PORT ANGELES — Break out the red, white and blue bunting because Civic Field will need to look its best on the first Thursday in June.
The Port Angeles Lefties will open the West Coast League’s 2017 season at Civic Field Thursday, June 1 when the first-year franchise hosts the league’s Opening Day game against Strait of Juan de Fuca rival Victoria HarbourCats.
Lefties owner Matt Acker said the showcase Opening Day game came about as teams were hashing out the final details of the schedule at the league’s annual meetings.
“We had the most Friday nights [home games] with seven and Gresham had just three,” Acker said. “They draw well on Fridays, so they were making a case the schedule was a little unbalanced. So I suggested we could have a split series at Victoria [in June] and the league could have a feature game to start the season.”
Acker said the moves may cost Port Angeles and Victoria a little more for hotel rooms, but the featured game will be worth it.
“You want to watch your bottom line of course, but the ability to do something cool for the league, the Lefties and HarbourCats with the Opening Day game, it just kind of worked as a really good alternative,” Acker said.
Port Angeles is scheduled to play 54 games from June 1 through Sunday, Aug. 6, with 27 of the contests held at Civic Field.
Fourth of July at home
The Lefties’ home slate includes a three-game series with Gresham beginning July 4.
Acker was surprised to have a holiday home game in his team’s first year in Port Angeles.
“I was not expecting to have games at home on the Fourth of July,” Acker said. “But the way the holiday falls this year, Wilder will have their Firecracker Classic over the weekend [preceding July 4].”
A fireworks display is expected.
“I have to look into all that, but we’ve done fireworks before, so we know how to do it,” Acker said.
Acker also mentioned a promotion that will allow Clallam County students to design a uniform that the team will wear during a late-season game.
“It will be like a coloring contest where every student in Clallam County will have the chance to design a uniform and we will put it on the players toward the end of the season,” Acker said.
“We will give the uniforms to the Jace Real Estate group to raise money for their scholarship program. “It will be fun for the kids to participate in a contest like this and awesome for the fans to see a really unique uniform out on the field.
“If [the selected design] is team colors great, if it incorporates team colors that’s awesome, but really, if it works, it works and we will go with that.”
The Lefties will compete in the WCL’s North Division along with Victoria, the Kelowna Falcons, the Wenatchee AppleSox, the Bellingham Bells and the Walla Walla Sweets.
South Division teams include the Yakima Valley Pippins, Cowlitz (Longview) Black Bears, Corvallis Knights, Bend Elks and the Gresham GreyWolves.
This summer’s WCL All-Star Game will be hosted by the Yakima Valley Pippins on Tuesday, July 18 at Yakima County Stadium.
The official WCL schedule features 54 league contests, with each team playing a balanced schedule.
The WCL regular season concludes Sunday, Aug. 6 and the WCL playoffs — a four-team postseason to determine the league champion — gets started on Tuesday, Aug. 8.
First players signed
Port Angeles also announced the signing of its first two players, outfielders Alex Junior of Tennessee Tech and Dylan Vchulek from the University of Hawaii.
Junior, in his redshirt sophomore season at Tennessee Tech, is no stranger to the WCL.
He played for Acker and the Kitsap Blue Jackets after his redshirt freshman season in 2015.
“He is an impressive individual,” Acker said. “His parents are both doctors, he has a sister that is a doctor. He’s really smart.”
That should help him on the diamond this summer.
“Junior is a talented outfielder that possesses world-class speed that can be utilized at the top of the order to create havoc for pitchers,” Acker said.
“Alex was very productive for the BlueJackets. He finished the season with 23 runs scored, 24 walks and nine stolen bases.”
Junior batted .243 with one home run, 16 RBIs, 12 stolen bases and most impressively, 45 runs in 49 games for Tennessee Tech last season.
Vchulek played high school ball for Bainbridge and last season at the junior college level for Bellevue Community College.
“Vchulek is another skilled outfielder and top of the order hitter that can frustrate pitchers with his bat and speed,” Lefties General Manager Ryan Hickey said.
He hit .360 for Bellevue with 31 hits, 16 RBI, 10 stolen bases and 18 runs in 28 games.
Announcer search
Acker said the search for the team’s public address announcer continues tonight with the final scheduled tryout at Station 51 Taphouse in Port Angeles during the Chicago Cubs-Cleveland Indians World Series game which starts at 5:08 p.m.
“It’s been awesome,” Acker said of the search.
“We are excited to go to the Taphouse tonight. We have had 12 total contestants and have heard some great voices. “We even had a guy drive up from Longview. He’s seen WCL baseball at Cowlitz and he’s all in.”
He described the search as less a tryout and more of a teaching opportunity.
“Really, nobody in town has seen WCL before, and it’s not like a Mariners broadcast,” Acker said.
“It’s about having the voice, having the willingness to learn, to write the script and be prepared for all types of game situations.
“We can’t move forward with all 12, but maybe more like four or five candidates that have potential and want to put in more work during the offseason to prepare.”
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Sports reporter Michael Carman can be contacted at 360-417-3525 or mcarman@peninsuladailynews.com.
