November 18, 2024

Official Nanaimo NightOwls News Release

The Nanaimo Nights NightOwls have signed five more players for the 2025 season:

-C Brock Wirthgen, Cal Baptist, 6-1/220, Corona, Calif.

-LHP Cameron Teper, Cal Baptist, 6-1/177, Corona, Calif.

-LHP Richtter Castillo, UPikeville, 6-1/215, Venezuela

-RHP Shaye McTavish, UPikeville, 6-2/190, Lethbridge, Alta.

-RHP Dawson Schultz, UPikeville, 6-4/215, Lethbridge, Alta.

Wirthgen has MLB bloodlines as the nephew of former MLB slugger and manager Phil Nevin, the first overall pick in the 1992 draft who played for six teams and hit 41 home runs for the Padres in 2001 as part of a 1,200-game career. A strong defensive catcher with power potential, Wirthgen played in the Alaska summer league in 2024.

Teper, also from D1 powerhouse Cal Baptist, is an aviation major who plans to fly planes once his days in pro baseball are over. The lefty will be counted on in key situations this summer, and made 11 appearances, including three starts, in the Alaska league in 2024.

Three players will arrive from the University of Pikeville, where they play for new NightOwls coach Cody Andreychuk — including returning lefty Richtter Castillo, a Venezuelan fan favorite who pitches with a lot of emotion and did strong work out of the bullpen for pitching coach Gorm Heimueller in 2024. Castillo was 1-1 with a 3.75 ERA and 17 strikeouts in 12 innings.

McTavish, a Canadian addition from Lethbridge, has been a starter at UPike and in the Western Canada summer league.

Schultz, another power arm from Lethbridge, has summer experience in the WCBL in Swift Current and is developing into a high leverage righty for Andreychuk.