The Kamloops NorthPaws ended their 2025 West Coast League campaign with an exclamation mark Wednesday night, erupting for a season-high 21 runs in a dominant 21-8 win over the Port Angeles Lefties at Norbrock Stadium.

The victory, in front of more than 650 fans — one of the team’s largest crowds of the summer — capped off the season in thrilling fashion. Kamloops put together a pair of seven-run innings before hometown favourite Manny Recchi brought the house down with a towering grand slam in the bottom of the eighth.

“I don’t know if I am ever going to be playing here again, so it was just a momentary thing,” said Recchi, who launched his first career West Coast League grand slam. “I had a hell of a swing and I just wanted to take advantage of it. That was one of the better ones I have ever hit in my life, so yeah, it was awesome.”

The NorthPaws split the first two games of the three-game series, narrowly edging out a 2-1 win on Monday before dropping a 15-11 slugfest Tuesday. But Wednesday’s offensive explosion provided a fitting finale to a rollercoaster season.

Although the club closed the year on a high note, Kamloops once again fell short of the postseason — their third straight year without a playoff berth. The team finished fifth in the eight-team North Division with a 25-29 record, six games back of the Wenatchee AppleSox for the final playoff spot. After a promising 14-13 first half, the NorthPaws faded in the second, going 11-16 down the stretch.

Still, the 25 wins mark the second-best total in franchise history — just one shy of their 2022 inaugural season tally of 26.

Two-way player Matt Macdonald, who contributed both behind the plate and on the mound this summer, credited the fans for helping drive the team forward this season.

“This year has been great,” Macdonald said. “Years prior we haven’t been a great team and so the support has not been as great as it has been this year. It is so crucial for the team to have the fans come out and be energized.”

Recchi echoed the sentiment, adding that the atmosphere Wednesday night made his grand slam even more special.

“Just tried to do my thing, take good at-bats,” he said. “Ended up having that swing. It was great. It was awesome. Sucks not to be in playoffs, but to end with a win like that, it is a good way to end it.”

As the NorthPaws wrap up their fourth WCL season, the focus will turn to development and off-season preparation — with hopes that next year, the final game of the summer won’t come quite so early.

Local Manny Recchi hits a grand slam in T9 to a big Kamloops cheer. @northpawsbb up large in the final game of the season. #Kamloops pic.twitter.com/04CJoATAHh

— Jon Keen (@JonKeenNLSports) August 7, 2025