DAVENPORT, Iowa — It's almost time to play ball at Modern Woodmen Park once again.
The Quad Cities River Bandits are ready for their 2023 season opener against the South Bend Cubs on Friday, April 7 with the first pitch scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
The QC boys of summer are going into the new season with a strong roster of veterans and top talent — boasting 18 returning players and the Royals organization's top 3 draft picks from last year.
According to the Bandits' new General Manager Paul Kleinhans Schulz, he and other top staff are looking to stay creative and welcoming as guests return to Modern Woodmen Park.
"(Dave Heller) is the number one, he'll call me right away the second he says 'I heard a great idea from somebody, why don't we try doing this?'" he said. "And then you kind of have to work your way through it. Some of 'em are great, but there's a lot of things that we try to implement and there are a lot of things that like, we look at ourselves — we are the best summer destination in the Quad Cities, even rolling into spring here, so we're excited to get everything going."
The Bandits have also welcomed a local connection into their coaching roster. 2023's new hitting coach is Ryan Powers, who graduated from Calamus-Wheatland in 2010 and then played college ball at Wartburg. In 2021, took up a job with the River Bandits as a video intern before going to assistant coach hitting in Omaha.
Now back with his hometown team, Powers said that he's continuing to live his baseball dream.
"I knew when I was done playing that I wanted to stay in the game and I've always given hitting lessons growing up and I've always wanted to be a hitting coach and so I'm pretty blessed to be in this position to be able to do that here at home."
Tickets can be bought on the River Bandits' website or at Modern Woodmen Park's box office.
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