Bahamian baseball player Chavez Fernander joined the Victoria HarbourCats for the 2017 West Coast League (WCL) season earlier this week.
Fernander also plays collegiately at Polk State College in Winter Haven, Florida, USA. In 18 appearances this spring, Fernander has a 1.80 ERA (earned run average) with a save. He's recorded 39 strikeouts in 25 innings pitched against only five walks and 25 hits surrendered.
Including Fernander, the HarbourCats' roster now stands at 41 players. The Victoria HarbourCats is an amateur baseball team located in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. They play in the WCL, a collegiate summer baseball league. The HarbourCats were founded in 2012 as an expansion team. They open the 2017 WCL season on June 1 in Port Angeles, Washington, against the Port Angeles Lefties. The HarbourCats home opener at Royal Athletic Park in Victoria is June 5 against the Wenatchee AppleSox.
Fernander is one of three players from The Bahamas who committed to play at Polk County this season. The other two are Shameko Smith and Chavez Young. Smith is still on the roster, but Young elected to go straight to the pros, and is currently in the Toronto Blue Jays development system. They all played high school baseball at Faith Baptist Academy in Long County, Georgia.
"All these young men are very talented, but I am more pleased to say that these guys are all good young men," said Polk County Head Coach Gene Young Jr. in a
recent interview. "I am happy that I can help these young men to get to the next level and receive a quality education in the process."
Last year, Fernander recorded a fastball of 91 miles per hour (mph) and, according to Coach Young, he has been pursued by professional teams since then.
In 12 games at Faith Baptist, Fernander had a 1.78 ERA, with 60 total strikeouts in 39 innings pitched. He surrendered six walks, and held opponents to a .205 batting average.
Fernander was a part of the Faith Baptist team that won the 2015 Perfect Game Showdown-Academies Championship. The run at the tournament left Faith Baptist with an eye-popping 19-1 win/loss overall record.
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