Baseball, beer and bleachers are back in Bend.

The Elks started their 2024 summer season on home turf Friday night against the Walla Walla Sweets.

But getting to that first pitch felt like its own extra-innings game. There’s always so much to be done ahead of opening night at Vince Genna Stadium, from getting players settled in with host families to handing out uniforms to mowing the field day after day.

“The last couple days leading up to opening day is just a lot of mowing and trying to keep it in the right shape,” said Elks Owner Kelsie Hirko on Friday afternoon.

She only had three hours, maybe less, before fans would start arriving.

“We’ll have players help do some field prep,” Hirko said. “We’re in full mode to get everything prepped on time for our 5:30 gates open tonight and we’re really excited.”

Alongside getting concessions running and de-winterizing the stadium, the coaches had to get players ready. But on Friday afternoon, head coach Danny Sales said he still had three players on their way for the opening game — and four expected on Saturday.

“The most important thing for us is meeting everybody and getting them acclimated to the climate and acclimated to the field,” said Sales. “Then we just go out and try and win a ballgame.”

The Elks are part of the West Coast League, a collegiate baseball league that prides itself on developing professional-level athletes. Each team creates partnerships with universities and can select up to four players from a school. Many return summer after summer, like Reid Madariaga from Cumberland University in Tennessee, who is playing his third season with the Elks.

“I like coming to Oregon,” Madariaga said. “Obviously. It’s my third year here. I like the area. I’ve known Danny for three years. It also gives you the chance to make new friends, have new opportunities and just keep exploring.”

Madariaga arrived in Bend on Thursday and has been helping teammates get on their feet. This year there are around five students who are fresh out of high school, Sales said, and it’s good to have a veteran player like Madariaga to mentor them.

Sales said there isn’t much trepidation among the players about their first game of the season. The main feeling he said, is that the players are antsy and ready to go. Some of them, like Madariaga didn’t play much during the year and some are getting off an injury that’s kept them out during the college season.

“It’s like a big bear come out of a cage. They’re ready to go,” Sales said.

Hirko was expecting a big crowd for Friday night’s game.

The weather was nice; there had been great response to the team’s social media posts, and a lot of people had called the store Friday to purchase tickets.

In fact, she thinks the first six games, all at Vince Genna Stadium, will be popular activities in the coming days.

“Our goal here is to provide family friendly and affordable sports entertainment. There’s not a ton of this sort of atmosphere in Central Oregon, and we’re really happy and proud to provide it,” Hirko said.

General Admission seats cost $12, priority seats cost $17 and field level box seats cost $22.

Sales takes over as Elks head coach

There will be a new skipper in the dugout leading the Bend Elks this summer, but it is not an unfamiliar face.

Danny Sales, who has spent the previous two seasons as the Elks’ pitching coach, will be the head coach for the next 2½ months of the wood-bat college summer league team.

Sales takes over the managing duties from Joey Wong, who had a two-year stint at the Elks.

In addition to coaching with the Elks, Sales is the

director of operations for the baseball team at Seattle University and previously has been the head coach at Mt. Hood Community College and South Eugene High School.