File photo. (Image Credit: CFJC Today)

By Aaron Schulze

Riley Jepson

Kamloops products Jepson, Austin to join NorthPaws coaching staff for 2026 season

Mar 11, 2026 | 8:23 AM

KAMLOOPS — (UPDATE 5:30 p.m.): A Kamloops Minor Baseball Association product is set to become the first person to coach the Kamloops NorthPaws for a second season, and he’ll have at least one Kamloopsian working as an assistant.

The West Coast League (WCL) baseball club announced Tuesday (March 10) that Riley Jepson will return as head coach of the North Paws for the 2026 season. Jepson is the fourth person to lead the team after Cole Armstrong in 2022, Keith Francis in 2023 and Jose Bautista in 2024.

The Paws finished Jepson’s first season as skip in 2025 just outside of the playoff picture with a 25-29 record. They were fifth in the North Division, but it was a marked improvement of 10 more wins than in 2024 and 13 more than in 2023.

Still, the result meant that the NorthPaws haven’t made the WCL playoffs since their inaugural year in 2022. 

Jepson told CFJC Today at the end of the 2025 season that he was hoping to return as the NorthPaws’ head coach. 

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In a separate announcement Wednesday (March 11), the NorthPaws also said Kamloopsian Nolan Austin is making the move to coaching. A four-year veteran of the NorthPaws, Austin will serve as an assistant coach for the 2026 season.

The 24-year-old Austin, a former Kamloops Riverdog himself, had four hits in 24 plate appearances across 21 games last season. He also finished with a 4-2 record along with 16 strikeouts and an earned run average of 4.32 in 13 games as a pitcher.

The NorthPaws begin the 2026 WCL season at home against the Corvallis Knights on Friday, May 29, from Norbrock Stadium.