Wednesday, May. 14, 2008

NW league for college baseball players adds familiar voice

Earlier this spring, the West Coast Collegiate Baseball League made a major announcement. It hired Ken Wilson as its league President.

Granted, that’s a rather common name, but it should sound quite familiar to longtime fans of the Seattle Mariners. Wilson and Dave Niehaus shared play-by-play duties for the first six seasons of the franchise.

“The WCCBL is looking to add new teams and establish itself as the top collegiate summer league in North America,” Wilson said in a news release. “I’m familiar with the Pacific Northwest, and this gives me a chance to get back to my roots and be involved with baseball.”

Wilson’s background in baseball includes being a partner in two franchises in the independent Frontier League. A look at the radio resume of the University of Michigan grad includes WSU basketball and Seattle Pacific basketball. Hockey fans also may know he spent more than 20 seasons calling NHL games, most of those with the St. Louis Blues.

Now, the WCCBL has a ways to go before it supplants the likes of the famed Cape Cod League, the Alaska Baseball Leagueand others as the top college summer league in the country.

However, the WCCBL shows promise as it enters its fourth season. And it boasts teams in eight growing markets — Bellingham, Bend, Bremerton, Corvallis, Kelowna, British Columbia, Spokane, Wenatchee and defending champion Moses Lake. The Brett brothers recently became co-owners of the Bellingham Bells, which bodes well for the WCCBL because Brett Sports and Entertainment consistently seems to be on the plus side on investments.

That said, the wooden bat league announced this week that it plans/hopes to expand to 10 teams within three years.

Herald sports writer Kevin Anthony spent eight years at the Wenatchee World before he came to the Tri-Cities. He said the Apple Sox are the only game in town during the summers and the caliber of play is solid, with longtime manager Ed Knaggs bringing in players from top college programs across the country.

Last season, WSU first baseman Jim Murphy starred for Corvallis. Warden grad Jorge Reyes — the Outstanding Player of the 2007 College World Series for repeat champion Oregon State — came back from Omaha and made five appearances for nearby Moses Lake.

This summer, WSU shortstop Shea Vucinich is scheduled to play for Bend this season. Beau Brett, signed to play at USC, won’t play for his dad in Bellingham. Instead, the Ferris product/nephew of George Brett will stay in Spokane to play for the River Hawks.

A quick look of the rosters shows players from Division I programs such as Arkansas, Kansas State, Kentucky, Mississippi State, San Diego State, San Jose State and Washington as well as NAIA power Lewis-Clark State.

The 42-game regular season begins June 12 and ends Aug. 12. On July 22, the Moses Lake Pirates and Larson Field will play host to the WCCBL All-Star Game this season. Gabe Boruff managed the Pirates to the title. He’s now a volunteer assistant at WSU for Donnie Marbut.

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