Pitcher Alex Rogers of Nanaimo, the revelation of the 2014 West Coast League baseball season for the Victoria HarbourCats, should be an inspiration for all the players in camp on 10-day contracts.
Those players are typically used to fill out WCL rosters until the regular players arrive from the U.S. collegiate NCAA playoffs or from finishing off their academic school year.
Rogers went from being a 10-day fill-in to being selected to the 2014 WCL all-star team. That in turn led to being recruited by NCAA Div. 1 North Dakota State beginning this fall. Needless to say, the right-hander is under regular WCL contract for the HarbourCats this season.
“I would tell these guys [on 10-day contracts] that anything can happen and they have nothing to lose by giving it their all,” said Rogers.
Among those on 10-day trials in this year’s HarbourCats camp is shortstop and twin brother Brady Rogers.
“Few thought I would stick around [last year]. Make the most of this opportunity you have been given,” added Alex Rogers.
He certainly has. After his breakout 2014 season with the HarbourCats, Rogers never looked back. Knowing he had the NCAA Div. 1 offer from the North Dakota State Bison in his hip pocket, the former Nanaimo Pirates B.C. Premier League hurler was a league best 10-5 this spring with a 2.35 ERA and 104 strikeouts for the Trinidad State Junior College Trojans of Colorado.
Rogers pitched the third, fourth and fifth innings Sunday at Royal Athletic Park, allowing two hits and no runs, as the HarbourCats opened the 2015 exhibition season with an 8-3 victory over the Canadian senior champion Langley Blaze before about 400 fans. Offensively, a couple of Victoria Mariners B.C. Premier graduates turned in standout afternoons as Chris Fougner had two hits, two stolen bases and one RBI and Matt Bryan two hits and four RBIs.
The HarbourCats preseason continues at Royal Athletic with games tonight and Wednesday at 6:35 p.m. against the North Sound Emeralds, an independent semi-pro team from Edmonds, Washington, affiliated with the Northwest Collegiate League. Admission is $5.
The WCL regular season opens for Victoria at home with a three-game set against the Kelowna Falcons, beginning Friday night with a game in which 3,300 tickets have already been sold.
Rogers’ ball connections run deep on the Island. Cousin Brad Rogers was drafted by the Orioles and played minor-pro in the Baltimore system and then with the Victoria Capitals of the CBL. An uncle is Danny Rogers, the former Victoria Cougars WHL goaltender, who became heavily involved in Nanaimo baseball and is an umpire who works WCL games.
“I don’t like my uncle behind the plate, because he’s tougher on me,” chuckled the younger Rogers.
Keeping with the family tradition, Rogers was a two-sport athlete, playing rep hockey in Nanaimo before deciding on baseball as his main sport.
What made Rogers’ WCL all-star nod last year even more remarkable is that he was only 3-4 in nine starts and 10 appearances. But league officials took into account his tenacity and grittiness on the mound, and that he received little run support in his losses, while striking out 28, walking 16 and giving up 56 runs.
“This summer, I need to get bigger and stronger,” said the six-foot, 175-pounder, who will study business at North Dakota State.
Few should doubt that Rogers will bulk up quite adequately. Or that he will be a key cog in the HarbourCats starting rotation.
FOUL TIPS: Getting the start tonight for the HarbourCats against North Sound is Connor Suing, heading in the fall to Western Oregon University from Corban University. Suing is a guitar-playing lefty with an array of pitches, who considers family friend and Journey drummer Deen Castronovo an adopted uncle.
