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Despite being a little over three weeks away from Christmas, baseball is still on the minds of some as the Kelowna Falcons released their 2010 regular season schedule Tuesday.
The ball club will play a 48-game balanced schedule, 24 of which will be home games at the newly renovated Elks Stadium. The Falcons will begin on the road in Bellingham June 4 against the Bells, then will head to Moses Lake, before their home opener on June 11 against the Walla Walla Sweets. The Falcons are also pleased to announce they will continue their tradition of free admission to the home opener.
The Sweets are one of two new teams in the West Coast League this season and will compete in the East Division with the Falcons. The Cowlitz Black Bears will play in the West Division and they will make their only appearance at Elks on July 9-11, 2010.
The Falcons will host the defending champion Wenatchee Applesox the weekend of July 16-18.
The WCL has returned to a balanced schedule for 2010, which means fans in Kelowna will see all eight WCL teams including the Bellingham Bells and Kitsap Bluejackets who didn’t stop in the Okanagan in 2009. The ‘Jackets will visit Elks Stadium June 14-16 while the Bells will play in Kelowna June 21-23.
The Corvallis Knights, who held the best record in 2009, will come to Kelowna July 27-29.
The Falcons longest home stand will be nine games from July 11-23. Over the 12 days at Elk’s Stadium, the Falcons will welcome Walla Walla, Kitsap and Bellingham.
The longest road trip of the year may also prove to be the toughest portion of the schedule. The Falcons will play three game each in Corvallis, Bend and Wenatchee from June 26-July 4. Not only are all parks very difficult to play, but Corvallis and Bend, Oregon are the furthest cities from Kelowna in the WCL and getting off to a fast start this summer will be even more important with that road trip looming.
The Falcons are also working on two “Showcase Series” to be held at Elks. Last season the Falcons hosted the Alaskan Goldpanners during their 50-year reunion tour. Details will be announced when they become available.
“Other than that nine game road swing through Corvallis, Bend and Wenatchee, I like our schedule,” says General Manager Mark Nonis. “I’m happy the League decided to return to the balanced schedule, it gives our players an opportunity to experience each park in the WCL and gives the players on the other teams a chance to see Kelowna.
“I looking forward to getting back on the field and am excited to get another crack at Wenatchee. They’ve ended our season the last two years in the playoffs and it’s time for a little payback.”
This season the Falcons finished fourth overall in regular season in the then eight-team league, with a record of 24-24.
According to Nonis, the Falcons have more than 30 players on their tentative roster from very recognizable NCAA schools with major baseball programs.
Coach Kevin Frady will be returning to the bench again, and along with Nonis has recruited players from Gonzaga University, University of Arizona, University of Hawaii and University of New Mexico.
“June 4, 2010 can’t come soon enough,” said Nonis.
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