Kelowna Falcons

Raptors In Town

The Kelowna Falcons open their home schedule at Elks Stadium as they welcome the West Coast League’s newest franchise in the Ridgefield Raptors to town for a three-game series beginning on Friday night.

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2019 Season Series:

Friday, June 7th @ Elks Stadium (6:35 PM)

Saturday, June 8th @ Elks Stadium (6:35 PM)

Sunday, June 9th @ Elks Stadium (6:05 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)

OF Trent Tinglestad (University of Louisiana-Monroe/Marysville, Washington)

Between The Foul Poles:

Kelowna:

  • Kelowna comes into the weekend looking to get back in the win column after a series loss in Bellingham to the Bells. The Falcons opened the season with a come-from-behind 4-2 victory on Opening Day but fell by a 6-2 margin on Wednesday night before closing out the series at Joe Martin Field with a 3-1 loss at the hands of the Bells to enter Friday night’s action at 1-2 overall.
  • The Falcons look to get back in the win column after falling in each of the last two games of their series against the Bellingham Bells while picking up an Opening Day win at Joe Martin Field with the series having a large pitching and defensive element to it. Kelowna’s staff, as a whole, surrendered just 13 hits throughout the three-game set and gave up just 11 runs over that span as well. The defence dazzled in Bellingham, making many strong plays to keep the pitching staff confident in the players behind them.
  • Kelowna will play their first games at home since Game #1 of the WCL Final a season ago against the Corvallis Knights and Elks Stadium proved to be a key advantage for them in their run to the league championship a season ago. The Falcons went 19-8 on home soil last season, including amassing their largest win streaks of the season at 6 games and have won their home opener each of the past two seasons.

Ridgefield:

  • The West Coast League’s newest team gets set to make their first voyage into Canada and their first trip to Kelowna to take on the Falcons. Ridgefield opened their inaugural season at home against the Yakima Valley Pippins and dropped the first game of the season by a 4-3 score while falling the next night by a 10-3 margin. The Raptors bounced back, however, and salvaged the series with the franchise’s first win on Thursday night by a 3-2 mark.
  • One of the biggest stats that jumps off the page for the Raptors in their opening series against the Pippins would be the home run totals and that Ridgefield is doubling up on any other team in the WCL. The newcomers hit four big flies during their three-game set, while Yakima Valley hit two of their own and showing that the Ridgefield Outdoor Recreation Center may be a haven for smacking balls out of the park.
  • A give-and-take with hitting home runs Is the strike out rate tends to be higher than most and that is true in the Raptors case, who sit 3rd in the league in strikeouts at 30 but on the pitching side, they have been getting their fair share of swings and misses as well. Ridgefield ranks #1 in the league after three games with 39 strikeouts on their staff compared to the 17 that the Falcons have tossed, sitting with the second least in the West Coast League.

Players To Watch:
Kelowna:
INF Dan Pruitt (6’5”/245 lbs/Western Oklahoma State)

The 2019 collegiate season was good to Pruitt as he dominated at Western Oklahoma State in NCAA Division II action. The Oklahoma City, Oklahoma native led the Pioneers in homeruns with 20 and RBI’s with 76 over 157 at-bats, where he compiled an impressive .522 batting average. Those numbers were good enough to lead all of Division II baseball after he showed well in his first season with the Falcons in 2018.Pruitt hit .331 with seven homers and 26 RBI’s with the Falcons, last year in which he was honoured with an All-Star selection and went 1-for-4 in the All-Star Game in Port Angeles. Pruitt is expected to make his season debut on Friday night in the first of the three game series against the Raptors.

OF Austen Butler (5’11”/185 lbs/University of British Columbia)

Although the Falcons bats did not come alive in their opening series against the Bells, returning outfielder Austen Butler had his right on time. The Port Coquitlam, BC native went 4-for-9 in the opening set in Bellingham, cracking two doubles and a pair of RBI’s in the three games while also scoring a run. As the Falcons return home to Elks Stadium, Butler leads the team with his tallies in doubles, RBI’s and hits.

P Connor Hurley (6’3”/190 lbs/Concordia University St. Paul)

Getting into one game of action over the course of the midweek series in Bellingham, Hurley stapled down a terrific performance on the mound Tuesday in the Falcons Opening Day victory. The Sioux Falls, South Dakota native pitched 3.1 innings while surrendering just two hits and a walk as well as striking out four batters in his first WCL win. Hurley is currently leading the team with those 4 K’s and has a likely chance of appearing in this series after having a couple of days off.

Ridgefield:
INF Carter Benbrook (6’3”/200 lbs/UC Santa Barbera)

It was a strong opening series for Carter Benbrook, who hit an even .500 in his two games of action against the Pippins in the week. The Sacramento, California native went 2-for-4 with a double and a home run including three walks to reach base a total of five times throughout the course of the series. The incoming freshman is a duel threat while playing a corner position in the infield, he can also pitch.

P Zach Barnes (5’11”/165 lbs/Grand Canyon University)

There may be a chance Zach Barnes does not take the mound in Kelowna, given his start of six innings just came on Thursday, but he showed himself in a big way to hold off the Pippins and help the Raptors to their first win in club history. The Chandler, Arizona native tossed six innings of one-run baseball, surrendering four hits and striking out an impressive eight batters along the way. The right hander got into 23 games with GCU, pitching 33.2 innings and holding a 2-1 record with a 3.48 ERA.  

P Michael Spellacy (5’11”/185 lbs/Gonzaga University)

A name that Falcons fans may be familiar with after his time with the Wenatchee AppleSox a season ago, Michael Spellacy is another duel threat that can both bring it on the mound as well as in the field and the batter’s box. The Puyallup, Washington native was the Raptors Opening Day starter, throwing six innings and allowing three runs and six hits with two walks and eight strikeouts. Last season with the AppleSox, Spellacy started in 9 games on the mound, holding a 3-1 record with a 3.56 ERA as well as 32 strikeouts in 48 innings while hitting .296 with 9 RBI’s at the plate a summer ago.

The Falcons are at home the entire weekend with Friday night’s home opener FREE courtesy of Gord Anton at ReMax Kelowna. Tickets can be purchase through the Falcons website or at the gate ahead of the opening pitch. Kelowna is back in action after a four-day layoff before they host their Canadian rival in the Victoria HarbourCats.

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