NEWS RELEASE

The Skagit Valley Eagles of the Pacific International League have announced an exhibition game to be played with the Colorado Rockies Class A Affiliate, the Tri-Cities Dust Devils.  The game has been set for Friday, June 16^th with first pitch scheduled for 7:05 pm.  The game will be played at Dust Devil Stadium in Pasco, Washington.   Manager Dan Keller said of this ambitious undertaking, “This is a great opportunity for the Skagit Eagles; this is the next step of baseball for the majority of our players.  They’ll see first hand the kind of skills they must develop and how baseball is played in order to progress to the next step in their baseball careers.  This is a statement about the kind of program we have planned for the Skagit Eagles players and our commitment to player opportunities and development.” 

The match-up between the Skagit Eagles and the Tri Cities  Dust Devils is made possible thanks to former PIL pitcher Zack Simmons (who was drafted by the Colorado Rockies in the 2^nd round of the 2006 Major League Baseball Draft), and his pitching coach with the Colorado Rockies, Cam Walker.  “Cam is a first class guy and a great baseball coach.  As one of the top junior college baseball coaches in the country (Indian Hills Community College, Head Coach), he understands the importance of an opportunity like this.  More so, I can remember Simmons as a freshman throwing a no-hitter through 5 innings against the Aqua Sox and seeing what an impact that had on his development and confidence as a pitcher.  The Eagles can’t thank these two guys enough for this tremendous opportunity!”

The Skagit Eagles game versus the Tri Cities Dust Devils can be heard on K JOX 960am radio.  Tickets and directions to the game are available at www.dustdevilsbaseball.com

The Eagles game will be the first of two amateur vs professional exhibition games schedule by PIL teams this season. The Everett Merchants will take on the Everett Aqua Sox, Seattle Mariners Class A Affiliate at Everett Memorial Stadium on Fathers Day, June 18^th in what has become an annual event for those two clubs.

Pacific International League non-league play will also include stops in Arizona, Nevada, and California for the 2006 season.  The League’s regular season schedule includes Oregon, Washington, British Columbia and two qualifiers for the National Baseball Congress World Series Tournament in Wichita, Kansas.