Bend Elks

The Bend Elks are a collegiate summer baseball team located in Bend, Oregon. The Elks are founding members of the West Coast League and play their home games at Vince Genna Stadium.

Bend Elks
Information
LeagueWest Coast League (South)
Location Bend, Oregon
BallparkVince Genna Stadium
Year founded1999
League championships2015
ColorsBlack, gold
   
MascotVinnie the Elk
OwnershipJohn and Tami Marick
ManagerJoe Dominiak

History

Jim and MaryAnn Richards founded the Bend Elks Baseball Club in 1999 with the hope of saving Vince Genna Stadium from demolition. The Elks joined the Pacific International League. Bend continued their affiliation with the league through 2004. In 2005 the Elks along with Bellingham, Kelowna, Spokane, and Wenatchee left the league to form the West Coast Collegiate Baseball League (WCCBL).[1]

The Bend Elks went 31-23 in the 2014 WCL season finishing 4 games behind the leading Corvallis Knights and were awarded the first ever WCL wild card spot. Bend was eliminated after the WCL Divisional Series to the rival Corvallis Knights in 2 games. The Elks were Hit by the pitch 72 times and set a WCL record for the most times hit at the plate in one season. The front office of the Bend Elks put 42,030 people through the turnstiles in 31 games at home with 1,356 per game.

In October 2014, John and Tami Marick purchased the Bend Elks Baseball Club from Jim and MaryAnn Richards. The Maricks are founders of Consumer Cellular, a nationwide wireless MVNO based in Tigard, Oregon, with one of its three corporate locations in Central Oregon.[2]

In 2015 the Bend Elks won the WCL championship series.

The Elks are the latest in a long history of semi-pro and minor-league teams to call Central Oregon home.

Notable alumni

Elks alumni who went on to play in Major League Baseball include Brian Barden, Jacoby Ellsbury, Blaine Hardy, Trevor Hildenberger, and Eric Sogard.[3]

References
  1. "New Summer College League launches in Pacific Northwest". West Coast League. 2005-03-01. Retrieved 2020-12-02.
  2. "Front Office". www.bendelks.com. Archived from the original on 2015-07-06.
  3. "Stadium History". www.bendelks.com. Archived from the original on 2015-07-15.
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