PORTLAND, Ore. --- The 2018 baseball season is officially here as the Portland Pilots held their first practice of the year on Friday afternoon at Joe Etzel Field. The Pilots will get in three weeks of practice before their first game of the season, which is slated for Feb. 16 at UCLA.
The Pilots return 20 letterwinners from last year, seven position starters and three starting pitchers. Headlining the returners is junior infielder Matt Kelly, who led the team with a .292 batting average last season. Joining Kelly is outfielder Beau Brundage, a sophomore coming off a year that saw him bat .