Sport Baseball President Donnie Marbut Countries United States
Canada | Founded 2005 No. of teams 11 Most recent
champion(s) Corvallis Knights | |
The West Coast League (WCL) is a collegiate summer baseball league founded in 2005, comprising teams from Washington, Oregon,and British Columbia. The WCL was previously named the West Coast Collegiate Baseball League (WCCBL), but in 2008 was renamed to their current name the West Coast League. The league is designed to develop college talent, and only current college eligible players are allowed to participate. Top college eligible players compete in the West Coast League, which has produced dozens of professional players and a number of major leaguers. League teams are operated just like professional minor league teams. The WCL season runs from early June to mid-August.
Contents
Current
* = Denotes 2016 WCL Champion
(M=indicates the field is of MLB size(325' LF,RF, and 400' CF))
2005–2009
In 2005 the teams played 42 games. For the 2007 season, this was the first year that the WCL started to use divisions. They separated the league into 2 divisions, called the East and West based on their geographical location. The playoffs worked in an odd way. The top 2 teams in the standings at the end of the season would playoff a best 2 out of 3 in both divisions. Then, the winners of the sets would playoff in the championship series, also a best 2 out of 3. and in 2009 it expanded the schedule to 48 games, at the same time going to an unbalanced schedule.
2010
In 2010 the league added Longview/Kelso (Cowlitz), Washington for the 2010 season, along with Walla Walla, Washington, which in turn cause a balanced schedule. The Moses Lake Pirates ceased operations following the 2010 season. The leaders in avg., home runs, RBI, and ERA, strikeouts, and wins for 2010 are as follows:
Batting
(Avg. – Must have a minimum of 2.7 plate appearances per team game.)
Pitching
(ERA – Must have a minimum of .8 inning(s) pitched per team game.)
2011
In 2011 the league expanded to Klamath Falls, which in turn caused a 54-game unbalanced schedule. Also, in the Summer of 2011 the Wenatchee Applesox won the East Division Pennant, and the Walla Walla Sweets came in second and beat the Applesox in the Division Playoffs to go on to play the Corvallis Knights where they lost 2 games to 0. In the West Division the Corvallis Knights won the Pennant and the Bend Elks were 8 games behind them but lost 2–0 in the Divisional games. The batting and pitching leaders are as follows:
Batting
(Avg. – Must have a minimum of 2.7 plate appearances per team game.)
Pitching
(ERA – Must have a minimum of .8 inning(s) pitched per team game.)
2012
In 2012 the Wenatchee Applesox won the East Division Pennant and battled the Bellingham Bells and went on to the finals. At the same time West Division the Corvallis Knights faced and defeated the Cowlitz Black Bears and went on to face the Wenatchee Applesox, where the Wenatchee Applesox won the championship for the 5th time.
Batting
(Avg. – Must have a minimum of 2.7 plate appearances per team game.)
Pitching
(ERA – Must have a minimum of .8 inning(s) pitched per team game.)
2013
In the 2013 season the league changed from an East/West division format to a North/South division format because of further league expansion, of the Victoria HarbourCats, and the Medford Rogues, which brought the number of teams to 11. Also, in 2013 records were set and matched. Walla Walla Sweets pitcher Sean-Luke Brija matched the league record in saves, with 13 outstanding saves in the 2013 season. It was the first year an expansion team, in their first year, made the playoffs. The Medford Rogues made the playoffs by a tie, and winning their last 3 regular season games but, they lost their Cinderella Story season to the Corvallis Knights, beating them 2 games to nothing in the South Division playoffs. Also, the other expansion team, the Canadian Victoria HarbourCats, set a single game and All-star game attendance record of 4,210 in viewing. Finally, history was made in Kitsap after the last out of the top of the ninth when Spenser Watkins threw a spectacular perfect game, the first in West Coast League history.
The pitching and batting records are as follows:
Batting
(Avg. – Must have a minimum of 2.7 plate appearances per team game.)
Pitching
(ERA – Must have a minimum of .8 inning(s) pitched per team game.)
2014
In 2014 the Yakima Valley Pippins came on board, giving the WCL their twelfth team. Also, in the 2014 year, because of the expansion of Yakima, the WCL restructured their league format for the 4th time in its history, moving to a 3-division format, with East, West, and South Divisions. The playoff format adopted was similar to the MLB format, with only one wild card instead of two. The teams are shown in their respective geographical division in the Team Table below.
