Certainty and a sense of stability.
That’s what the Victoria HarbourCats say they are striving for on West Coast League diamonds with the signings of head coach Brian McRae to a three-year extension and GM Brad Norris-Jones to a five-year extension.
“It’s about bringing a quality product to Victoria and winning,” said McRae, in his second season at the HarbourCats helm, after guiding the team to the 2017 WCL playoff final and to within one win of the league championship.
“We want to create a good learning environment here for the players,” added the 10-season former MLB player.
The WCL is made up of university and college players, many from NCAA Div. 1, looking to extend their seasons into summer club play without jeopardizing their NCAA eligibility.
“This is not just a two-three month thing. The recruiting and scouting is pretty much full time in the fall and spring,” said McRae.
“This contract takes care of that.”
Norris-Jones said it was important to have himself, McRae and HarbourCats managing partner Jim Swanson “all on the same page.”
“It’s hard to recruit for this league when there is no continuity and everyone is doing something different and looking for a different kind of player every year,” said Norris-Jones.
“This gives us that continuity into the future. We like NCAA Div. 1 kids with experience that we can trust. And those are not easy players to get. It takes a small army, all moving in the same direction, to put this team together.”
McRae agreed team management is on the same page for the next three years.
“Sometimes those pages get wrinkled up a bit, as is bound to happen among people in any organization, but we all have the same goal of creating a quality product that wins.”
About his philosophy of coaching these university players, McRae said it’s simple: “I want the players to learn.”
By pushing out the edges a bit.
“They come here from their colleges too passive and playing too safe sometimes,” noted McRae.
“They come to know here that even when you make mistakes, you will not be punished and you don’t have to be fearful of that. If you don’t make mistakes, you will not learn. I try to get them out of their comfort zones.”
For instance, players with speed who aren’t asked to steal in college, might be asked to do that if they become HarbourCats under McRae.
“You never know what you can do unless you try something different,” he said.
New contract in hand, McRae guides the HarbourCats (8-7) into a key three-game set against the North Division-leading Bellingham Bells beginning tonight at Wilson’s Group Stadium at Royal Athletic Park. The Bells were 12-5 and on a seven-game winning streak heading into Thursday night’s game in Cowlitz against the Black Bears.
DIAMOND DUST: The WCL announced Thursday that Clark County, Washington, will become the league’s 12th franchise and that the yet-to-be-named team will begin play, likely in the South Division, in the 2019 season.
