Photos by Joe Kline / The Bulletin Central Oregon Bucks players watch as a teammate bats during a recent game at Vince Genna Stadium in Bend.

Everywhere he has played, Antonio Roque has needed to prove himself.

Never has a roster spot been guaranteed for Roque. But the infielder has created one for himself at each and every stop by showing coaches he belonged — including with the Bend Elks.

The same can be said for Dalton Blackwell, a rising sophomore at Treasure Valley Community College in Ontario. Like Roque, who recently completed his sophomore season at Western Nevada College, Blackwell, a utility player, came to Bend for the summer assured only of a spot with the Central Oregon Bucks, the Elks’ developmental squad.

For both players, other opportunities were available. Roque had spoken with several coaches from other West Coast League teams, while Blackwell was urged to play for the WCL’s Kelowna Falcons.

Yet both chose Bend with the intention of playing for the Bucks. And within the first few days (Roque during practices before the season opener, Blackwell during the Elks’ first road trip to Medford a few days later while the team was still waiting the arrival of a number of its primary pitchers), the two newcomers opened the eyes of Elks coaches. Both landed spots on the Elks’ roster.

Sure, the ultimate goal for both Roque and Blackwell was to dress down for the Elks, an established ballclub in a respected summer collegiate league. But both opted for Bend for the same simple reason: With the Bucks, an independent wood-bat team, the Elks organization offers what no other WCL team can — a guaranteed full summer season of baseball.

“The Bucks were originally intended to be for small-college guys from this area that are just a cut below the playing line to be on the Elks,” says Jim Richards, owner and general manager of the Elks, who founded the Elks in 2000 and created the Bucks a few seasons later. “It has indeed emerged into a viable option for kids (elsewhere).”

Each one of the other 11 teams in the West Coast League utilizes 10-day contracts, league president Dennis Koho confirms. Those contracts promise ballplayers only those 10 days of affiliation with a team (though if players perform well or prove to meet a team’s needs they can earn a spot on the roster). The Elks, however, avoid those deals.

“I’ve never been a big 10-day contract kind of guy just from the standpoint that you’re pretty much lying to the kid,” Richards explains. “‘Hey, we’ll give you 10 days. Let’s see how you do. And if you’re good enough, you’ll stay up.’ Nine times out of 10, they’re not.”

With the Bucks, Richards can offer a rather rare assurance of playing time, luring players like Roque and Blackwell, both from Idaho, to Central Oregon and providing them a full summer of baseball with the Bucks — and the opportunity to be called up to the Elks.

The guarantee of a full season is a huge selling point for ballplayers, says Blackwell, who initially had not planned to play baseball this summer.

“No matter what, I’m still getting reps,” says Blackwell, who has played six games as an infielder for the Elks and has pitched in another five. “I might not be playing the most, but I’m still getting reps. I’m still playing the game.” He says he and Treasure Valley head coach Aaron Sutton had talked about him finding a place where he could get “the reps that I’m probably going to need to become the player that I want to be.”

“It was a win-win situation,” adds Roque, an opening-day starter for the Elks and a .214 batter with four RBIs in 11 games, though he is sidelined with a broken knuckle and a torn ligament in his throwing hand. “I can play for the Bucks, still get playing time, and I get my foot in the door to maybe play for the Elks next year. And if I prove myself to make the Elks this summer, I prove myself.”

Seven current Elks who played high school baseball in Central Oregon have taken advantage of opportunities with the Bucks in recent years, including 2011 Mountain View graduate Jo Carroll. His three years with the developmental squad prepared him well for his stint this summer with the Elks. And knowing that with the Bucks he was one step away playing in the WCL was all the motivation he needed.

“The competition and the pitching that we faced (with the Bucks) was very similar,” says Carroll, a rising senior at Linfield. “Playing three years for the Bucks, I felt like the transition was really smooth to the Elks. We’d play lots of games against the exact same teams. When the time came to play for the Elks, I had already seen the same kind of competition.”

For ballplayers from outside the area, inquiries regarding roster space are made to Richards, who makes clear that no roster spot on the Elks is guaranteed. But if a player proves to coaches that he belongs on the Elks, and if space is available, he could be called up. It is not the norm, Richards emphasizes, but there are success stories — such as Antonio Roque and Dalton Blackwell.

“Prove it,” Richards challenges. Roque and Blackwell did just that.

“I set out to make the Elks,” Roque says. “But my main goals for the summer were get stronger, get better and get at-bats. That’s part of the win-win. No matter with what team I was playing, just make sure I focused up enough to reach those goals.”

—Reporter: 541-383-0307, glucas@bendbulletin.com.