The spring/summer weather delivered a soggy curveball to the fledgling rivalry between the Victoria HarbourCats and Nanaimo NightOwls. The Island clubs, with the visitors expected to wear their Nanaimo Bars third jersey, will meet tonight at Wilson’s Group Stadium at Royal Athletic Park in a rescheduled West Coast League date from the rain-postponed game on June 9. It’s a sign of the times and the glowering clouds that have dominated the season and dampened attendance. Baseball is more weather-dependent than almost any other sport.
“Attendance has been lower than hoped,” said Jim Swanson, managing partner of the group that owns both the Victoria and Nanaimo clubs, and also GM of the NightOwls.
“The weather has been hard on us. It’s the worst June and July we’ve seen. It has felt like October.”
The HarbourCats are averaging an announced 1,917 fans over their first 14 home games, third in the league, but down from the league-leading 2,311 average in 2019. That was the last year in which the HarbourCats played before the pandemic wiped out the 2020 and 2021 seasons.
The expansion NightOwls, meanwhile, are averaging 1,077 fans over their inaugural first 10 league home games in franchise history at Serauxmen Stadium, which was opened in 1976 by legendary slugger Mickey Mantle. That ranks ninth in the 16-team WCL.
The Portland Pickles lead with a 3,285 attendance average while the expansion Edmonton Riverhawks have proven a minor hit in the Alberta capital and are second in averaging 2,419 fans over the first 12 games in franchise history at 9,200-seat RE/MAX Field, former home of the professional Triple-A Edmonton Trappers. The HarbourCats are third and the Bellingham Bells at 1,803 and Corvallis Knights at 1,518 round out the top five in WCL per-game attendance to date.
Among the other Canadian teams, the Kelowna Falcons are averaging a league 12th-ranked 891 fans over nine home games and the expansion Kamloops NorthPaws a 14-ranked 747 over the first 15 games in club history. The Springfield Drifters of Oregon bring up the rear at 16th with a 196 per-game average. The league average this season is 1,284, down from the 1,323 in 2019.
Both the HarbourCats and NightOwls have struggled this season on the diamond. The HarbourCats (12-17) ended a six-game losing skid Wednesday night with a 3-2 win over the Drifters (12-18) in Springfield, Oregon. Starter Noah Takacs went six innings for the win, giving up one earned run. The HarbourCats open a three-game set against Kamloops on Friday night at Royal Athletic Park
The HarbourCats are well off their 2019 pace in which they recorded the third-best all-time WCL regular season record at 39-15 and came within one game of the WCL playoff title before losing to the Knights in Corvallis, Oregon.
The NightOwls are 11-14 and begin a three-game series Friday night against the Wenatchee AppleSox at Serauxmen Stadium.
“Both Island teams have had a lot of close losses while a team like Kamloops has had seven walk-off wins,” said Swanson.
“That will balance out in the second half. We believe in both [Victoria and Nanaimo] groups. This is a strong league and you have to play well every night.”
This year’s opening-day MLB rosters included 33 WCL alumni. Infielder Brooks Lee, part of the Corvallis team that beat the HarbourCats in the 2019 WCL final, is ranked as the top overall player for the 2022 MLB draft next month. Catcher Adley Rutschman, also out of the Knights, was the top pick in the 2019 MLB draft by the Baltimore Orioles.
Meanwhile, the HarbourCats come into the Island derby after six consecutive games in Oregon. They will play tonight after playing Wednesday night in Springfield. That’s a lot of Interstate-5, including a ferry ride, to face ahead of a game the same day. But that’s part of the deal. The college players in the WCL go from weekend games in the NCAA, to playing every day in summer leagues such as the WCL, to emulate the kind of bus travel they will face in the minor pros.
“Having to compete daily is the biggest adjustment for these players in summer ball,” HarbourCats head coach Todd Haney has said.
FOUL TIPS: Dual ownership is not unusual in the WCL with the Victoria-Nanaimo ownership group joining the group that owns both the Yakima and Walla Walla franchises in central Washington state and another group that owns both Ridgefield and Cowltiz in southern Washington state.
cdheensaw@timescolonist.com
