West Coast League Releases 2014 Schedule.

Corvallis Knights to Host 32 Games at Goss Stadium

The Corvallis Knights will open their 2014 season on June 4 with a non-conference Science, Engineering & Art Day game at Goss Stadium against an as-yet undetermined opponent, general manager Bre Kerkvliet announced Friday.

It's the first of 59 regular-season games for the Knights, who swept Wenatchee in the Championship Series last August to capture their third West Coast League title. They will play 54 WCL games (27 home, 27 away) and five home nonleague games (pictured is Knights' shortstop Michael Lucarelli of Portland, who is expected to return in 2014).

The Knights WCL opener is June 6 at Bend; their WCL home opener is June 11 against Yakima, the WCL's latest expansion team. Most home games will start at 6:40 p.m.

"Our fans and sponsors are going to love our 2014 schedule," Knights' general manager Bre Kerkvliet said. "It includes our annual July 2 OSU Federal Credit Union Fireworks Night and our annual matchup with the Albany Mid-Valley Rockets on June 26.

"Our third annual Science, Engineering & Art Day for kids is June 4. Last year's game drew more than 2,000 area elementary school students and the overwhelming response from teachers was very positive.

"We'll complete our promotional schedule here soon and announce it no later than February. It will be another fun summer at Goss Stadium!"

The 12-team WCL has re-aligned into a three-division format with the addition of the expansion Yakima franchise. Corvallis will compete in the South Division with Bend, Klamath Falls and Medford; Kelowna, Yakima, Wenatchee and Walla Walla comprise the East Division and Bellingham, Cowlitz, Victoria and Kitsap comprise the West Division.

"With expansion, the opportunity to align with three divisions creates even greater rivalries within natural geographic boundaries," WCL president Dennis Koho said. "Hopefully it will help teams see some savings as it relates to ever-growing travel expenses."

The division champions and a wild-card team (the non-champion with the best record) will advance to the best-of-three divisional playoffs, set for Aug. 12-14. The best-of-three WCL Championship Series will run Aug. 16-19.

The annual WCL All-Star Game is July 21 at Kiger Stadium in Klamath Falls.

To check out the complete Corvallis Knights schedule, click here.