Be it ever so humble, there’s no place like home on Caledonia. The Victoria HarbourCats made a little history on Wednesday night, becoming the winningest team at home in West Coast League history thanks to a 9-5 victory over the Nanaimo NightOwls at Wilson’s Group Stadium at Royal Athletic Park.
The Island derby game between the HarbourCats and NightOwls was close until Tripp Clark belted a two-run home run as part of a three-run bottom of the fifth inning for Victoria.
The HarbourCats were tied for the most home wins in a single WCL season with 23, along with the 2009 and 2019 Corvallis Knights and 2016 HarbourCats.
The turnstiles have been clicking — 2,188 on Wednesday night — along with the winning, with Victoria listed as third in WCL attendance with a per-game average of 2,420 fans per game behind Edmonton’s 3,703 for the Riverhawks and Portland’s 3,061 for the Pickles.
“It feels like people are back and comfortable post-COVID,” said Jim Swanson, managing partner of the nine-person group that owns both the HarbourCats and Nanaimo NightOwls.
“The community mojo is back for all sorts of events.”
The NightOwls are also in the top half of league attendance in eight place with a 1,080 per-game average at Serauxmen Stadium.
“It’s a smaller park and the atmosphere in Nanaimo is electric,” said Swanson.
“It’s a true baseball stadium with old bones and a lot of history [Serauxmen was opened in 1976 in Mickey Mantle].”
Swanson was asked if he was feeling conflicted during this week’s three-game Island set between the HarbourCats and NightOwls, who joined the WCL last season. Victoria won the first game 8-6 on Tuesday night. The series concludes tonight.
“I have split loyalties and these games are the hardest for me to watch,” he said.
Yet no parent loves their second child any less than their first born.
Ownership of dual teams is not uncommon in minor-pro sports. The HarbourCats-NightOwls are among three instances in the WCL. John Stanton, owner of the MLB Seattle Mariners, owns the Yakima Valley Pippins and Walla Walla Sweets of the WCL. The Cowlitz Black Bears and Ridgefield Raptors of the WCL also share a common owner. Another example locally is that Island-based Pacific FC and Vancouver FC of the pro soccer Canadian Premier League are also owned by the same company.
“It provides economies of scale,” said Swanson.
The HarbourCats (33-15) have clinched a playoff berth while the NightOwls (24-24) were desperately trying to stay alive in the WCL playoff storyline. The HarbourCats will have home field advantage in the North Division semifinal round if they can catch the Wenatchee Apple Sox for the second-half title. Victoria trails Wenatchee by just a half-game in that second half race,
After the Island derby between the HarbourCats and NightOwls concludes tonight at Royal Athletic, the HarbourCats end the regular season this weekend in Edmonton against the Riverhawks (16-33) in the best stadium in the WCL, 9,200-seat Re/Max Field, which was once home of the Triple-A Trappers.
Victoria will meet the AppleSox (35-15) next week in the first round of the playoffs.
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