On Monday, December 5, the West Coast Collegiate Baseball League unanimously accepted the Moses Lake Pirates as its eighth member team.

With the Pirates, Husband and wife Brent and Amy Kirwan led a successful community effort to bring pro-like baseball to Moses Lake, Washington.

The Kirwans, the clubs owner operators, recently hired Wenatchee Valley College assistant coach Gabe Boruff to manage the team. Boruff, who played professionally in the Kansas City Royals organization, is actively recruiting the WCCBLs first expansion team and will be the Pirates inaugural head coach.

The teams nickname was the brainchild of the Kirwans 13-year old son Braxton.

The Pirates will serve an area population of over 45,000 and play at 1,200-seat Larson Field.

Moses Lake enjoys a rich baseball tradition, strong youth programs and an impressive list of natives excelling in the professional ranks such as current major leaguer Ryan Doumit of the Pittsburgh Pirates and Mariners’ prospects and MLB first-round picks Jeff Heaverlo, the son of former big leaguer Dave Heaverlo, and BJ Garbe.

“My family feels very blessed to be finally fulfilling this dream. Weve been working for years to bring the highest caliber of baseball to Moses Lake and it was great to get the call that we were approved,” said Pirates owner Brent Kirwan.

Our city leaders and staff have been fantastic to work with. Everyone has been completely positive and recognizes bringing the Pirates to Moses Lake will have a positive impact on both the local economy and our communitys quality of life.”

“Moses Lake is a great baseball town and the Kirwans are reputable, respected and successful professionals. They are good people and proven community leaders. We cant be more pleased to add the Pirates and enter a partnership with the city and the Kirwans,” said WCCBL Vice President Dan Segel.

Neighbor and 2005 WCCBL champion Wenatchee visits Larson Field Saturday, June 17 to face the Pirates in Moses Lakes league home opener. The Pirates join Wenatchee and Spokane as the leagues third club based in Eastern Washington. Look for Moses Lake to develop compelling rivalries with both the AppleSox and Spokane RiverHawks and to be competitive in its inaugural season.

“We believe that community support will be the key to a successful first year. From the sponsors who make it all possible, to the fans in the stands. Every single person in the community will help us make sure WCCBL baseball stays in Moses Lake,” said Brent Kirwan.

This off-season well be focused on making each Pirate game an event by developing appealing sponsored game promotions and creative between inning promotions. Our goal is to offer our community affordable family fun at the ballpark during the summer.”

The WCCBL is dedicated to player development, player exposure and to providing affordable summer entertainment to its member communities.