The Corvallis Knights have won seven consecutive West Coast League baseball titles. Three of those have gone through the Victoria HarbourCats in championship games, the latest a 5-0 victory over Victoria late Monday night at Goss Stadium in Corvallis in the 2023 WCL final.
That says a lot about both organizations. But people tend to remember the champions, not the runners-up. Maybe in an alternate universe the Buffalo Bills, Minnesota Vikings and Cincinnati Bengals are a combined 11-0 in Super Bowls, but not in this one.
“It’s a unicorn, an anomaly, because Corvallis does not have the best team every year,” said Jim Swanson, managing partner of the company that owns both the HarbourCats and Nanaimo NightOwls of the WCL.
“They play throwback baseball, such as bunting to advance runners, and making the other team make mistakes. They win so many one-run games. You can’t argue with the success of it. They have the championships to back it up.”
Seven of them in a row and 10 in total since 2008 as part of a dynasty that has produced nine alumni currently playing in the MLB, including Adley Rutschman of the AL East- leading Baltimore Orioles.
But dynasties have few friends outside their own community and fan base.
“There are a lot of teams in this [16-team] league who would like to see another champion,” said Swanson.
The HarbourCats have come the closest to making that happen against the Knights, which are named for the wife of Nike co-founder Phil Knight and team primary sponsor Penny Knight. This year’s Victoria loss in the one-game final followed the 2017 and 2019 WCL finals between Corvallis and the HarbourCats, which were best-of-three series, both won 2-1 by the Knights.
There is little doubt the HarbourCats have forged a strong reputation in the WCL, a summer-collegiate league featuring NCAA players extending their playing seasons after their university seasons conclude in the spring.
“We [HarbourCats] have recorded three of the top-eight season records in league history,” noted Swanson.
That final championship hurdle has proved the toughest to get over, thanks to the Knights.
“My congratulations to the Knights for winning yet another championship, extending what must be the most impressive run in the history of summer collegiate baseball,” WCL commissioner Rob Neyer said in a statement.
“They certainly earned this one, as nobody in the league played better this summer than the HarbourCats.”
Corvallis (39-15) and Victoria (38-15) finished 1-2 overall in the regular-season standings and could have finished tied if a rained out HarbourCats game in Kamloops against the NorthPaws had been played and not postponed outright. That left Victoria with one less game played in the regular season than Corvallis and was critical in the overall race.
The HarbourCats then dispatched the Wenatchee AppleSox and Bellingham Bells in going 3-0 through the North Division playoffs. The Knights went 3-1 through the Cowlitz Black Bears and Portland Pickles in the South Division playoffs.
“It was a disappointing way to end such a fantastic season,” said HarbourCats head coach and former major-leaguer Todd Haney.
“It was a tremendous group of players who left everything on the field.”
Haney said the HarbourCats hope to return at least 12 players for next season. He attributes that to the “success we’ve had and culture we have established as a destination to play summer ball.”
Haney is also tracking new university and college recruits across the U.S. over the fall and winter.
“That work begins today,” he said.
Off the field, the HarbourCats were third in WCL regular-season attendance with a per-game average of 2,437 fans behind the Edmonton Riverhawks’ 3,880 and Portland’s 3,070. Nanaimo was eighth at 1,080. In the post-season, Victoria averaged 3,013 fans for their two games at Wilson’s Group Stadium at Royal Athletic Park. Only the Pickles averaged more at 3,397.
“The players really appreciate the support of our fans,” said Haney.
