The Corvallis Knights will open their 30-date West Coast League home schedule with a June 15-17 series against Bend, the team they eliminated the past two years in the West Division playoffs.

The Knights will play 24 WCL home games, five games against opponents from the affiliate WCL Portland league and the annual exhibition against the Corvallis Richey's Market American Legion program.

They open the season at Kitsap on June 4-6, and have 11 off days. They played 57 games in 62 days in 2008.

"I love our schedule," team president Dan Segel said. "We have nice breaks, most of our home games are in late June and in July and we close at home in August.

"We were also fortunate to get another July 3 home date," for the popular Fireworks Night, which last season drew a WCL-record crowd of 3,506.

The Knights will not repeat last season's June 18-July 3 grind, when they played 16 consecutive home games. The four smallest crowds of the summer came in the middle of that stretch.

"We really appreciate that," Segel said.

The 2008 Knights ranked third in the WCL in total (31,536) and league (27,198) attendance. They averaged 956 fans over 33 home dates, an increase of 49 percent from 2008, when they averaged 640 per game.

The WCL has returned to a balanced schedule and the Knights will play the eight league opponents three times at home and three times on the road. The WCL has expanded to Kelso-Longview and Walla Walla, Wash. Spokane will go dark for a year while the it finalizes a relocation to Coeur d' Alene, Idaho, for 2011 or 2012.

"The addition of the two new clubs will add more variety, and the balanced schedule format is really big," Knights general manager/manager Brook Knight said.

A highlight will be the June 29-30, July 1 series against Wenatchee, which swept the Knights in the 2009 WCL Championship Series. The AppleSox did not play in Corvallis in 2008 under the old scheduling plan.

"We look forward to playing each team an equal number of times," Knight said. "This also provides a more competitive atmosphere. From an entertainment perspective, allows our fans to see every club in our league."

The Knights open with eight road games to avoid conflicts with potential NCAA Regional or Super Regional games at Goss Stadium, and with OSU's June 10-12 graduation weekend. They were shorthanded starting the 2009 season because many players were still in school, but that won't be a problem in 2010.

"We have a few guys on the semester system, which will allow them to play immediately, barring post-season commitments," Knight said. "This should help us. We are as prepared as we have ever been."

The Knights have also signed numerous players in the past 10 days. Two are Corvallis natives and another is from Albany, additions that give the Knights - who generally have four Oregon State players on their roster - even more of a local presence.

The local signees are Feather River (Calif. ) JC sophomore first baseman/third baseman Thomas McCarthy, a Crescent Valley graduate; Feather River freshman pitcher Aaron Corwin, a Corvallis High graduate; and right-handed pitcher Jeremy Burright of Mt. Hood Community College, a West Albany graduate who agreed to a 10-day deal.

McCarthy and Corwin played for Richey's Market, while Burright played for the Mid-Valley Rockets.

McCarthy hit .461 for Western Oregon in 2009, with three homers and 27 RBIs. Corwin helped CHS reach the 5A state championship game as a pitcher in 2009 and was named the state's 5A Pitcher of the Year.

The Knights also signed Washington State freshman shortstop JK Dykes; San Jose State junior pitcher David Luna; UC Davis sophomore pitcher/outfielder/third baseman Scott Lyman; Cal Poly freshman outfielder Mitch Haniger; sophomore pitcher Andy Beresford of UNLV; freshman infielder Justin Viele and freshman right-handed pitcher Chris Mendoza of Santa Clara; freshman shortstop Matt Duffy of Long Beach State; and sophomore catcher Corey Davis and frosh southpaw Michael Blake of Mt. Hood CC.