The Bend Elks were under new ownership in 2015, and it turned out to be a banner season. They won 35 games, finished with the best record in their division and claimed their first-and-only West Coast League baseball championship.

“Everyone warned us how it usually doesn’t go like this,” said Kelsie Hirko, co-owner of the Elks.

The warnings proved true. The Elks — although they went into the final game of the regular season in both 2021 and 2022 with a shot at a playoff spot — did not reach the playoffs in the seven seasons since claiming the title nearly a decade ago.

Now, the drought is over.

“We have been in the playoff hunt before,” Hirko said. “At the end of this season, it wasn’t being hopeful for a playoff spot, it was, ‘Who are we going to play?’”

The Elks will host the Portland Pickles Saturday in Game 1 of the best-of-three WCL South Division Series. First pitch at Vince Genna Stadium is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. The next two games (a Monday game is if necessary) will be held in Portland.

“It has been a few years for us to be in the playoffs, we are excited to have the opportunity to do that again,” Hirko said. “The staff is excited, the players are excited, the coaches are excited, the front office is excited.”

On Friday, the day after the regular season ended and the day before the postseason started, Hirko was checking ticket sales for Saturday’s game nearly every hour.

Each time she checked, the sales had increased, a positive sign for the organization.

“We have another game of ticket sales, another game of selling concessions, and gear,” Hirko said. “Playoffs are exciting. We are hoping for a good turnout.”

The Elks finished the regular season with a record of 32-22, marking the first time they have exceeded 30 wins since their championship season in 2015.

“The chemistry has been there since the beginning. They are professional-type players,” said Elks coach Allen Cox. “It is a really good group of kids, and we knew that from the beginning. You don’t always get that. That has carried over to the field and some good things have happened.”

The Pickles had the South Division’s best record in the second half of the season and won five of six games against the Elks, who will rely heavily on two pitchers to get through the series: right-hander Jackson Elder (Utah) and left-hander Lucas Hines (Salt Lake Community College).

Elder has a 3-1 record with a 3.71 ERA and has struck out 34 batters in eight starts. Hines has a 3.91 ERA with 30 strikeouts in eight starts.

Despite the Pickles (40-14) taking both three-game series in the regular season, including a sweep, Cox feels his squad is ready to turn the tide. The Elks must win at least one game in front of a rambunctious Portland crowd.

“We have the core that started with us, so the chemistry is still there,” Cox said. “We have some good arms left for a three-game series. We have guys who give us a chance to win on the bump. I feel like we are ready to go. I feel like we can win this series, and see where we go from there.”

The Divisional Series is the only three-game series in the WCL playoffs. The Divisional Championship and the WCL Championship are both single, winner-take-all games.

The winner of the Bend-Portland series will take on the winner of the Corvallis-Ridgefield series in the Divisional Championship game. The South Division champion will face whichever team advances out of the North Division in the WCL Championship game.

Said Cox: “We are going to play baseball, play hard and see what happens.”