GreyWolves roll into Gresham

As Mt. Hood’s school year draws to a close, with it go the Saints track and field, softball and baseball seasons, leaving campus venues deserted until the fall.

That was, until this year. This summer kicks off the inaugural baseball season of the Gresham GreyWolves, the West Coast League’s newest franchise. The GreyWolves will be leasing Mt. Hood’s Oslund Field, the home of Saints baseball, throughout their 50-plus-game season and into the month of August, until playoffs begin.

The WCL is a Pacific Northwest collegiate summertime league and was founded in 2005. It features 11 teams from Oregon, Washington, and even Canada, divided into north and south divisions. The GreyWolves are seated in the South with the likes of the Bend Elks, Yakima Valley Pippins, and MHCC head baseball coach Bryan Donohue’s former team (and three-time WCL champion), the Corvallis Knights.

Donohue, by the way, is also the manager for the North Division’s Kelowna (B.C.) Falcons, and will be coaching them in the Oslund Field visitor’s dugout for the first time during the weekend of June 19-21.

The purpose of a league such as this is to offer players away from school during summer break a chance to try out and hone their skills against organized competition, using wooden bats like the professionals do. Members of the GreyWolves hail from all over the country, with representatives of Illinois, Arizona and Texas, not to mention the local Northwest guys. As expected, Gresham teammates are affiliated with area schools as well, such as community colleges Clackamas and Linn-Benton, but also Division-1 universities Stanford, San Diego State and Nebraska.

The GreyWolves will fire their first pitch at 7:05 tonight at home, hosting the Thurston County Senators in a two-game series. Once the season begins, they aren’t afforded with many days off, and with 29 games scheduled at Oslund Field, there are plenty of opportunities to support the local market team.

Ticket prices range between $8 to $12 each, roughly the cost of a trip to the movies, and the stands will provide full concessions, from soda, beer and wine to ballpark eats, including the signature “Killer Kielbasa.”

Team merchandise will also be on sale during games, and fans can even take in batting practice and fielding drills during selected off-days, traditionally around 4 p.m. The full schedule, roster, stats, club organization information and ticket sales can be found at greshamgreywolves.com, and for those who can’t catch them, their games can be viewed through the Gresham GreyWolves YouTube channel.

Advocate Staff