Wild Wild West League offers baseball fans some normalcy

For Ridgefield Raptors fans with a hankerin’ for summer college baseball, there’s a new league that has sprung up over yonder.

The owners of the Raptors’ West Coast League rival, the Portland Pickles, have founded the Wild Wild West League this summer featuring four Portland-area teams and featuring several players from Southwest Washington.

The Wild Wild West League will make its debut Saturday when the Pickles take on the Portland Gherkins in Aurora, Ore.

“This is something we spent many months on,” said Alan Miller, one of the co-owners of the Pickles along with former Seahawks punter Jon Ryan. “We wanted to develop a baseball experience to create some sort of normalcy for all of our players and fans.”

When the West Coast League announced in May it would not play the 2020 season, the Pickles moved forward with their plans for the Wild, Wild West League.

The Gherkins were established as an independent summer league last fall to serve a feeder program for the Pickles. The other two teams in the league – the West Linn Knights and Gresham GreyWolves – were created or recreated especially for the new league.

The West Linn Knights are not associated with the West Coast League’s Corvallis Knights, but several players slated to play for the Corvallis team will play for West Linn this summer. The Knights are stacked with several Oregon State players and will be coached by Corvallis Knights coach Brooke Knight.

Skyview High graduates Cooper Barnum and Daniel Copeland will play for the Knights, as well as R.A. Long grad Andrew Walling.

The GreyWolves were a former West Coast League team that went independent in 2018 before disbanding. But the GreyWolves regrouped for the WWWL and will include Ridgefield High graduates Josh Mansur, Kevin Miser, La Center High grad Saige Keep and Camas High grad Grant Heiser.

Four other Clark County products will play for the Pickles – Alan Becklehimer (Heritage), Nick Nygard (Columbia River), Chad Stoner (Camas) and Lucas Gregory (Mountain View).

“What we did early on was be able to identify all the amazing local players that would normally be going to play for other West Coast League teams, Cape Cod League teams, all kinds of places, and be able to bring them together this new league where we have four teams playing over the next 30 days to crown our champion this summer.”

After Saturday’s opener at North Marion High School, the league will play two games – one at 2:30 p.m. and one at 7:30 p.m. – almost daily from Sunday through Aug. 6, with playoffs scheduled for Aug. 11-12.

“These guys are chomping at the bit to get out there,” Miller said. “They got their college seasons cut real short, and they have not be able to get out there and play at all. … And it’s really important for them. These are reps they need to have to develop as players. These guys are on a major league trajectory, and they need to make sure they are getting their reps this summer.”

Miller said he’s already has 23 major league scouts confirmed to attend Wild Wild West League games this summer.

“That’s a lot more than we’ve normally had for Pickles games,” Miller said. “It’s going to be a great audience for these players to show off their skills.”

Miller said the site at North Marion High School can also accommodate up to 200 spectators, although spectators will be limited to about 100 for the first week of play to ensure everyone understands the safety protocols.