Brothers in arms and international players will be wearing NightOwls blue and yellow and battling for Nanaimo at Serauxmen Stadium this summer.
The Veniard brothers, right-handed pitchers Andrew (Florida State College-Jacksonville) and Brian (Arkansas State) from Jacksonville are recruits through Head Coach Greg Frady’s network, while Nanaimo product Cody Andreychuk, now head coach at University of Pikeville in Kentucky, has sent three players to the NightOwls — Sammy Torres, Richtter Castillo and Riley Paulino.
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Torres is a scrappy catcher from Puerto Rico, Castillo is a hard-throwing lefty from Maracay, Venezuela, and Paulino is a left-hander from nearby Fife, WA.
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The NightOwls’ roster will feature players from Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Switzerland, Netherlands, Japan, USA and Canada — Team United Nations.
The list of those who officially became NightOwls today:
- IF Elijah Ickes, University of Hawaii, 6-0/175, Wahiawa, HI
- OF Reid Little, St. Martin’s University, 5-10/195, Bellingham, WA
- RHP Andrew Veniard, FSCJ, 6-0/195, Jacksonville, FL
- RHP Brian Veniard, Arkansas State, 6-4/185, Jacksonville, FL
- RHP Kotaro Uchida, Missouri Valley College, 5-7/180, Saituma, Japan
- LHP Ricchter Castillo, Pikeville, 6-0/214, Maracay, Venezuela
- LHP Riley Paulino, Pikeville, 5-11/175, Fife, WA
- C Sammy Torres, Pikeville, 5-9/160, , Yuaco, Puerto Rico
- RHP Jaxon Christensen, College of Southern Idaho, 6-0/175, Pocatello, ID
“Kat”, as Kotaro Uchida is known, is a returning player who hails from Japan now at Missouri Valley College. Kat was 3-1 with a 5.94 ERA and two saves in 10 appearances in 2022.
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Ickes is a strong draft prospect from Hawaii who has committed to the University of Hawaii, while Little is a mainstay in the outfield for the Div2 program at St. Martin’s. Christensen is a reliever who has been used to close games at CSI.
