Walla Walla Sweets ----
Team Information
Location	Walla Walla, Washington
Ballpark	Borleske Stadium
League	West Coast League
Division	East (2011 East Division Champions)
Founded	(Inaugural Season 2010)
Last Season	31-29 overall, 26-28 League
Owner	Pacific Baseball Ventures, LLC
General Manager	Zachary Fraser
Head Coach	JC Biagi

The Walla Walla Sweets is an amateur baseball

Amateur baseball in the United States

Amateur baseball is a form of baseball in which the players either are not paid for playing, or receive only a modest stipend or employment arranged by the team's boosters...

 team located in Walla Walla, Washington

Walla Walla, Washington

Walla Walla is the largest city in and the county seat of Walla Walla County, Washington, United States. The population was 31,731 at the 2010 census...

. They play in the West Coast League

West Coast League

The West Coast League is a collegiate summer baseball league founded in 2005, comprising teams from Washington, Oregon, and British Columbia. The league is designed to develop college talent. As such, only current college players are allowed to participate in the league...

, a collegiate summer baseball league. Walla Walla calls Borleske Stadium on the campus of Whitman College

Whitman College

Whitman College is a private, co-educational, non-sectarian, residential undergraduate liberal arts college located in Walla Walla, Washington. Initially founded as a seminary by a territorial legislative charter in 1859, the school became a four year degree granting institution in 1883...

 home. Borleske has the capacity of 2,378 spectators.

2010 season

The Sweets were an expansion team for the 2010 season. They set a WCL record for attendance in their first season, drawing 40,461 fans during 28 home games in 2010 (34,824 during league games), good for #23 in the country in overall attendance. Four Sweets gained league recognition, with catcher Elliot Stewart (Cal Poly) being named to the second team All-WCL and pitcher Joey Wagman (Cal Poly), SS Kevin Kuntz (Kansas) and 1B/OF Dennis Holt (UCLA) being named to the honorable mention All-WCL team. GM Zachary Fraser was named the 2010 WCL Executive of the Year.

2011 Season

After a last-place finish in the WCL East division in 2010, the Sweets made significant changes to their roster, specifically bolstering the pitching rotation (a major concern after the inaugural campaign). Opening the season against Corvallis, the Sweets took 2-of-3 at home from the Knights, but the Sweets struggled for the next month. By July 15, the team was in third place in the East, trailing the Bellingham Bells by five games for the wild-card spot with only three weeks left in the regular season. The Sweets then became one of the hottest teams in the WCL, turned around their season and caught the Bells in the last week of the season to earn the WCL East wild-card spot with a 26-28 league record. With the WCL's second-best pitching staff and an improved offense, the Sweets shocked the league by sweeping Wenatchee (who were ranked #3 in the country and had won the regular season division title by 13 games over Walla Walla) two games to none in the division series, winning the WCL East Division and earning a spot in the WCL Championship Series. The Sweets magic ran out, as the Knights swept the Sweets. However, the club saw major improvements over the first season. The team had the league MVP in 2011, 2B/SS Alex Stanford of Gonzaga , who also broke the league record for hits in a season (setting the new mark at 66). In addition to once again being a league leader in attendance (ranking 21st in the country , up from #23 and drawing over 54,000 fans), the team placed 6 players on the WCL East All-Star team (C Elliot Stewart, 2B/SS Alex Stanford, OF Andrew Mendenhall, and pitchers Ryan Richardson, Tim Culligan and Brett Watson), as well as the following recognitions for all-WCL performance: Alex Stanford (1st Team All-WCL), Andrew Mendenhall (2nd Team All-WCL), RHP Tim Culligan (2nd Team All-WCL), C Elliot Stewart (Honorable Mention All-WCL), RHP Ryan Richardson (Honorable Mention All-WCL), and LHP Brett Watson (Honorable Mention All-WCL). Richardson led the league in ERA with a 1.53 mark in 53 IP .

Traditions started in 2011

The 2011 Sweets established a tradition that became a rallying call for the season. In the eighth inning, the club would play "Love is Gone" by David Guetta over the sound system. 1,600 fans would get into a frenzy as the players would start to dance in rhythm to the song in the dugout . The team went on to win five games in which they were trailing after the 7th inning, the most in the WCL in 2011. Another tradition that became a fan favorite as the Sweets made their late-season push to the playoffs was the iconic call of broadcaster Tristan Hobbes calling with joy "The Sweets Win! How Sweet it is!", while another favorite was his "Simon Says...Game Over!" call as closer Simon Anderson (North Dakota State) would finish off the game with a save.

Media

Walla Walla Sweets games are broadcast live on KTEL 1490AM

KTEL (AM)

KTEL is a radio station broadcasting a sports format. Licensed to Walla Walla, Washington, USA, the station is currently owned by Capps Broadcast Group through its licensee WW2, L.L.C. and features programing from Citadel Media, ESPN Radio, and Premiere Radio Networks....

..

The Sweets have a loyal following on Facebook and Twitter, and regularly post video shorts on their YouTube channel.

External links

• Official Walla Walla Sweets Website
• West Coast League