Auburn Riverside alum Brett Harvey just completed his second season across the border as a Victoria Harbourcat.

The 6’2” righty, who plays his school ball at the University of Puget Sound, has found a second home up in Victoria and has competed at one of the highest levels in the Pacific Northwest on a baseball diamond.

Harvey has become one of the better arms in the Northwest Conference, boasting back-to-back second team all-league years. He is also coming off of a career high year in innings pitched (75.2), strikeouts (80), appearances (13) and hits per nine innings (8.92).

He has also been part of two of the most successful seasons that the Harbourcats have ever had. Last year, they broke the wins record, and this year they broke the all-time attendance record.

“The experience overall is great. Victoria is a beautiful city. We get almost 3,000 fans a game, which is really fun,” Harvey said.

After such a strenuous workload in the spring, his role was changed once he started playing summer ball. As a Logger, Harvey was a starting pitcher. But as a Harbourcat, he was sent to the bullpen and was put on an innings limit for the summer. While the play on the field wasn’t the quality Harvey was accustomed to, his focus was on bettering himself as a player instead of his statistics.

“A big thing about summer ball is not totally worrying about results, but working on things that will help you during the season,” Harvey said.

But there are some instances where results do matter, like close one-run games and big moments.

“I love those kind of moments. It is fun playing in front of that many fans, especially coming from a D3 school. I never get to play in front of anybody like that,” he said.

His limit was 20 innings this summer due to his workload, and he pitched 12.1 of those 20 innings that he was allowed to throw. Although he missed starting, coming out of the bullpen is a special experience and a unique challenge, he said.

“I definitely think that it is more fun to come out of the pen. There is a lot more adrenaline (coming out of the bullpen). I am also more engaged in the game. If I start a game, the next game I am not going to be paying much attention,” Harvey said.

The West Coast League is comprised of teams all over Southwest Canada and even has teams down all the way in Corvallis, Oregon. Even in his second year, Harvey still appreciates the atmosphere that baseball fans all around create for these college kids. Harvey’s favorite place to play is in Edmonton, a franchise that plays in a retired minor league stadium and creates an intense environment that is a thrill to play in, he said.

This year, Harvey had some famous teammates. Lucas Ramirez and Manny Ramirez Jr. are the sons of former Dodgers, Red Sox and World Series MVP Manny Ramirez. On occasion, Manny Sr. would come to Victoria and take batting practice, which was a special sight for Harvey.

“When I heard the news that they were coming in, I was super excited. Manny Sr. came and hit batting practice before our games and it was so fun watching him… Both Manny Jr. and Lucas were really down to earth, even though they were coming from a should-be Hall of Fame legend,” he said.

When it comes to the mind of a baseball player, mentalities can go two ways. Players can try to maximize their physical abilities — i.e., light up the radar gun on the mound, swing for power while sacrificing contact, among other things. Or players who might lack the physical tools go the way of perfecting the skills they have — throwing perfect pitches, maximizing pitch movement over velocity, focusing on hitting for contact and being disciplined. Harvey is one of the latter, and as a pitcher, Harvey isn’t turning heads with top-end velocity. Rather, he is dominating the strike zone. This year with his 80 strikeouts, Harvey was tied for fourth in the NWC. He also had a 4 strikeout to walk ratio, which was second among pitchers who threw more than 60 innings this season.

“I don’t throw very-very hard. I throw low to mid-eighties, and I know that. So I just try to get ahead and throw strikes. That has worked for me in school ball and summer ball. That’s how I have grown up pitching. I have never been a strikeout or bust kind of guy,” Harvey said.

Harvey also tossed two complete games in the spring of 2024, which was tied for the most with three other pitchers in the NWC.

“The coaches had a lot of trust in me to go deep in games, which I loved. I had a really good stretch of games where I went complete game, complete game and then eight inning game and gave up one run each,” Harvey said. That stretch was March 29 to April 14 against Whitworth, Whitman and Lewis and Clark. No pitcher in the entire NWC threw back-to-back complete games besides Harvey last season, nor in 2023. Julien Hernandez (Whitman) back in 2022 was the last NWC pitcher to throw complete games in back-to-back starts.

Over the past two seasons, Harvey has been a second team pitcher, and has been named pitcher of the week and Logger of the Week. Being recognized is a special feeling, especially when it comes from competitors, he said.

“It is great. With the all-league mentions. it’s nice having the coaches recognize me too from throughout the league,” he said.

As Harvey turned from wide-eyed underclassman to award-winning upperclassman, he could also feel his role changing on the team. Now he wants to be the leader the Loggers need.

“The main goal is for our team to make the playoffs and win. We have been really close the last three years. I think we have the team to do it this year… In the spring I’d like to be a top three pitcher in the league … I think I could push my way to be a premier pitcher in the league,” Harvey said.

At some point, Harvey wants to give back to the game that has given him so much in his life so far.

“At some point in my life I would love to, probably not straight out of college. I would love to give back to the game that has given me so much, all my friendships and work I have put into it,” he said.