The play-off race came down to the last 2 days of league play with a race between Bend and Wenatchee for the first WCL Wild-card spot. Bend edged Wenatchee by just 1 game, causing Wenatchee to miss the playoffs for the first time. Yakima, Bellingham, and Corvallis won their divisions and set the field for the first three-division WCL playoff. The first round playoff pairings were Bellingham vs. Yakima and Corvallis vs. Bend. Both Corvallis and Bellingham won their won their first 2 games and advanced to the WCL Championship series. Bellingham won both games 2 and 3 of the series, making them the 4th team to ever win the WCL Championship.
2015
In the off-season of the 2014-2015 seasons the WCL saw the most coaching changes in any of its previous years. In total 7 of the 12 Head Coaches were retired of the position or went on another career path. The new coaches are as followed:
The news of the changes between the old and new coaches happened throughout the off-season. Many went to high schools and colleges around the pacific northwest. As were some went to pursue other career paths.
Also, during the off-season the WCL announced that the previous 3-man umpire rule has been removed. The reason why this occurred is because of difficult regulations.
In 2015 the West Coast League saw its fifth league champion, the Bend Elks. The year was full of upsets as the standing nearly flipped of years past expectations and rhythm of Corvallis and Wenatchee leading their respective divisions. The teams that went on to playoffs were Kelowna, Bellingham, and Bend with Corvallis making it in on the league's wild card spot. In the playoffs Bend did not lose a game to anyone beating Corvallis in the divisional series and Kelowna in the Championship game to win their first ever WCL Championship. The end of season stats leaders are as follows:
2016
In the off season of the 2015-2016 seasons the Medford Rouges decided to leave the WCL for the Great West League. This will shrink the south division down to three teams, and the league down to eleven teams and a balanced schedule.
Later in October 2015 the WCL announced that they are dropping Klamath Falls and picking up Gresham as a market. This will officially bring the League to 11 teams.
On December 4, 2015 the Gresham Baseball Club announced that the team shall be named the Gresham GreyWolves. This was announced to an overflow crowd at Gresham’s City Council Chambers.
On December 15, 2015, WCL President, Dennis Koho, stepped down in order to pursue his law profession. He was replaced by Interim President, Holly Jones. Jones was the league's Vice President and former General Manager of the Victoria HarbourCats.
On March 31, 2016, the WCL announced that Donnie Marbut will assume duties as the active WCL president. Marbut is the former head baseball coach at Washington State University.
In 2016 the WCL introduced the use of a split season into league play. This was introduced by the owner of the Gresham Greywolves, Jerry Walker. Walker is also the owner of former WCL team, the Klamath Falls Gems, and owner of the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes of the Northwest League whose league uses the split-season format and suggested the ides to the league.
Also, in 2016 thirteen records where broken, or tied, throughout the league. The Victoria Harbourcats broke the record for the most wins by one team in a single season. They won 40 games over the two halves, breaking the previous record held by the 2011 Wenatchee Applesox who had 39 wins. Victoria also broke all three attendance records by having the highest attendance in a single game, season total, and game average. They had 60,466 total fans through the gates, averaging 2,239 a night, with a record 5,133 in one game on June 30 against the Kelowna Falcons. Other records include 4 hitters tying the sacrifice flies record by hitting 6 throughout the season. Tommy Lane tied the all time strikeout record by striking-out 59 times. Zach Draper, of the Yakima Valley Pippins, tied for the most games won and the highest winning percentage by a single pitcher by winning 8 games and not losing a single one and started a record tying 13 games. Draper also almost broke the all-time ERA by a single pitcher, with an average of 0.8 innings pitched per-team-game, with a 0.72 ERA. Josh Mitchell also won 7 games and didn't lose a single one. Sam Hellinger, of the Bellingham Bells, tied for the most saves by saving 13 games in the season. The Walla Walla Sweets broke two records by stealing 56 bases and by striking out 471 batters. Also, the Wenatchee Applesox hit a record 19 triples.
In the new Split-Season schedule, the Victoria Harbourcats won both of their halves and tied the second half with the Bellingham Bells, sending both of them to face the two South Division half winners. The first half was won by the Corvallis Knights, while the Second-half was won by the Yakima Valley Pippins. Both Corvallis and Bellingham won their respective divisional games and went on to have a rematch of the 2014 WCL Championship Series. This time Corvallis won the thrilling game 3 in a thrilling 7th inning rally to overcome the Bells dominate early game to win game 3, 6-4.
The Hitting and Pitching records are listed below.
