The Salem-Keizer Volcanoes baseball team was looking for a new beginning when baseball starts later this spring. While they’ll no longer be affiliated with the San Francisco Giants or the Northwest Minor League, they’ll be coming back in a brand new league.
The team just announced they are joining a newly formed league called the Maverick’s Independent League. There’s will be four teams, the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes, the Campesinos de Salem-Keizer, Portland Mavericks and the Salem Senators. All four teams will be playing at Volcano Stadium.
CEO Mickey Walker said he’s looking forward to celebrating Salem’s past.
“Paying homage to the local Salem Senators that played in the 40s that eventually turned into the Salem Angels we're excited to bring that team back as well and pay homage to the local communities here," said Walker.
The Mavericks are also a legendary baseball team. It was even featured in a Netflix documentary called “The Battered Bastards of Baseball.” Some of the video featured in that documentary is old KGW-TV footage from the 1970s when they played just up the street from the studio at what’s now Providence Park.
“We're following the Portland Mavericks of hosting open tryouts for anyone who wants to come to join, but obviously we're expecting high-quality baseball players, players who were expecting to get drafted but didn't players who were recently released from organizations,” said Walker.
Walker said the teams are still getting pieced together and he hopes to announce the coaching staff of the four teams next week sometime. As for the players, the league is going to be holding open tryouts in April, followed by a draft. The first game of the season is scheduled for Thursday, May 13.