HarbourCats add talented Bears to roster

Victoria signs four players from Baylor

It’s a long way from Baylor University to Vancouver Island, but four members of the Bears baseball team will be making the trek northward for the West Coast League season, joining the Victoria HarbourCats for the 2017 campaign.

A pair of right-handed pitchers and two infielders from the NCAA school in Waco, Texas — which began the season 10-0 and is currently 14-2 — will don the HarbourCats’ colours. This month Baylor was ranked No. 15 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll and No. 24 by Baseball America in NCAA Div. 1 national rankings.

Heading to Victoria are infielders Davis Wendzel and Tucker Johnson and pitchers Luke Boyd and Ian McEachern.

Wendzel is a six-foot, 185-pounder from San Clemente, California. Johnson stands five-foot-11, 190 pounds and hails from China Spring, Texas. Boyd is a solid six-foot-two, 180-pound righty from Ojai, California, and McEachern, of Bradenton, Florida, is even more imposing at six-foot-four, 210 pounds.

All are freshmen, except for Johnson, a junior.

Wendzel is hitting .242 in 12 games with seven RBIs. Johnson has played in three games, collecting three hits in four at bats, including two doubles and four RBIs. Boyd has made three appearances so far, including one start, working to a 1-0 record with four strikeouts in 7 13⁄ innings pitched. McEachern was a 2016 Rawlings/Perfect Game honourable mention All-American and pitched in the 2015 Perfect Game Showcase.

The HarbourCats open the 2017 WCL season on June 1 on the road in the inaugural game for the Port Angeles Lefties. That’s followed by three more games on the road in Yakima Valley June 2-4. Victoria’s home opener is set for June 5 when the Wenatchee AppleSox play the first of three games at Royal Athletic Park.