RiverHawks like new perch at Gonzaga’s baseball complex

In past years, walk-up spectator traffic at Spokane RiverHawks baseball games has been minimal, at best.

But that could change this summer when the West Coast Collegiate Baseball League team opens play in its new digs.

The RiverHawks, after using Spokane Falls Community College and Avista Stadium as their home parks during their first four years of existence, have moved into Gonzaga University’s Patterson Baseball Complex and will play their home games on Washington Trust Field.

The $9 million, 1,500-seat stadium, which opened just this spring, is much more centrally located than the RiverHawks’ previous home fields and first-year coach Barry Mathews expects that to translate into increased attendance.

“That’s part of the reason we definitely wanted to play here,” explained the former GU All-America pitcher and outfielder, who served last summer as a RiverHawks assistant under Steve Hertz, his old college coach and father-in-law. “It’s great being able to call a premier stadium like this, which is probably one of the nicest in the entire Pacific Northwest, your home.

“And with it being at Gonzaga, everybody knows where it’s at. It’s centrally located, close to downtown, and there’s a good chance people down there might see the lights and say, ‘Hey, let’s go check it out,’ and stop in and watch a baseball game.”

The RiverHawks, according to Matthews, drew sparingly at Avista Stadium early last season, but increased attendance considerably during their stretch run to the WCCBL regular-season title.

“And now we’re playing in the greatest ballpark I’ve seen in a long time – one with all the bells and whistles,” added Matthews, who serves as the pitching coach at Community Colleges of Spokane during the school year. “For me, personally, it’s exciting to play here and then come back and coach in this stadium. To be able to still feel that Gonzaga community is huge.”

Hertz, who took over as general manager after coaching the RiverHawks to their league championship last summer, admitted that attendance at last year’s games was limited primarily to fans who wanted to get there.

“But now, by playing here, we have a chance to get more walk-up traffic,” said the former GU coach, who, as the school’s director of athletic relations, spearheaded the fundraising efforts to build the Patterson complex. “I’d be shocked if we don’t draw well this summer – just like Gonzaga did this spring as the weather got better.”

Along with a new stadium, new GM and new coach, the RiverHawks also have a new owner in Irv Zakheim, the president, CEO and founder of Zak Designs, who purchased the team from Bill Hogeboom earlier this year.

Zakheim, a lifelong baseball fan who played at the high school and collegiate levels before spending a couple of seasons in the Chicago White Sox organization, has set his franchise up as a non-profit organization that will direct all revenue collected above and beyond operating expenses into youth baseball programs within the Spokane community.

“We’re going to consider this Spokane’s team rather than my team,” Zakheim said. “We want to give clinics, we want to go out into the community and we want to give back.

“The main thing we’re going to do is put a good team on the field and have some fun. But we also want to help improve youth baseball, in general, in our area.”

The RiverHawks, with a roster made up primarily of college-eligible players from the Pacific Northwest, will open their 2007 season at home against the Kelowna Falcons on June 14 at 7 p.m.