Baseball and spring are in the air.
The Okanagan College Coyotes will celebrate both with their season openers this weekend at Elks Stadium.
The Coyotes will host Eastern Washington University in a four-game set, beginning with a twin bill at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday.
“We are excited to be home, we had a great spring trip. We are looking forward to getting closer to conference,” said OC head coach Geoff White.
The Coyotes are coming off a 13-day road trip that saw them play 14 games in Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Las Vegas, facing some very tough competition along the way.
“The spring trip really sets the bar to the level we need to play at to be successful. We had flashes of what we are capable of which is encouraging,” added White.
EWU has made one other trip to Kelowna in the past where the Coyotes took three of four in the fall of 2013.
The Coyotes expect Marcus Drewry and Joel Lamont to lead the way on the mound.
“Marcus and Joel really established themselves as our go-to guys,” White explained. “Both have had impressive outings to start 2015 and we will look for them to continue that over the spring.”
Drewry (Senior, RHP, Parksville, BC) will get the nod in the opener while Lamont (Junior, RHP, White Rock, BC) will follow him in the night cap.
Offensively, the Coyotes have been led by Ryo Shidido, Tony Olson, and Brandon Graham. Shishido is hitting .429, while Olson is right behind him at .348 while leading the team with six stolen bases.
“Both Shishido and Olson are guys who can run and make things happen offensively for us, they have a chance to get on with any ball put on the ground.”
The series with Eastern Washington will wrap up Sunday at 11 a.m. with a double header.
