Today, the West Coast League announced a delayed start to the 2020 season, originally scheduled for June 5, to early July, as a result of the recent announcements from governing officials in Washington, Oregon, and British Columbia, the states and province in which the league’s 12 teams are located.

The Sweets remain committed to playing the 2020 season at Borleske Stadium this summer.

“Unfortunately, starting the season on June 5 started becoming less and less realistic,” Sweets general manager Cody Miller said.  “But, delaying the start to early July will allow us to monitor the situation as it develops.  It will also make sure we are taking all the necessary steps to ensure that we provide a safe experience for our fans, players, coaches, and staff at the stadium.”

Miller also added that the team will follow all local, state, and federal guidelines while continuing to prepare for the season.

“We want to get back out playing as soon as possible, just like everyone else in the sports world,” he said.  “Everyone is itching to get back to sense of normalcy, and I think we can be a big part of that here in Walla Walla when we are able to return to the field and have baseball back again.”

Due to other local, state, and provincial restrictions, some WCL teams will not be fielding a team this summer, the league announcement stated.  But all 12 teams are committed to playing in 2021, and a 13th team in Nanaimo, British Columbia, will join the WCL next year.

With the delay of the season and some teams opting not to play, Miller said this will give the team time to prepare for a different season experience this year.

“This was definitely not the type of season I was expecting for my first year in this role,” Miller said.  “But we’ll adjust.  We are using this time and change of scheduling to implement social distancing at the ballpark, a focus to online ticket sales, and other practices.  We will follow local, state, and federal health and safety guidelines while developing these new practices.”

The West Coast League will release a revised schedule in the next several weeks.  All previously purchased tickets will be valid in the revised summer schedule and single-game and group ticket buyers will be able to transfer those tickets to new games as needed.