The Victoria HarbourCats are off to a 4-0 start in the West Coast League thanks to an 8-3 win over the Walla Walla sweets on Monday night at Wilson’s Group Stadium at Royal Athletic Park. A lot of the credit goes to the coaching staff assembled by head coach and former five-season major-leaguer Todd Haney.
It includes assistant pitching coach Steve Sinclair of Victoria, who pulled off the neat career trick of playing for the two MLB teams that B.C. baseball fans most follow — the Toronto Blue Jays and Seattle Mariners. HarbourCats head pitching coach Scott Anderson was a first-round pick in the MLB draft out of the Oregon State Beavers and played six minor-pro seasons in making it to Double-A in the Montreal Expos system, leaving the Phoenix resident to quip that it makes him feel like an honorary Canadian. There is plenty to learn from these guys and the HarbourCats players have been soaking it up.
“They are eager and receptive and they want to learn,” said Sinclair.
This is what the WCL and summer collegiate ball is all about. It is among several such leagues across North America in which NCAA and NAIA players can extend their seasons into the summer after their university and college seasons end in the spring. There is a lot of learning packed into just over two months of ball.
“We’re not here to reinvent the wheel. The game has not changed in the basics — pitchers have to throw strikes and batters have to hit the ball,” said Sinclair, who was inducted into the Victoria Sports Hall of Fame with the Class of 2015.
“It’s about a tweak here and there to help them improve.”
Sometimes that’s all that is needed. Four former HarbourCats have gone on to play in Major League Baseball. Nick Pivetta is with the Boston Red Sox, Andrew Vaughan with the Chicago White Sox and Nathan Lukes with the Blue Jays. Alex De Goti has played with the Houston Astros. There are 40 WCL alumni in the MLB this season and 20 who played in the 2023 World Baseball Classic. WCL graduates into the hundreds are in minor-pro ball.
“That is a great testament to this league,” said Sinclair.
He once too followed his dreams through the longshot process.
“If the right guy is in the stands on the right day, maybe a door opens for you, and you can step through it,” said Sinclair.
“The rest is up to you.”
Ex-MLB players Greg Swindell and Mark Petkovsek were HarbourCats assistant coaches last season and team co-owner and managing-partner Jim Swanson is proud of the instruction that has been imparted at Royal Athletic Park over the past decade since the franchise came into existence.
“There is so much experience between these guys,” said Swanson.
“The practical baseball applications they provide, starting from Todd [Haney] on down, are so valuable for these young players.”
The HarbourCats coaching staff includes head coach Haney and assistant coaches Anderson, Sinclair, Jaxon Williams, Troy Birtwistle and Ethan Fox.
“It’s about getting to know the kids as more than just athletes,” said Anderson.
“It’s about who they are as people first and athletes second. Sometimes you make an impact on them.”
Anderson relates stories to his current athletes about past players he coached who made it to pro ball after being given up on: “I particularly like working with the underdog type kids. I tell them not to give up the sport but to keep playing because you never know.”
That’s the sort of messaging that bench-boss Haney appreciates.
“Our job is help these players along their journey, hopefully to the big leagues,” said the former MLB infielder with the Expos, Chicago Cubs and New York Mets.
ON THE DIAMOND: The HarbourCats beat the Sweets on Monday before 1,440 fans as Kai Gray hit a triple on a two-hit, three-RBI night, Jack Johnson added three hits, two RBI and three runs scored and Nick Dumesnil doubled on a two-hit outing. Reliever Dawson Huford took the win. The series continues tonight and concludes with the morning-start school field-trip game Wednesday at 11 a.m. … A two-RBI single by Kevin Shea in the bottom of the ninth inning gave the HarbourCats a 4-3 walk-off win Sunday afternoon at Royal Athletic Park as Victoria swept its season-opening three-game set against the Kamloops NorthPaws. … The Nanaimo NightOwls swept the Sweets in their WCL season-opening series over the weekend at Serauxmen Stadium as Owls outfielder Brandon Hupe went five-for-seven with three extra-base hits over the three games to be named WCL player of the week. Nanaimo opens a three-game set tonight in Kelowna against the Falcons.
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