Annual event goes Wednesday in Bellingham
The Victoria HarbourCats head into the West Coast League all-star break rounding second and barrelling toward home.
The same can be said for the league as a whole, as it had an alumni player selected in the first round of the Major League Baseball draft for the eighth time in the past nine years, and it was the third time in the past four years that multiple WCL players have been selected in the first round.
Former Corvallis Knights pitcher Tyler Bremner, a dual citizen with Canadian parents who was born and raised in San Diego, went second overall to the Los Angeles Angels in the 2025 MLB draft conducted this week in Atlanta to become the third-highest former WCL player drafted behind top overall selections and fellow former-Knights Adley Rutschman in 2019 and Travis Bazzana last year.
Former Wenatchee AppleSox short-stop Aiva Arquette went seventh overall this year to the Miami Marlins.
“It’s amazing to have league alumni picked second and seventh overall in the MLB draft and shows the level of play we have in our league and the commitment of our players to grind it out daily,” said Jim Swanson, managing-partner of the Victoria HarbourCats and Nanaimo NightOwls of the WCL.
Former HarbourCats selected this year include outfielder Nick Dumensil to the Detroit Tigers in the eighth round, outfielder Dallas Macias to the Atlanta Braves in the 15th round and pitcher Carson Latimer, now with the WCL-rival Edmonton Riverhawks, in the 12th round to the Cincinnati Reds.
It’s a long road and the odds are daunting but they can at least dream of following HarbourCats alumni Nathan Lukes, Cade Smith, Andrew Vaughn, Chase Meidroth, Nick Pivetta and Alex De Goti into the MLB.
Of the 42 WCL-associated players selected in the 2025 MLB draft, 34 are alumni and eight are playing in the WCL this season.
This year’s WCL hopefuls will get to showcase themselves tonight during the 2025 all-star game in Bellingham, Washington, with five HarbourCats and two NightOwls selected for the North Division team.
The HarbourCats all-stars playing tonight, and who have the team off to a blazing 10-2 start in the second half of the season (22-16 overall), are pitcher Tommy Bridges and top hitters Logan Shepherd, Tanner Beltowski, Jack Johnson and JC Allen. Named from the NightOwls (5-4 and 17-19) are infielders Jacob Hayes and Talan Zenk. The seven will be performing in front of a gathered cadre of MLB scouts.
“Pro ball is the dream. I’m super excited because when I got here, I didn’t even know the WCL had an all-star game,” said Shepherd, the six-foot-two, 215-pound slugger from Olympia, Washington, who is headed in the fall to NCAA Div. 1 Mercer University.
“You go out to play hard and have fun and don’t put too much pressure on yourself and basically treat it as just another game,” said Shepherd, who is hitting .339 with five home runs for the HarbourCats.
The six-foot-three Allen, from NCAA Div. 1 UC-San Diego, is hitting .323 with five homers for Victoria and concurred: “You never know who’s watching you at any time so you always have to put in the effort. My goal is pro ball and want to play this sport as long as I can.”
The North Division edged the South Division 3-2 in last year’s WCL all-star game, which was also played in Bellingham. The venues for the 2026 and 2027 WCL all-star games will be announced this week.
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