The West Coast League’s 21st season delivered its most-attended year yet, an inaugural trip to the postseason for one of its newer members, and a see-saw championship game that went down to the wire.

Overall attendance rose by nearly 26,000 fans from 2025 to 2026, a notable jump considering the Cowlitz Black Bears sat out the season due to stadium considerations. Per-game attendance climbed even more, up nearly 10 percent to more than 1,600. The Edmonton Riverhawks led the way, setting a WCL record for the fourth consecutive season; this year drawing 142,134 for their 25 home games.

In July, Victoria hosted the WCL All-Star Game, streamed live on MLB.com. The South claimed a 5-4 win over the North, with outfielder Ethan Porter (Corvallis Knights/Oregon State) named the game’s Most Valuable Player (earlier this week, Porter was also named as co-winner of the WCL’s Top Prospect award).

Nanaimo’s first postseason appearance in team history, Walla Walla’s first since 2019, and Corvallis’s 19th straight appearance headlined a deep playoff field, with the Knights advancing to the championship game. There, they ran into a Wenatchee AppleSox team that led the WCL with 39 wins in the regular season, and the game turned on Wenatchee’s three-run rally in the bottom of the eighth inning, with an 8-7 win delivering the AppleSox the title, their sixth overall and first since 2012.

The 2026 MLB Draft saw 48 WCL alumni selected, continuing the League’s run as one of the sport’s most productive development pipelines. Right-handed pitcher Jackson Flora, a WCL All-Star in 2024 with Corvallis, was selected fourth overall by the San Francisco Giants. It was the third straight year a WCL alumnus was selected in the top five. The only other summer collegiate circuit that can claim that achievement is the Cape Cod League.

Individually, outfielder Ethan Reynolds (Nanaimo NightOwls/Western Kentucky) was named League MVP after a season that included WCL records for doubles and extra-base hits, while right-hander Jeremiah Arnett (Victoria HarbourCats/Rice) earned Pitcher of the Year honors after leading the League in strikeouts.

“Every year I wonder if we’ve seen the ceiling, and every year this league goes higher still,” said WCL Commissioner Rob Neyer. “A record for attendance despite a team on the sidelines, plenty of new postseason energy, a championship decided in the bottom of the eighth … that’s about as complete a summer as we could ask for. I can’t wait to see what 2027 brings.”

The WCL now turns its attention to the offseason, with player evaluations, roster construction, and next year’s schedule already in the minds of all 16 member teams.

About the West Coast League
The West Coast League is North America’s premier summer collegiate baseball league, now in its 21st season. Sixteen teams span the region from Oregon to Alberta, giving top amateur athletes a grand stage for competition, development, and connection with the communities they represent, in the finest summer baseball weather on the continent. In each of the last three seasons, a WCL alumnus has been selected in the top five of the MLB Draft, and 10 players have come off the board in the first 10 picks over the last decade.