The Great West League (GWL) was a collegiate summer baseball league founded in 2014, comprising teams from

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

and

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...

. The league was designed to develop college talent, and only current college eligible players are allowed to participate. League teams were operated just like professional minor league teams. The GWL season ran from early June to mid-August. The league ceased operations on October 4, 2018.

History

The Great West League was founded in 2014, announcing that teams would be located in California and Oregon, with play beginning with the 2016 season. Former

West Coast League The West Coast League (WCL) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league founded in 2005, comprising teams from Washington, Oregon, British Columbia and Alberta. The WCL was previously named the West Coast Collegiate Baseball League (WCCB ...

president Ken Wilson was named the first president of the league. The Lodi Crushers and Chico Heat became the first two member teams. One year later, in 2015, the

Portland Pickles The Portland Pickles are a collegiate woodbat baseball team based in Portland, Oregon. They play in the South Division of the West Coast League, a premier collegiate summer baseball league based in the Pacific Northwest and British Columbia. The ...

became the third member team. The

Marysville Gold Sox The Yuba-Sutter Gold Sox were a summer collegiate wood-bat baseball club based in Marysville, California, in the United States, that began as an independent professional team in 1995. They played their home games at Bryant Field, adjacent to El ...

announced they were joining the Great West League in August of that same year. In September, the

Sacramento Stealth The Sacramento Stealth were a collegiate woodbat baseball team based in Sacramento, California. They are charter members of the Great West League. They were owned by former Minor League Baseball and Japanese Baseball standout Leon Lee and were ...

and the Medford Rogues joined the league, moving from the West Coast League. The league began play in 2016 with six teams, five of which played a 57-game schedule. The Sacramento Stealth was a travel team, playing a 45-game schedule. The Medford Rogues won the regular season, while the Chico Heat took the Championship Series from the Rogues to become the first GWL Champion. The Chico Heat led the league in attendance, drawing over 50,000 fans and averaging 1,656 per game, while the Portland Pickles drew just less than 50,000, averaging 1,561 per game, second best in the league. A total of 191,629 fans attended GWL games in 2016, an average of 1,176 per game. Following the 2016 season it was announced that the

Lincoln Potters The Lincoln Potters are an independent collegiate wood bat baseball team based in Lincoln, California. They are operating as part of the summer collegiate wood bat league known as the California Collegiate League. It began operations in 2016 a ...

would join the league for the 2017 season, along with the

Yuba City Bears The Yuba City Bears were a summer collegiate baseball team based in Marysville, California, in the United States and representing Yuba City, California. They were a member of the Great West League, having been established in 2017, and had played t ...

. At the same time, it was announced that the Lodi Crushers and Sacramento Stealth would not participate in 2017. That kept the league at six teams, with the league moving to a 60-game balanced schedule for the 2017 season. The Medford Rogues won the 2017 regular season for the second straight season, but this season also won the Championship Series, downing the Chico Heat. The Portland Pickles drew over 50,000 fans to lead the league in attendance, while the league bested 200,000 in attendance for the first time, including post-season action. The Klamath Falls Gems joined the league for the 2018 season. The Gems were originally in the WCL and most recently played in the

Golden State Collegiate Baseball League The Golden State Collegiate Baseball League (GSCBL) is a collegiate wood-bat baseball league based out of San Jose, California. It is a 5-team league that was created in 2012 following the folding of the Pacific West Baseball League, and featu ...

. Shortly after the Gems move to the GWL, the Pickles left for the WCL. On November 6, the league announced that the

were ceasing operations and that the Marysville Gold Sox announced that they were reverting their team name back to the Yuba-Sutter Gold Sox, essentially a merger of the Gold Sox and Bears. On November 7, the GWL announced the addition of the San Francisco Seals. On October 4, 2018, the Great West League suspended operations.

Team list

Champions

References

External links

Great West League official website
(on Wayback Machine)

Team websites

Chico Heat

Klamath Falls Gems

Lincoln Potters

Medford Rogues

San Francisco Seals

Yuba-Sutter Gold Sox
{{College Summer Baseball Summer baseball leagues Baseball in California Baseball in Oregon College baseball leagues in the United States 2014 establishments in the United States Sports leagues established in 2014 Baseball leagues in California Baseball leagues in Oregon