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In the now-third season of Nanaimo NightOwls baseball in the WCL, there have been many exciting games played in the Harbour City — none match what happened Wednesday night.

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Then Nanaimo NightOwls scores three times in the bottom of the ninth, the last two on a two-out single by designated hitter Wylie Waters, for a 6-5 win over the visiting Cowlitz Black Bears.

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It wasn’t an easy one in any sense of the word.

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Cowlitz held a 2-0 lead until the ‘Owls managed one run in the sixth, two in the seventh and the decisive three in the ninth — a rebound after Cowlitz scored three in the top of the ninth including a cheeky straight steal of home by Sergio Decello.

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The NightOwls are now 4-1 to start their third West Coast League season. The squad won two of three on the road in Kelowna to start the campaign and is now 2-0 on home grass and shale.

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The Owls — are in first place in the North Division, tied with the Wenatchee AppleSox. The Victoria HarbourCats are a half game back at 4-2.

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The NightOwls and Black Bears will finish the three game series on Thursday night, then fly to Edmonton for a three-game series that runs Friday-Saturday-Sunday.

Nathan Buchan started for Nanaimo and went three scoreless innings, with five strikeouts. Grant Jakobson went three more innings and gave up a run, fanning three, followed by David Stewart’s two innings and four strikeouts. Venezuelan lefty Richtter Castillo struck out the side in the ninth inning.

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Hsu He-Chieh (Shaq) stole his fifth base of the season, and Mitchell Middlemiss and Nevin Noonan had triples for the NightOwls, who scored twice in the third, twice in the sixth and added an insurance run in the eighth.

Despite a 14-8 setback on a moist Sunday night at Elks Stadium, the Nanaimo NightOwls are 2-1 as they return home for Tuesday’s home opener.

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The host Falcons found their bats Sunday and put up three runs in the second inning, five more in the fifth, and three runs in the sixth, taking advantage of a thin Nanaimo bullpen that will be bolstered significantly by Tuesday.

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The NightOwls scored five times in the fifth, taking a brief 5-4 lead, and three more in the eighth — and had the bases loaded in the ninth, the rally thwarted by a pair of strikeouts. Mitchell Middlemiss and Nevin Noonan both had two hits and two runs driven in, and Aaron Marsh drove in a pair. Brayden McClary of VIU had his first career WCL hit.

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The NightOwls had already ensured a series victory over the host Kelowna Falcons with a decisive 7-3 win Saturday night, an evening after a 7-0 season-opening victory punctuated by outstanding pitching and defence.

After a smooth trip to Kelowna on Friday, the Nanaimo NightOwls got off to strong start to the franchise’s third West Coast League season with a well-pitched 7-0 victory over the Kelowna Falcons, in the lid-lifter for both clubs.

Russell, a right-hander from San Diego State, fanned six and gave up just one hit in five innings. David Stewart (University of Mary), followed him with one hit allowed in three innings. Kurt Felix (Cal Poly SLO) a catcher who is no stranger to pitching as well, had a spotless ninth to end the night.

Hsu, the team’s first Taiwanese player along with pitcher Li Sih-te (both from Fu Jen Catholic University) was dynamite not only at second base, but the lead off hitter was a force on the basepaths with three stolen bases and some key baserunning plays that extended innings. He was 3-5, as was first baseman David Draayers (UBC).

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Catcher Clark Spring’s smart baserunning was a key part of getting an early lead.

Sparked by a spotless and efficient two-inning North American debut from Taiwanese right-hander Li Sih-te, and 10 early runs from a slew of line drives, the Nanaimo NightOwls recorded a 12-1 win over the PBL’s Mid-Island Pirates at historic Serauxmen Stadium.

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The Thursday game was an exhibition tilt to get the NightOwls ready for their third season in the West Coast League, with the season opening series Friday-Saturday-Sunday in Kelowna.

The home opener for the ‘Owls is slated for Tuesday, June 4 at Serauxmen against the Cowlitz Black Bears, the first ever visit to Nanaimo by the team now coached by 14-year MLB player Kelly Stinnett.

