Kelowna Falcons

Falcons Open Season

Trevor Miller – Falcons play by play

The Kelowna Falcons open up their 18th season of play in the West Coast League (WCL) as they host their North Division rivals in the Bellingham Bells for a three-game series from Friday to Sunday at Elks Stadium.

2018 Season Series

Friday, June 1st @ Elks Stadium (6:35 PM)
Saturday, June 2nd @ Elks Stadium (6:35 PM)
Sunday, June 3rd @ Elks Stadium (6:05 PM)

Friday, August 3rd @ Joe Martin Field (6:35 PM)
Saturday, August 4th @ Joe Marin Field (6:35 PM)
Sunday, August 5th @ Joe Martin Field (3:05 PM)

2017 Season Wrap

The Falcons come into the 2018 season after making the playoffs for the second time in three seasons in 2017 where Kelowna finished atop of the North Division during the first half of the season with a 17-10 record before wrapping up the year with at 28-26 and were one of four teams to qualify for the postseason. The Falcons met with the Victoria HarbourCats before bowing out of the playoffs in two games to their Canadian foes.

The Bellingham Bells enter the 2018 summer looking to get back into the playoffs after falling short of postseason play in 2017 despite a very strong regular season, including a record 31-23 record through the 54-game schedule. The Bells finished the first half of the WCL season one game behind the Falcons for 1st place in the North Division and one game behind the HarbourCats in the second half of the year.

2017 Season Series

The Falcons will hope for the same success they had one season ago against the Bells as they were victorious in four of the six matchups between the two North Division rivals. Kelowna took two of the three games in a series in Bellingham in late June, outscoring the Bells 19-13 before picking up another pair of victories in a three-game set at Elks Stadium. The Falcons outscored the Bells 25-23 over the three games including a high-scoring 15-14 win in the final game of the season between the two clubs.

Returnees

Nine players make their way back to Kelowna for the 2018 season from one year ago, including infielder Taylor Wright, who finished 3rd in the WCL in home runs with 13 and tied for the lead in runs batted in with 54. Adding to that is the experience of outfielder David Todosichuk, who is in his third season with his hometown Falcons. Bellingham has just two players returning to the Whatcom County in the likes of pitcher Trevor DeLaite, coming off of 18 appearances in 2017 with a 3.37 earned run average and infielder Ernie Yake, who hit a solid .297 a year ago and was named a North Division All-Star.

Kelowna:

P Cal Hehnke (Junior, University of Nebraska-Omaha)

P Andrew Alvarez (Freshman, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo)

P James Brooks (Junior, Central Washington)

P David Tongue (Sophomore, Otero College)

INF Taylor Wright (Freshman, University of Maryland)

INF Matt Voelzke (Sophomore, George Fox University)

OF Lucas Soper (Junior, University of British Columbia)

OF Davis Todosichuk (Junior, Okanagan College)

OF Trent Tinglestad (Sophomore, Everett Community College)

Bellingham:

P Trevor DeLaite (Sophomore, University of Maine-Orono)

INF Ernie Yake (Freshman, Gonzaga University)

Players To Watch

Kelowna:

INF Taylor Wright (6’3”, 195 lbs/Vancouver, BC)

Wright exploded in his first season in the West Coast League, being amongst the league leaders in each of the three major batting categories. The Vancouver, BC native hit for a .337 AVG (6th), 13 HR’s (3rd) and 54 RBI’s (1st) including an appearance in the All-Star Game in Yakima Valley. Wright’s 1.014 OPS percentage ranked second highest of players with 200+ plate appearances. He continued his strong offensive success in his second year at the University of Maryland this season, hitting .230 with a pair of home runs and 25 RBI’s.

P Cal Hehnke (6’2”, 200 lbs/Grand Island, Nebraska)

Another returnee coming back to Kelowna this summer is right-handed pitcher Cal Hehnke, another Falcon that played in Yakima Valley for the North Division last July. Hehnke compiled a 3.16 ERA in 11 games with the Falcons a season ago, including 8 starts and 54 innings pitched. His 52 strikeouts ranked 3rd-best in the WCL in 2017 and continued his success as a junior at the University of Nebraska-Omaha. The Grand Island, Nebraska native led the Mavericks with 58 punch outs in 60.2 innings pitched along with a 3.86 ERA, which placed him 4th in The Summit League.

INF Matt Voelzke (6’3”, 180 lbs/Lake Oswego, Oregon)

Amongst the heavy dose of returning flavour to Kelowna this summer is infielder Matt Voelzke. The Lake Oswego, Oregon native hit .288 with 2 homers and 23 RBI’s in 36 games played at George Fox University this season with the Bruins. Voelzke heads into the 2018 summer looking to add to his offense as he hit .245 with the Falcons last season in 147 plate appearances to go along with 17 RBI’s.

Bellingham:

INF Ernie Yake (5’11”, 165 lbs/Bellingham, Washington)

One of the two returning players to the Bells from 2017 is infielder Ernie Yake and is one of three players from Bellingham on the roster. Yake hit a solid .297 in 195 at bats last season, spanning over 47 games, to go along with one home run and 21 RBI’s. The strong play from 2017 carried on to his collegiate game at Gonzaga University as he hit .327 in 53 games with the Bulldogs along with 14 doubles and 24 RBI’s.

P Nick Nastrini (6’3”, 200 lbs/San Diego, Californi)

Coming straight from Cathedral Catholic High School, Nick Nastrini will look to replicate his high school numbers into his first stint in the West Coast League. Committed to the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) for the 2018/19 season, Nastrini will get a taste of playing against collegiate players this summer with the Bells. In his senior year at Cathedral Catholic, the San Diego, California native threw 49.1 innings with a superb 2.41 ERA and 44 strikeouts while holding a record of 8-2 with a pair of complete games.

OF Elijah MacNamee (6’4”, 200 lbs/Cypress, Texas)

A newcomer to the Bells and Whatcom County this summer will be the bat of outfielder Elijah MacNamee. The Cypress, Texas native plays his collegiate ball at the University of Mississippi State and had a strong fall, catching the eye of the Bells coaching staff. The hulking right-hand batter hit .314 over 143 at bats in 41 games with the Bulldogs while amassing 3 home runs and 29 RBI’s including a .453 SLG % that will help bolster Bellingham’s offense.

The Falcons and Bells begin their 2018 WCL season on Friday night with free admission to Elks Stadium to view the game, courtesy of Steve Nash Fitness World and UFC Gym. Saturday night features Retro Beer Night before the series finale on Sunday is Minor Ball Night, where kids wearing their jerseys will get into the game for free. All 54 Falcons game can be caught live on HERE with play-by-play broadcaster Trevor Miller.

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