Kelowna Falcons

“Right” For Falcons

Since the West Coast League began play in 2005, pitching has dominated the league.  The Falcons pitching staff grew by a pair with two quality right-handers in Aaron Charles from CSU Bakersfield and Cal Hehnke the University of Nebraska Omaha

Hehnke (photo right) is a sophomore with the Mavericks this season, appearing in five games so far, all out of the pen.   In his five innings of work he has struck out three.

He appeared in 11 games as a freshman last season with one start.  He finished 1-0 over 13 innings of work making his collegiate mound debut versus Eastern Michigan (Feb. 21), throwing 2.2 innings of relief and recorded a strike-out.  Off the diamond he was named to the Summit League’s Academic Honor Roll majoring in civil engineering.

Charles (photo left) on the other hand is a rookie for the Roadrunners.  Last year as a senior at Ridgeview high school in Bakersfield California he had a solid season under head coach Jason Hunsaker.  As a junior in 2015 he was named to the Bakersfield Californian Varsity All-Area team after leading the Wolfpack to the D-III championship game.  On the mound he was 7-0 with a 1.60 ERA.

He is the son of Arthur and Brandy Charles, both athletes.  His father played college basketball at Boise State while his mother earned second team All-American honours for the Roadrunners in 1992. His brother Art played baseball at Bakersfield College where he was drafted twice and played professional baseball for six seasons, most recently with the Philadelphia Phillies organization.

Both righties are expected to be in Kelowna at the end of May and ready for the 2017 summer season which opens June 2nd at Elks Stadium.

Charles photo courtesy of Mark Nessia/Mark Nessia Photography

Hehnke photo courtesy of Mark Kuhlmann

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