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On Thursday, Sih-te and VIU pitcher Graham Stephen kept the Pirates at bay — just four hits allowed— while the offense pounded out 11 hits. Returning player of the year Aaron Marsh was 2-4 with four driven in and new catcher Cassidy Watt had two hits.

With the West Coast League team entering its third season at historic Serauxmen Stadium, that trio will have some help for 2024 — and the local kind.

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Frady, the Head Coach and veteran of college and international baseball, is proud to add two local coaches to the staff — First Base Coach Tyler Moretti, and Mental Skills/Bullpen Coach Jordan Herbison.

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Pitching Coach Heimueller, amazingly, is approaching his 50th year in the game, a career that includes two World Series rings, while FitzGerald, who runs the offense from the third base box, brings a wealth of junior college experience from Skagit Valley College.

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Moretti is well known locally as a former Pirates player who went south to play at Jamestown College, also seeing time at then-named VIBI. He has coached at the PBL and collegiate level.

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Herbison, originally from Ontario, played at UBC and the former RHP is now an instructor at Vancouver Island University, and was the mental performance coach for the NightOwls in 2023.

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Herbison and Moretti will give NightOwls players more opportunities for development.

Heimueller has served as a minor league pitching coach and coordinator for many MLB organizations, most recently with the Padres. He has World Series rings for his work with the Twins and Phillies.

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With the NightOwls, Gorm has enjoyed working with them all — but especially strong-command pitchers such as Nathan Buchan, Garrett Goodall, Jake Fleury and Josh Laukkanen.

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“Gorm loves to say he’s never seen a ground ball leave the park,” said Swanson.

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“We see athletes on our team and others using max effort rather than prioritizing strikes — that makes for longer games, too, another focus in baseball. If someone can throw 97, with healthy actions and commanding the baseball, that’s great — but few can and let’s stop turning our backs on pitchers who can get people out with pitch location as the priority.

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“There is too much focus on radar gun ratings, on spin rate readouts, and Gorm and our coaching staff will be developing and rewarding pitchers who locate pitches and get batters out.”

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The NightOwls are excited about the player roster for the coming season, and the mix of pitchers on the roster — different styles, to create different looks and get the 27 outs required to win games.

Japanese pitcher Moosa Nonomiya, who is at Skagit Valley College in Washington, will add more to the international flavor of the Nanaimo NightOwls for 2024 — already with players from Venezuela, Puerto Rico and Taiwan

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Not all are far flung — lefty-hitting DH/1B Brayden McClary of the VIU Mariners and returning lefty arm Hayden Cuthbertson are islanders who know Serauxmen Stadium well.

Hata can fly — he started 40 games as a freshman and will top that this spring, piling up 28 stolen bases over two seasons. He’s not just speed, he hit a game-winning grand slam in extra innings earlier this month and has three home runs and 25 runs driven in, batting .320 with a low strikeout rate.

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Cuthbertson has had a breakout year with a 3-1 record and four saves, striking out 27 in 17 innings and earning a Division1 spot with Miami-Ohio. McClary, also an Islander, will be the first married player on the NightOwls — he’s a key offensive force in the middle of the VIU lineup, hitting a ball out of Serauxmen this weekend against TRU.

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Felix is a young star catcher with position versatility— and he’s big at 6-2/200 as he goes to Cal Poly this fall. Jakobson is a righthander who will have ample innings available for the summer, a oower arm with bullpen potential.

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Ariaza is a great mix of power and strikes, and he’s the biggest NightOwl to date at 6-5/270. He didn’t walk a batter in 10 outings as a freshman and has 25 strikeouts in 18 innings, along with a save, this spring.

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Hanning has had success at the junior college level and has proven to be a workhorse, including 61 innings already this season, tops on his staff.

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Nonomiya has moved into a starting role in the NWAC conference and is now over 30 innings for a team that has NightOwls assistant Sean FitzGerald on the staff.