VANCOUVER — Tuesday was opening night in the wooden bat West Coast League, with four games played in Washington, Oregon and British Columbia.
In three days, a whopping 16 WCL teams, including four new teams, are set for an action-packed weekend. The Port Angeles Lefties will host their first WCL games beginning at 6:30 p.m. Friday against the Kamloops Northpaws, one of the new teams that have joined the league.
For the first time since 2019, there will be a full league and cross-nation travel between American and Canadian teams. The Lefties began a three-game series Tuesday in Victoria against the HarbourCats.
“I’ve got exactly zero doubt that this season will be our league’s best yet,” said WCL Commissioner Rob Neyer. “We’ll have more teams, more talent and more playoff action than ever before, and what’s coming next are nearly three months filled with tremendous excitement for our fans around not just the Pacific Northwest, but everywhere.”
The 2022 West Coast League campaign features four expansion teams. In addition to Kamloops, there are the Edmonton Riverhawks, the Nanaimo NightOwls and the Springfield (Oregon) Drifters. The Lefties play the Riverhawks and NightOwls, but do not have games against the Drifters this season.
The HarbourCats and Kelowna Falcons return to action after withdrawing from the 2021 season due to pandemic-related border and gathering limitations.
This summer’s schedule includes 54 league games for each team, ending on Sunday, Aug. 7, followed by expanded playoffs. This new postseason format will feature eight of the WCL’s 16 teams, with all eight postseason teams getting a chance to host at least one playoff game. Up-to-the-minute WCL stats and standings may be found at www.westcoastleague.com/stats.
The Lefties began their season at Civic Field this past weekend, winning two out of three exhibition games against the Northwest Honkers.
The West Coast League showcases pro prospects from major collegiate conferences around the nation and is similar to wooden bat collegiate leagues such as the Cape Cod League and Northwoods League.
