Waterloo, IA – The Waterloo Bucks have announced their schedule for the 2017 season. The 23rd year of Bucks baseball will consist of a 72-game schedule featuring 36 home games. Download the 2017 Waterloo Bucks Schedule here
Waterloo will open the season at home on Tuesday, May 30 versus the St. Cloud Rox at 6:35 pm. The Bucks will start the season with a four-game homestand. Waterloo will close out the regular season at home versus the Duluth Huskies on Sunday, August 13 at 2:05 pm.
This season features a split-double header at Riverfront Stadium. On June 13, the Bucks will face the expansion Bismarck Larks for an 11:05 am start. At the completion of game one, the stadium will be cleared and reopened for game two which will begin at 6:35 pm. Both contests will be nine inning games. Waterloo and the Larks will also play each other in a split-double header in Bismarck, North Dakota on July 26.
The Bucks begin their longest homestand of the season, a five-game homestand, on June 18, facing the Rochester Honkers for one game, the Thunder Bay Border Cats for two, and the La Crosse Loggers for two. As for the longest road trip, Waterloo will have a six-game swing starting over five days starting on June 24. During that trip, the Bucks will travel to Bismarck to face the Larks for four games over three days, then to Eau Claire, Wisconsin for a pair of games versus the Express.
The final day of the first-half of Northwoods League action will be July 4 when Waterloo hosts La Crosse. The Bucks start the second half in Willmar, Minnesota, facing the Stingers on Wednesday, July 5.
This season’s NWL Playoffs will begin on Monday, August 14 with the Divisional Playoffs. For the third consecutive year the playoff format will consist of back-to-back single-elimination games in each Division. Both the First and Second Half Divisional Champions will have home field advantage on the first day of the one-game elimination Divisional Playoffs. Opponents will be determined by the two Divisional teams remaining with the best overall records. The First or Second Half Divisional winner with the best overall record will host the remaining team with the second best overall record on day one. The First or Second Half Divisional winner with the second best overall record will host the remaining team with the best overall record on day one. Home field advantage on day two will go to the team with the best overall record. Day two winners will play in the Summer Collegiate World Series starting August 16 in a best-of-three format.
Breaking the home schedule down by days of the week, Riverfront Stadium will be the site of five Sunday games, four Monday games, seven Tuesday games, five Wednesday games, five Thursday games, five Friday games, and five Saturday games. The Bucks will be home for their traditional Father’s Day game (Sunday, June 18 versus the Rochester Honkers) and Independence Day (Tuesday, July 4 versus the Loggers).
The Bucks will play two games at home in the month of May, 16 games at home in the month of June, 11 games at home during the month of July, and seven games at home during the month of August. Waterloo will be the home team for 21 games in the first half of the season and 15 games in the second half.
Home game times for the 2017 season are as follows:
Monday – Saturday games: 6:35 pm CT
Sunday games: 2:05 pm CT
Tuesday, June 13: 11:05 am CT – Game One of Split-Double Header
Wednesday, June 28: 11:05 am CT
The Bucks play at Riverfront Stadium where the team welcomed a new state of the art video board in 2016 thanks to a matching grant from the Black Hawk County Gaming Association. Team ownership has invested more than $170,000 in improvements since the end of the 2014 season including painted bleachers, public Wi-Fi, sound system, group outing areas, and concessions equipment. Bucks 2017 Season Tickets are now on sale. Fans are encouraged to call the Bucks’ Ticket Line at (319) 232-5633 to order. Fans can stay in touch with the Bucks during the off-season by utilizing their website at www.waterloobucks.com or using the Waterloo Bucks app.
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The Waterloo Bucks are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. The 23-year-old summer collegiate league is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 20 teams, drawing significantly more fans, in a friendly ballpark experience, than any league of its kind. A valuable training ground for coaches, umpires and front office staff, more than 160 former Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including two-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champion Ben Zobrist (CHC) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (CWS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET), Curtis Granderson (NYM) and Lucas Duda (NYM). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League portal. For more information, visit www.waterloobucks.com or download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play and set the Bucks as your favorite team.