2006
For the first time in 2006, the West Coast Collegiate Baseball League held their inaugural All-Star game. The game was held at Paul Thomas Stadium in Wenatchee, Washington, with players assigned to either the East or West squad, depending on the location of their team, geographically, in the league, this was before the league had actual divisions. The East and the West tied in 9 innings at 6 points a piece after each team ran out of pitchers. There were 1,083 fans watching the game.
Game Information
2007
The 2007 game was played in Bellingham, Washington at Joe Martin Field on July 18, 2007. The first pitch was thrown out by Commissioner Jim Dietz. The East/West format was still used during this year. The East was managed by Gabe Boruff of the Moses Lake Pirates. While the West was skippered by Matt Acker of Kitsap. The East beats the West with 4 men across the plate compared to just 1 run from the West squad.
Game Information
2008
The 2008 game was played in Moses Lake, Washington at Larson Playfield. The Home-Run derby was won by Nick Freitas of Kelowna with 4 HR's in the Final's, shuting out Aona of Kitsap by 4 HR's. The West started scoring in the first with 2 runs in the first. The East came back to tie it up in the bottom of the 2nd with a 2-run Home-Run by Stephen Hagen of Oregon State. The All-star Game ended in a 2-2 tie after 9 innings and ended in the same fashion on the 2006 WCCBL All-Star Game. The All-Star Game was eliminated after the 2008 season.
Game Information
2011
In 2011, the league announced it would revive the All-Star Game and assigned the 2011 game to Goss Stadium on the campus of Oregon State University, home of the league's Corvallis Knights. This year the 2 All-Star teams were made up of teams from their respenctive divisions. The West team had the bottom of the inning while the East had the top. The East started scoring ing the top of the 3rd with 2 runs with Aaron DeGuire scorring off of Alex Stanford's triple, then Alex Stanford off of a sacrifice fly to center field to score the 2nd run. The West responded by scoring a run of their own in the bottom of the same inning by a solo Home-Run by Spencer O'Neil. The game would go scoreless until the 7th inning with the East squad scoring 2 more runs by Bo Folkinga, and Pat Valaika scoring off of a double by Elliot Stewart who would be stranded on base. The East tried to rally in the bottom of the 9th. There was 1 out by a ground out by Sean Myrom, then Royce Bollinger gotting on 1st base. Next, Spencer O Neil hit a long ball for a double to center field scoring Bollinger. After Jimmy Allen hit a single the East infield finished the game with a groundball thrown from the pitcher to the shortstop to get Jimmy Allen out at 2nd base, then the ball was thrown to the 1st baseman to get Mitchel Walding out at 1st base(1-6-3) double play hit by Mitchel Walding. There were 2517 fans viewing the game.
Batting Stats
East
West
Pitching Stats
East
(W)=Winning Pitcher
(S)=Saving Pitcher
West
(L)=Losing Pitcher
Game Information
2012
The 2012 WCL All-Star Game was played in Walla Walla, Washington at the historic Borleske Stadium home of the Walla Walla Sweets. The Home-Run derby was won by Taylor Sparks of UC Irvine with 11 Home-Runs in the entire derby. The format of the teams remained the same through the 2012 season with the East having ownership of the bottom of all 9 innings with the West having the top half of the innings. The ASG went scoreless through the first 3 and 1 half innings in until the East division received their only 2 runs of the game. The first run was scored unearned by Mitchell Gunsolus, in the 4th inning, off of a double play involving Greg Friesen, and Kyle Pearson who hit the ground in double play. The second run was scored by the next batter, Nate Causey, who hit a single and scoring Jarel Lewis who got to 3rd base in the last double play. The West replied with 2 runs of their own in the top of the 5th inning by Tanner Nielsen who scored off a single by Connor Hofman and an error by the center fielder. Then, Connor Hofman scored by Austin Diemer who was putout on an ground ball thrown from the 3rd baseman to the 1st baseman. The next 2.5 innings went score less until the West scored in the top of the 7th inning. The last run of the game was scored by Austin Diemer who got to 2nd on a double. and then advanced to 3rd base on a stolen base then, Caleb Whalen hit a double of his own to score Austin Diemer. The west won the game 3-2 in the 2012 ASG at Borleske Stadium.
