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West Coast League

Post from the Coast: The WCL on OSC

by Bruce Baskin
August 11, 2014 - West Coast League (WCL)


BEND OUTLASTS WENATCHEE FOR WILD CARD, SET PLAYOFF FIELD

Despite going .500 over their last ten games, the Bend Elks got just enough wins down the stretch to hold off charging Wenatchee to clinch the West Coast League's fourth and final playoff berth last weekend. Bend ended the regular season with a 31-22 record, one game up on the AppleSox, who won seven of their last ten to finish 30-23.

The Elks will be the postseason's wild card team and face South Division champ Corvallis (35-18) in one best-of-3 WCL semifinal, starting Tuesday night in Bend. The Knights won the season series, 5 games to 4, but the Elks did cop their last two games in Corvallis and won two of three at Vince Genna Stadium to open the season in early June.

The other semifinal series pits Western Division winner Bellingham (37-17) and Eastern Division titlist Yakima Valley (35-19). The Bells posted the WCL's best record by virtue of a pitching staff that turned in a 2.68 ERA while allowing 92 fewer hits than any other team. The Pippins, who are the first expansion team to win a WCL division title, balance a decent offense (3rd in the league with a .278 average) with good pitching (2nd in ERA at 3.37).

That series will open Tuesday at Yakima County Stadium before shifting to Bellingham's Joe Martin Field on Wednesday. The Bells took two of three games in Yakima on July 22-24, the only times the two teams have squared off this year.

The two semifinal winners will open a best-of-3 championship series on Saturday.

GEMS' PACKARD MISSES .400 BUT WINS BATTING TITLE

Klamath Falls 1B/OF Steven Packard (Oregon) was hitting .407 heading into the Gems' final game at Bend Sunday, but he suffered an 0-for-5 day at the plate to finish the season at .394. That was good enough to beat out Victoria's Hunter Mercado-Hood (USD), who hit .385, for the 2014 WCL batting crown. Yakima Valley OF Vince Fernandez (UC Riverside) broke league records with 10 homers and 51 RBIs over 48 games while coming in fifth with a .359 average. Corvallis OF Gabe Melker (Mercado-Hood's USD teammate) led the league with 29 stolen bases.

Among pitchers, Yakima Valley's Eli Morgan (Gonzaga) and Corvallis' Jackson Lockwood (Portland) tied for the WCL lead with 8 wins apiece, tying the league record, and Bellingham's David Bigelow (Gonzaga) led relievers with 13 saves to go with a 1.07 ERA. The loop's qualified ERA leader is the Bells' Seth Martinez (Arizona St) at 2.07. The strikeout title of 58 K's was shared by Walla's Jay Flaa (ND State) and Yakima Valley's Andrew Woods (VMI).

VICTORIA COPS REGULAR SEASON ATTENDANCE DERBY

A crowd of 1,963 at Royal Athletic Park Sunday gave the Victoria HarbourCats a season total of 42,563 over 27 home games for an average of 1,576 turnstile clicks per opening, both tops in the WCL for 2014. Bend finished second with 38,254 fans and a 1,417 average.

In all, eight WCL teams averaged crowds of 1,200 or better (Cowlitz just missed with an 1,198 average) as the league's 12 teams combined to draw a record 383,050 for the regular season, an average of 1,201. Three teams drew fewer than 1,000 per night: Klamath Falls (978), Kelowna (863) and Kitsap (518).

According to the BallparkBiz website, Victoria finished 28th in regular season attendance average among all summer college teams across the continent as nine WCL franchises counted among the Top 50, trailing only 13 Northwoods League clubs. Conversely, only four Cape Cod League teams made the same list.

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West Coast League Stories from August 11, 2014


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