Knights' 2013 Schedule Features 32 Home Games.

Top Attractions Include July 3rd Fireworks Night, Science & Art Day

The Corvallis Knights will open their 2013 season on June 4 with an 11 a.m. non-conference Schools Day game against the Portland Lobos at Goss Stadium, general manager Bre Kerkvliet announced Friday.

It's the first of 59 regular-season games for the West Coast League team, which has captured six consecutive South (formerly West) Division championships. They begin WCL play June 5 at Wenatchee, which defeated Corvallis 2-1 in the 2012 WCL Championship Series.

The Knights' official home opener is June 12 against the Kitsap BlueJackets. They will play 32 home games on 31 dates; most home games will start at 6:40 p.m.

"Our fans and sponsors are going to love our 2013 schedule. It features 31 home dates, including six Block 15 Thursdays and lots of Friday and Saturday games. We've posted the schedule at corvallisknights.com. Check it out," Knights' general manager Bre Kerkvliet said.

"This season's schedule not only accommodates our annual July 3 OSU Federal CU Fireworks Night, but we're tickled that we can host Oregon's mayors at our July 26 game [as part of the Oregon Mayors Conference] and another Science & Art Day for kids on June 4.

"Last year's Science & Art Day 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. "Go Knights!"

The league's 11 teams have been organized in a revised divisional setup with the addition of the expansion Victoria HarbourCats and Medford Rogues. The league will now be split into North and South divisions instead of East and West.

"We're excited about the schedule, and believe it accentuates our best rivalries for the fans," WCL president Ken Wilson said.

The South Division features the Knights, Medford, Klamath Falls, Bend, Cowlitz and Kitsap. The North Division includes Victoria, Kelowna, Bellingham, Wenatchee and Walla Walla.

Expansion has predicated an unbalanced schedule. The Knights will play three-game home-and-home series with every opponent except Victoria and Walla Walla. Corvallis will play three games at Victoria, and host Walla Walla for three games.

The top two finishers in each division will advance to the best-of-three divisional playoffs, set for Aug. 13-15. The best-of-three WCL Championship Series will start on Aug. 17 with one game at the North champion's stadium and possibly two games hosted Aug. 19 and 20 by the winner of the South Divisional Series.

The annual WCL All-Star Game is slated for July 23 at Royal Athletic Park in Victoria.

The 2013 schedule:

JUNE: 4: Portland Lobos. 5-7: @ Wenatchee. 8-10: @ Cowlitz. 12-14: Kitsap. 15-17: Cowlitz. 18-20: @ Medford. 21-23: Klamath Falls. 25-27: @ Bend. 28-30: @ Kitsap.

JULY: 2-4: Bellingham. 5-6: WCL Portland. 8-10: Wenatchee. 11-13: Walla Walla. 15-17: @ Bellingham. 18: Albany Mid-Valley Rockets. 23: WCL All-Star Game, @ Victoria. 24-26: Medford. 27-29: @ Victoria. 30-31: @ Kelowna.

AUGUST: 1: @ Kelowna. 3-4: Kelowna. 5-7: Bend. 8: Portland Lobos. 9-11: @ Klamath Falls. 13-15: WCL Divisional playoffs. 17-20: WCL Championship Series.

NOTE: The Aug. 4 home date with Kelowna is a doubleheader.