Riverhawks Kick Off 2025 with a 13-3 Win!
2025-06-03
Hawks serve the HarbourCats their first loss of the year
Box ScoreBy Larry Read
EDMONTON-
A lot of firsts for the Edmonton Riverhawks on Tuesday (June 3). For the first time in their young West Coast League history, Riverhawks won their opening game. They dumped the Victoria HarbourCats 16-3. It was also the first time that the Riverhawks opened the regular season at RE/MAX Field before 3184 fans.
In what could very well be an fortuitous omen to the season, Riverhawks leadoff hitter #6 Robert Phelps ripped the first offering off HarbourCats starter #54 Carson Burks over the fence in left centre field for a 391 foot home run.
The Riverhawks loaded the bases in the second inning and went up 2-0 when Phelps hit a long shot to centerfield, bringing home #4 Jaxen Fox from third base.
In the 3rd, # 36 Mitchell Middlemiss hit an RBI double to left field scoring #48 Max Stagg who opened the inning with a single to make it 3-0. The Riverhawks went up by four later in the inning as #30 Jason Green walked and scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of #5 Anthony Kodama, and that was it for Burks. He went three innings, surrendering six hits and striking out two. He was one of three pitchers used by the HarbourCats in the ball game.
In the 5th, Edmonton enlarged their lead when #16 Kyle Yip hit an RBI double down the left field line scoring Phelps who had earlier been hit by a pitch. Then, with the bases loaded, Middlemiss stroked a bloop single to right which brought in Yip. The Riverhawks went up 7-zip when Fox stroked an RBI single to left field to drive in Stagg and added their eighth run when Green singled and scored on a sacrifice by Kodama.
The HarbourCats got on board in the top of the 5th. #27 Isaiah Afework was hit by a pitch and scored on a sacrifice by #10 Curtis McKay.
The Riverhawks restored their eight-run lead in the bottom of the 5th. Stagg hit a hard single to left field allowing Phelps to score. He had earlier walked. In the 6th, Fox hit a double to right center to open the inning and scored two batters later when #16 Stevie Waters grounded out.
The runs continued to come for the Riverhawks in the 7th. Yip opened with a walk. Two batters later, he scored on a single off the bat of Green. With the bases loaded and none out, Fox hit a hot shot to short which brought home Stagg to make it 12-0. They added a third run in that inning as Green scored on a fielder’s choice.
Victoria mounted a slight comeback in the 7th. McKay belted a one out double to left field and promptly scored on a single by #32 Jack Johnson. He crossed the plate when the next batter, 24 Xander MacAfee hit a double. That made the score 13-3.
WCL all-star #14 Tate Dearing got the start for the Riverhawks. He went five innings to record the victory. He gave up a run on four hits, walking one and striking out one. Dearing was replaced by fellow Riverhawk returnee #21 Myles Chamberlain. He went two innings striking out one. # 27 Mitchell Heinrich and #11 Brandon Craven came on to pitch an inning each to end the contest.
Fox was 4-5 with two runs batted in for Edmonton. Middlemiss was 2-4 with two RBI. Phelps was 1-3 with two RBI while Kodama was 1-2 with three runs batted in.
McKay led Victoria offensively, going 2-3 with a run batted in.
The two teams will be back at RE/MAX field on tomorrow. It’s a 11:00 AM MDT start time. It’s to accommodate the 3rd annual School Spirit Game presented by Qualico. Some 7 thousand fans are expected to take in the event which will include wacky mascots, acrobatic Canines and explosive live science experiments on the field. James Brock is the scheduled starter for the Riverhawks.
The three-game set wraps up Thursday (June 5) at 7:05 PM. The theme for the evening is “Edmonton’s Got Talent” sponsored by NOW! Radio.
Head over to tickets.gohawks.ca so you can secure your spot in the stands. Follow along with the game at @RiverhawksGames on X, and keep up with everything happening with the Hawks on Instagram, Facebook, @EdmRiverhawks, and TikTok. See all the latest news at riverhawksbaseball.com.