Kelowna Falcons

Series Preview: Black Bears

The Kelowna Falcons return home for a six-game home stand beginning against the North Division’s Cowlitz Black Bears with a three-game set getting underway on Friday night at Elks Stadium.  

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2019 Season Series:

Friday, June 21st @ Elks Stadium (6:35 PM)

Saturday, June 22nd @ Elks Stadium (6:35 PM)

Sunday, June 23rd @ Elks Stadium (6:05 PM)

Wednesday, July 10th @ Story Field (6:35 PM)

Thursday, July 11th @ Story Field (6:35 PM)

Monday, July 15th @ Story Field (6:35 PM)

2019 Returnees:

P Wyatt Hummel (Okanagan College/West Kelowna, BC)

P Ian Turner (Mt. Hood Community College/Maple Valley, Washington)

INF Jake Fischer (Okanagan College/Edmonton, AB)

INF Ezra Samperi (Mt. Hood Community College/Gresham, Oregon)

INF Tylor Nixon (Yakima Valley Community College/Hamilton, Montana)

INF Dan Pruitt (Western Oklahoma State/Oklahoma City, Oklahoma)

INF Matt Voelzke (George Fox University/Lake Oswego, Oregon)

OF Austen Butler (University of British Columbia/Port Coquitlam, BC)

Between The Foul Poles:

Kelowna:

  • Kelowna enters the weekend after their second road series of the season which came in Yakima against the Pippins. The Falcons earned a win in the three-game set which came in the way of a shutout on Tuesday night by a 3-0 score thanks to strong outings from Gage Wall and Nick Nygard on the mound.
  • The Falcons picked up their first shutout of the season in the middle game of their three-game set against the Pippins and is the first since June 23rd a season ago, which coincidently came against Yakima Valley as well. Gage Wall threw four scoreless innings to start before Nick Nygard came out of the bullpen for five innings with Kelowna scoring in each of the last three games.
  • Historically speaking, the Falcons have had quite a bit of success against the Black Bears, especially when it comes to playing in the Okanagan. Kelowna comes into the weekend having won nine straight games against Cowlitz at Elks Stadium, sweeping them each of the last three trips they have made to the Interior. The Falcons last loss to the Black Bears at home came on June 15th, 2014.

Cowlitz:

  • The Black Bears work their way North after falling in two of their three games against the Ridgefield Raptors at home. Cowlitz dropped the opener by a 12-4 score before rebounding for a 10-9 win in the middle game of the set while the rubber match went to the Raptors by a 6-3 margin. The Black Bears look to get back on track in the win column after dropping five of their last six contests.
  • After tallying 17 runs in their series against the Raptors, Cowlitz will look to keep that offence going into their series in Kelowna. The Black Bears get most of their offensive attack in the way of getting men on base, holding a .374 on-base percentage this season while sitting with a league low two home runs on the season.
  • Trying to minimize runs against has been one of the biggest issues to try and work around this season. The Black Bears have surrendered the most runs in the league at 106 through 15 games while Cowlitz team earned run average sits at 5.84 entering the weekend set in Kelowna. A .289 batting average against along with allowing 154 hits this season will be an area that Cowlitz will look to limit as well.

Players To Watch:
Kelowna:
OF Tyler Williams (6’3”/235 lbs/Oklahoma City University)

It was a good three games in Yakima for the Falcons outfielder, who has earned a hit in each of his games played this season, with two of those four contests being multi-hit games. The Peoria, Arizona native comes into the weekend set with a .462 batting average as well as tallying a pair of RBI’s in each of his last two games, with his RBI on Tuesday night counting as the game winner. Williams reached base three times on Wednesday, hitting a single and double as well as a walk.

INF Matt Voelzke (6’3”/180 lbs/George Fox University)

Back for his third season in Kelowna, Voelzke is starting to find his swing as the season starts to get into full swing. The Lake Oswego, Oregon product has hits in six of his last seven games, including at least one in each of the games in Yakima. Voelzke earned a pair of RBI’s in the series while collecting two hits in the finale on Wednesday and also leads the team when it comes to RBI’s with his 5 on the summer.

P Nick Nygard (5’9”/175 lbs/University of Portland)

Nygard and the bullpen has come up with some big efforts this season and none were bigger than his five innings of scoreless work on Tuesday in the Falcons 3-0 shutout victory over the Pippins. The Vancouver, Washington native surrendered just two hits while walking four batters and striking out six in his first West Coast League victory. In 14 innings pitched this season, Nygard has been a regular out of the ‘pen and holds a 3.21 ERA heading into the weekend.

Cowlitz:
OF Austin Bell (5’9”/195 lbs/Dallas Baptist University)

Just returning to the Black Bears after a solid summer a year ago, Bell will be a difference maker in the Cowlitz lineup. The Albuquerque, New Mexico native hit for .571 in the three-game series against Ridgefield, his first of the season. Bell went 4-for-7 with two doubles and four RBI’s while also walking three times in the set. The returning outfielder posted a .254 batting average last season with the Black Bears, leading the team in RBI’s with 32 and tied for the team lead in home runs at 5.

INF Braden DeBenedictis (6’1”/210 lbs/University of Utah)

The former Port Angeles Lefties infielder has made a great impression on his new team, leading the Black Bears with a .321 batting average so far in the 2019 campaign. The Taylorsville, Utah native has gone 17-for-53 on the season, helping the Black Bears offence with six RBI’s, which sits second on the team in that regard. Last season as a member of the Lefties, DeBenedictis hit .269, going 7-for-26 with a double and a pair of RBI’s.

P Ellis Stevens (6’4”/215 lbs/Cal State Chico)

Pitching out of the bullpen, Stevens has helped the Black Bears with solid innings of relief from the back end of the ‘pen. The Highland, California native holds a 2-0 record in six games pitched this season, throwing nine innings total while also registering a save. Stevens holds a 1.00 ERA, giving up just a single earned run in that time while striking out 8 batters and walking 7. His last outing came on June 20th against the Raptors, heaving 1.2 innings of work while surrendering a hit and two walks and striking out a pair.

The Falcons and Black Bears open their three-game weekend series on Friday night at Elks Stadium with the two teams concluding the set on Sunday evening. Tickets are available for purchase at the Falcons website as well as at the gate ahead of the opening pitches throughout the weekend.

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