings this year. The trend has been for the Gauchos to use Baits in key relief situations, so it will be interesting to see if his recent struggles will alter that approach.

The sign outside Caesar Uyesaka Stadium says it all 

Freshman Robby Nesovic also had his share of work this weekend, pitching in the first two games of his college career and also appearing as a pinch hitter on Saturday. The high point for Nesovic was his one inning of scoreless relief in Tuesday's loss to the Bruins. On the downside, he gave up three hits and a run in his 1 1/3 innings on Friday and he flied out to left field in his pinch-hit appearance. His ERA now stands at a very respectable 3.86.

With such a strong pitching staff, the UCSB coaches have been unable to give any innings to freshman pitchers Dillon Tate and Art Vidrio as yet. However, it's just a matter of time before these two young men get their chance. Their next opportunity will be this weekend when the Gauchos take on San Jose State in a three-game series and then on Monday afternoon when they take on the Saint Mary's College Gaels.

- Co-written by WC and Gus

Titan connection - Feb 26 edition

Bryan Conant in action against Pepperdine

Cal State Fullerton maintained their perfect record over the past week with a win at Pepperdine and then a three game sweep at TCU to bring their record to 8-0. This bumped them up to #17 in the Baseball America rankings and has people talking about a deep postseason run already.

As for our HarbourCats, only Bryan Conant saw any action last week, as he pitched 1 and 2/3 (it's just mathematically WRONG to say 1.2...that is 1 and 1/5!) innings in the 6-3 win over Pepperdine. Conant entered the game in the 5th inning with a man on 3rd, two out and the Titans leading 5-1. He managed to get the strikeout and came back to pitch the 6th where he gave up his first extra base hit so far this season - a double that eventually scored later in the inning on a groundout. Conant started the 7th with a strikeout and then he issued a walk before being replaced.

Being a freshman, Conant will have to take every inning as an opportunity to show his stuff. It seems that both he and Joe Navilhon will be in a middle relief role and will be battling for precious innings with a host of other relief pitchers. Of the nine total relievers who have gotten any work this year, the biggest "workhorse" has pitched 5 and 1/3 innings. Conant has pitched a total of 2 and 2/3 so he is right around the middle of the usage graph.

The Titans play eight games in ten days starting on March 1st with a three game set against Oregon, so here's to hoping the HarbourCats get to flex their muscles in the next week and a half. There will be lots of innings in the coming days, so I'm thinking it looks good to see some friendly faces in the next few Cal Sate Fullerton box scores.

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Matt Cooper

• With the possible exception of Nick Pivetta’s complete-game shutout on February 16th, Matt Cooper’s outing on Friday was perhaps the most impressive performance by a HarbourCat so far this season. Cooper, who pitched the last two seasons at Bellevue Community College, entered a scoreless game for the University of Hawaii in the top of the eighth inning. He then proceeded to throw 6 1/3 innings of shutout baseball against a tough Rice University squad. Cooper only gave up one hit, walked two and struck out eight in a very impressive relief appearance. Although the game was still scoreless when he was removed from the game in the top of the 15th inning, the University of Hawaii ended up losing the game 2-0 in 17 innings.
• Cooper now has an ERA of 0.00 for the season in his 10 2/3 innings of relief. He also has a spectacular 0.66 WHIP. His University of Hawaii teammate, Scott Kuzminsky, will also be suiting up for the HarbourCats this summer. Kuzminsky has 5.40 ERA in his two brief relief appearances so far in 2013.
• Four teams took part in the Kleberg Bank College Classic in Corpus Christi this weekend, including the University of Oklahoma and the University of New Mexico. The Sooners earned the tournament championship based on their three straight victories. The wins raised their season record to 9-0, and the Sooners remain the 18th-ranked team in the country according to Baseball America.
• Two guys who will be a big part of the HarbourCats offense this summer, Anthony Hermelyn and Alex Real, faced off against one another on Sunday. Real hit his first home run of the season in the game, but Hermelyn’s Oklahoma Sooners knocked off Real’s UNM Lobos by a score of 10-8.
• Alex Real had a solid tournament offensively, going 4-for-14 with a homer, two runs scored and an RBI. He raised his average on the season to a respectable .250.
• Anthony Hermelyn struggled at the plate on the weekend and went 1-for-8 with an RBI. He’s now hitting .200 with five RBI on the season.
• Hermelyn’s teammate and fellow HarbourCat Justin Burba is still waiting for an opportunity to show what he can do. Burba was used once on the weekend as a pinch runner and he scored a run. So far he is 0-for-3 in 2013.

Austin Russell is back in the groove

Austin Russell

Austin Russell is beginning to heat up after a tepid start to his season. Russell led his Southern Polytechnic Hornets to a 5-2 win over the University of Mobile on Friday in the rubber match of a three-game series. With the victory, the Hornets improved to 11-4 on the season.

Russell went 3-for-6 in the series to raise his batting average to .393, good for second best on the team. His on-base percentage currently sits at an impressive .485. Russell also picked up his first extra-base hit of the year, a double in the series finale.

Now that Russell appears to be settling in with his new team, I'd expect him to see an increase in playing time. He batted fifth on Friday, but I wouldn't be surprised to see him settle into the leadoff or number two hole in the batting order before too long. Russell's next chance to take to the field comes on Tuesday when the Hornets take on Georgia Gwinnett College in a doubleheader. They then go up against Southern Wesleyan University in the three-game set that starts on Friday.

The news isn't quite so rosy for the other Victorian on the Harbourcats roster who was in action this weekend. Nick Pivetta came back to earth rather abruptly, as his New Mexico Junior College Thunderbirds fell 8-6 to Weatherford College on Saturday. He gave up five earned runs on six hits in his 3 2/3 innings of work, while he walked three and struck out three batters. The loss lowered Pivetta's record to 2-1, and his ERA jumped to 3.77. His WHIP also took a beating on the weekend, ballooning to 1.40.

The Thunderbirds now have a record of 10-2 on the season. They'll face Clarendon College in a four-game series this weekend.

The third Garden City native on the HarbourCats, Connor Russell, gets his season underway on the weekend when his Vancouver Island Baseball Institute Mariners play four games in Yakima, Washington. The Mariners will play a pair of games against both Everett Community College and Green River Community College. Russell is coming off a stellar sophomore campaign with the Mariners in which he posted a 0.90 ERA and a 1.12 WHIP in 77 2/3 innings pitched.

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.

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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.

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• 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.

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• 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.

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• 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.

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• 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.

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• 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.