Batting Stats
East
West
Pitching Stats
East
West
Game Information
2013
In 2013 Victoria, British Columbia, hosted the All-Star game at Royal Athletic Park home of the 2013 expansion team, Victoria HarbourCats. The All-Star game set 2 records, the most attendance at an All-Star game, and a record of most fans in viewing of any WCL game, the record was set at 4210 fans watching the 2013 WCL All-Star game. The layout for the game was in a North/South format due to the West Coast League changing their divisions from an East/West format to the North/South format. The top of the 9 innings went to the South All-Stars making the North take the bottom of the innings. The South team wasted not one pitch on starting the game. Chase Fields started the game with a single on the first pitch of the game, he was then putout by a fielder's-choice hit by Dane Lund. The next batter hit Dane Lund home on a wild pitch and a well hit single. The North did not let the South squad enjoy their lead for long, the North All-Stars took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the 1st off the bats' of Kramer Lindell and Renae Martinez, hitting home Darren Kolk and Alex Real (pronounced 're-al'). The next man across the plate came across in the top of the 3rd by the South team scoring 2 runs to tie the game at 3 points a piece. the runs came off the bats of Kyle Knigge (The 'K' is pronounced) and Derek Dixon, who scored Chase Fields and Kyle Knigge. The North division did not like this at all so in the bottom of the same inning Kramer Lindell hit a solo Home-run to take the North All-stars to a 4-3 lead in the 4th inning. The South division struk again to take the lead for the 1st time since the 1st inning. The runs came during a wild pitch by Sean Silva while Blake Drake scoring Cody Lenahan to tie the game back up. The next batter hit a ground out to let Seth Spivey score the leading run from 3rd base. But, the Sout team was not done for the game they scored 2 more runs in the top of the 7th inning. Both 2 runs were scored during the same at bat of Seth Spivey. Seth Spivey had a count of 1 ball and 1 strike on him when, the pitcher, Trevor Lubking, throw a wild pitch pickoff attempt scoring Kevin Davidson then, Seth Spivey hit a well hit single scoring Derek Dixon. This would be the last score in the top of any of the remaining innings. The North division was not going to just give up, in the bottom of the 9th inning the North squad had a rally but, fell short. They scored to runs by Alex Calbick scoring Alex DeGoti, and Brett Stephens scoring Ryan Yamane, with a man on 3rd base and runner on 2nd Matt Mendenhall hit a fly out to the Shortstop to end the 2013 West Coast League All-Star Game.
Batting Stats
South
North
Pitching Stats
South
North
Game Information
2014
The 2014 West Coast League All-Star game was Scheduled to be played at Kiger Stadium at Klamath Falls, OR. The game was canceled due to the field being unplayable due to rain. This is the first rain out of any West Coast League All-Star Game, and the First rainout of the Klamath Falls Gems history.
2015
The 2015 WCL All-Star game was held at Joe Martin Field in Bellingham, WA on July 20, 2015. First pitch was at 7:10 PM PST from Andrew Kemmerer throwing a called ball. The south scored a run in the top of the 3rd off of West Tunnell, from Bellingham, who got out at first scoring Lorin Archibald, from Cowlitz. The game would then go scoreless until the top of the 7th were the south stuck again with another run scored by Cadyn Grenier, from Bend, off of a wild pitch from Easton Lucas of Walla Walla. The south scored again in the 8th from West Tunnell off of a double from Louis Wolf of Bend. The North team would not score a single run during the game, only mustering 5 hits in the 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th all were singles. This was the first shut-out All-Star game in the history of the league, and the game had the lowest attendance of any of the WCL All-Star games.
Batting Stats
North
South
Pitching Stats
South
(*)=Winning Pitcher
(**)=Saving Pitcher
North
(*)=Losing Pitcher
Game Information
2016
The WCL All-Star game was held at David Story Field in Longview, WA. The teams were made up of the teams in the North and South Divisions respectively. The North All-Star team was made up of the teams in the North Division (Walla Walla, Wenatchee, Victoria, Kelowna, and Bellingham). While, the South squad was made up of the teams in the South Division (Kitsap, Corvallis, Bend, Gresham, and Yakima Valley). The North was headed by Bryan Donohue of the Kelowna Falcons, while the South was managed by the Cowlitz Balck Bear's own, Grady Tweit.
Tweit lead the South to a 4 to nothing win against the North scoring 1 run in each of the first, third, fourth, and fifth innings off of 9 hits while allowing 2 errors and leaving 6 on the basses throughout the game. The North did not score a single run within their 7 hits and allowing 1 error and left 10 on the bases.
The Batting and Pitching stats for the game are as follows.
Batting
North
South
Pitching
North
South
Game Information
All-Star venues and results
(*)=Both teams ran out of pitchers
Jim Dietz Sportsmanship Award
Pennant winners
Before 2007 there was only 1 division.
In 2013 the league moved from an East/West format to a North/South Division format.
In 2014 the League moved to a 3-division format.
In 2016 the League went to a 2 division split-season style format.