It wasn't a breakthrough season, but the Nanaimo NightOwls and their fans had a lot of fun at the ballpark this summer.
The city's West Coast League baseball team concluded its season Wednesday, Aug. 7, with a 7-1 win against the Edmonton Riverhawks at Serauxmen Stadium.
"I loved everything that happened tonight. Tonight was the culmination of a lot of hard work by so many people and ending the 2024 season, it's good to go out with a win…" said Greg Frady, NightOwls coach. "I'm very proud of the team."
Hometown favourite Aaron Marsh played his last game with the ball club, and went 3-for-4 at the plate, including a home run.
"I'll be honest, I was trying to go for it a little bit and end it with a bang…" he said. "It was a great feeling. It was amazing playing in front of everyone, that was pretty sweet, and having one last win with the guys."
Team MVP Wylie Waters was 3-for-5 with two RBIs, and six pitchers contributed, with Joshua Torres earning the win with three shutout innings.
The NightOwls ended 2024 with a 26-28 record, and for the second straight summer, were the best team in the North Division not to make the playoffs.
"This year was something special, it was probably one of the best teams we've had in the last three years," Marsh said. "It definitely sucks to fall short. The guys next year, hopefully they can do it."
Waters said to take that next step, the team needs to keep the pressure on every game, pushing through hard travel days to win games by working together as a team.
"The team had good momentum throughout the summer and I think all the players developed throughout the way," he said. "I thought it was good progress and it's just building towards the next summer to come."
Frady said some injury troubles hurt the team this year, though it did allow other players to gain experience and emerge as contributors. He said recruiting some more experienced players will help, and also finding a way to play with more consistency.
"Next year, hopefully, the goal will be to get the team into the playoffs…" he said. "This is an organizational question; what does the organization need to do? We're learning. This is year three. There's still a lot to learn, even in year three, but we're a much better organization in year three than we were in year one or two."
Frady said aside from winning baseball games, the ball club's goals are providing experiences, developing players, and building relationships. Waters said the team building happened during the long hours on the bus playing cards, and in hotel rooms swapping college stories. And of course, at Serauxmen Stadium, where the crowds kept coming out and cheering them on.
"We hear it every game," Waters said. "I enjoy it, I know the whole team enjoys it. It makes it so special for everyone on the field."
Waters led the team in hits (53), home runs (8), and RBIs (44). Hsu He-Chieh led the team in batting average (.322) and stolen bases (13), and Drew Rutter was tops in average (.313) among players with enough at-bats to qualify among league leaders.
On the mound, Aidan Boyce led the team in innings pitched (43 2/3), while Jacob Fleury was tops in wins (4), Li Sih-te was best in earned run average (2.79) and Adison Mattix was best in ERA (3.04) among qualifying pitchers.
