The Cowlitz Black Bears welcome the Kelowna Falcons to David Story Field this weekend for their final series before the West Coast League All-Star Game next week on Wednesday, July 17 at 6:35 p.m. PST, beginning this Friday.
This all-star break marks the end of a grueling first half of the season. The Black Bears played a tough schedule that included a six-game home-and-home series with the current first-place team in the WCL South, the Corvallis Knights, and a visit to the second-place squad in their division, the Portland Pickles. The Black Bears logged plenty of miles on the road, playing 18 of their first 28 games away from David Story Field, visiting Nanaimo, Springfield, Portland, Corvallis, Yakima Valley, and Ridgefield.
The Black Bears have split their first two games against the Bend Elks. On Tuesday night, the Black Bears starting pitcher, AJ Krodel (UC Santa Barbara) set the tone early throwing four scoreless innings. He was relieved by fellow Gaucho Calvin Proskey in the fifth. The Black Bears scored first in the bottom of the sixth innings on back-to-back doubles by Nick Miller (Park University Gilbert) and JJ Kennett (Baylor). The right-hander from Oak Park, Ill., gave the Black Bears three innings of solid work out of the bullpen, allowing two hits and a run. Miller was a catalyst for Cowlitz again in the bottom of the eighth inning, leading off with an infield single and advancing to second on a throwing error from the Elks’ third baseman. Miller stole third base and scored on an RBI single from Keaton Grady (Dallas Baptist). Bronson Neave added an insurance run with an RBI groundout to make the score 3-1 Black Bears. Cowlitz snapped their six-game losing streak on Tuesday but fell 11-2 in Wednesday’s game. The Elks ambushed Black Bears’ starter Jack Tuttle in the top of the first inning with four runs on four hits. Following a rough first inning, Tuttle settled down and produced a scoreless second and third inning. As the game progressed, the Black Bears were worn down by seven errors in the first six innings, four of which came in the top of the sixth. The Black Bears have an opportunity on Thursday night to exercise the demons from last night and the previous two weeks with a series win against the Elks.
The Falcons come into this series fresh off a Wednesday off-day and a series loss to the Nanaimo NightOwls. Kelowna is 3-3 in the second half of WCL play and will finish the final leg of a six-game road trip this weekend in Cowlitz. The Falcons had two of their players named to the WCL North All-Star team earlier this week, OF Trey Duffield (Rice) and LHP Gavyn Jones (McLennan CC [TX]).
The Falcons-Black Bears series will begin on Friday at 6:35 p.m. at David Story Field. Game 2 on Saturday is scheduled for 6:35 p.m., and the series finale will also begin at 1:05 p.m. on Sunday. For more information about upcoming games, stats, or tickets, follow us on social media: X (Twitter) (@CowlitzBBears), Facebook, and Instagram (@cowlitzblackbears). To watch, listen live, or view the 2024 promotional schedule, go to our website cowlitzblackbears.com.