HarbourCanucks Corner - May 11th edition

This is our latest installment of HarbourCanucks Corner, our semi-regular update on the Canadians signed to full-season contracts by the Victoria HarbourCats for the summer of 2014.

Kelly Norris-Jones has been getting more playing time of late for the University of Illinois, including a pair of starts at DH over the last couple of days. Norris-Jones went a combined one-for-six at the plate this weekend with two RBI and a pair of walks. He’s now hitting .212 with a solid .357 on-base percentage in 33 at-bats this season. The Fighting Illini, who have now won seven consecutive games, will take part in the Big Ten Tournament on May 21st-25th after playing their last three regular-season games this week.

On Saturday, Norris-Jones was hit by a pitch for the fourth time this season, which means that he has now been plunked once in every 12.3 at-bats throughout his college career. His penchant for taking one for the team got me thinking… maybe the HarbourCats should have a small display at RAP showing the number of times Norris-Jones has been hit by a pitch this summer. The San Francisco Giants had one showing the number of “Splash Hits” for Barry Bonds, so why not a similar display for the most unselfish of baseball acts? Of course, we’d have to call it the “KNJ Plunk-O-Meter.” Just a thought...

The University of Seattle’s Griffin Andreychuk returned to action on Saturday after being held out of the lineup with an injury for the last couple of weeks. He went 0-for-4 with a HBP and walk in a doubleheader against Utah Valley, but the Nanaimo native is still hitting .304 with a .407 OBP in 92 at-bats this season. Seattle U is in sixth place in the Western Athletic Conference with an 11-10 record, but earlier today they clinched a spot in the WAC Tournament that will be held on May 21st-25th. The Redhawks play the last five games of their regular season over the next eight days before travelling to the Chicago Cubs’ spring training complex in Mesa for the tournament.

The Otero Junior College Rattlers’ season is over after they lost the Region IX championship in extra innings on Saturday. Box scores from the tournament aren't currently available, so we don’t have any information on how Brandon Feldman performed. Feldman finished the regular season with an impressive 2-1 record, 1.53 ERA and 1.13 WHIP. He walked 10 and struck out 20 In 29 ⅓ innings on the hill.

HarbourCatNip

• The HarbourCats have organized a bus trip for fans to travel to Kelowna to watch Victoria open the season against the Falcons. The bus leaves in the early morning of Friday June 6th and returns on the Sunday, allowing fans to see the Friday and Saturday evening games. See the HarbourCats news release for full details. 
• There are only 26 more days until Opening Day in Kelowna.
• Don’t forget that the HarbourCats play an exhibition game before opening the season in Kelowna. On Thursday June 5th the ‘Cats will take on the top players from the Victoria Eagles and Mariners at Sports Traders Diamond at RAP. The Home Opener is set for Tuesday June 10th against the Cowlitz Black Bears. You can get complete ticket information at the HarbourCats website.