Former Prince George resident Jim Swanson, now the managing partner of the Victoria HarbourCats baseball team, has been named executive of the year in the West Coast League.
The WCL, an 11-team summer league for college-level players, made the announcement on Monday. As well, HarbourCats head coach Graig Merritt was named coach of the year and five players got nods as first-team all-stars.
Swanson, a key figure in bringing the first three World Baseball Challenge tournaments to Prince George (2009, 2011, 2013), was in his second year as managing partner of the HarbourCats. He is part of an ownership group that took control of the club before the 2015 season.
This year, the HarbourCats posted a league-record 40 wins, with just 14 losses. At one point during the schedule, they went on a record-setting 19-game winning streak.
At the gate, the team drew a total of 60,466 fans - an average of 2,239 per game. Both numbers were also league records.
For the HarbourCats, the only sour note to 2016 was the playoffs. In a best-of-three North Division series, they were swept by the Bellingham Bells, who won 3-2 in the first game and 12-1 in the second. The games were played last Tuesday in Bellingham and Wednesday in Victoria.
The playoff berth was the first-ever for the HarbourCats, who joined the WCL as an expansion team in 2013.
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