NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA, CFL stats



Las Vegas Aviators

51s Host Fresno in "Home Opening" Series

April 15, 2015 - Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Las Vegas Aviators News Release


LAS VEGAS: The Las Vegas 51s professional baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL), Triple-A affiliate of the New York Mets, and the 2013 & 2014 Pacific Southern Division Champions, will open their 33RD season in the Silver State with the "Home Opener" on Friday, April 17 against the Fresno Grizzlies, Triple-A affiliate of the Houston Astros, at Cashman Field at 7:05 p.m. The first homestand of the season will consist of four games against the Grizzlies from April 17-20. The 51s will play 12 of 16 games on the road to begin the 2015 season.

Las Vegas is opening the '15 campaign with an eight-game Northern California road trip at Fresno and Sacramento from April 9-16. The 51s are 3-3 on the trip and will conclude against the River Cats, Triple-A affiliate of the 2014 World Series Champion San Francisco Giants, on Thursday evening.

The 51s, under third-year manager Wally Backman and the 2014 PCL Manager of the Year, enters its third season as the top affiliate of the Mets.

The 51s organization have the proud distinction of being the longest enduring franchise in the history of professional sports in the state of Nevada. The 51s are 15-18 (.455) all-time in season openers and 17-15 (.531) all-time in home openers at Cashman Field (1983-2014).

The home opener on Friday will feature a spectacular post-game "Fireworks" Show on Girl Scouts Night and HELP of Southern Nevada Night. Magnetic Schedules will also be given out to fans in attendance. The Girl Scouts of Southern Nevada will be on hand to cheer on the 51s. Girl Scouts will be included throughout the evening activities including the color guard, the cookie eating contest and cookie mascot race. The evening will conclude with a giveaway of 1,000 boxes of Girl Scout cookies.

About Girl Scouts of Southern Nevada

Girl Scouts of Southern Nevada is the preeminent leadership development organization for girls - all girls - where, in an accepting and nurturing environment, girls build character and life skills for success in the real world. Girl Scouts of Southern Nevada serves more than 10,000 girl and adult members throughout Southern Nevada. Membership is open to all girls 5-17 years-old. To join, volunteer, reconnect, or donate to Girl Scouts, call (702) 385-3677 or visit girlscoutsnv.org.

Follow Girl Scouts on Twitter: www.twitter.com/girlscoutsnv

Friend Girl Scouts on Facebook: www.facebook.com/girlscoutsnv

HELP of Southern Nevada Night

HELP of Southern Nevada responds to the changing needs of our growing community. They strategically expand the programs and refine the service delivery systems to better serve the poor, the homeless and those in crisis that come to HELP of Southern Nevada as a place of last resort.

Sands Cares, the corporate citizenship program of the Las Vegas Sands Corporation, is celebrating their team members and thanking them for their generosity and support. All proceeds from their ticket sales will go to benefit HELP of Southern Nevada.

"Sands Cares is proud to be a part of the home opener of the Las Vegas 51s and support HELP of Southern Nevada," Stephanie MacDonald, chair of Sands Cares, said. "100% of our ticket sales and a 100% matching donation are going to HELP of Southern Nevada."

Game two of the four-game series on Saturday, April 18 at 7:05 p.m. will feature Fleece Blanket Night, to the first 2,500 fans through the gates, presented by Nevada Donor Network Donate Life Night. Donate Life Nevada is proud to team up with the 51s to bring awareness to the critical shortages of lifesaving organs, celebrate the lives of those saved by transplant and honor the heroic donors who have given a second chance to so many people.

As a tribute to the thousands of heroic donors who save lives every year, the 51s players will wear special jerseys inspired by the Donate Life logo! The jerseys will be auctioned off after the conclusion of the game with the proceeds going to Nevada Donor Network.

Nevada Donor Network will present the 51s organization with the Donate Life Champion award. This national award is given to select figures from the athletic community who have helped save lives through a strong support of organ, eye and tissue donation. Other Donate Life Champions include Michael Jordan, former 51s catcher Landon Powell and PGA Tour player Erik Compton.

The award will be presented by Nevada Donor Network's COO Simon Keith, who is also a Donate Life Champion award winner. Keith played at UNLV and also professional soccer after receiving a heart transplant nearly 30 years ago and is now dedicated to helping save lives through donation in his role at Nevada Donor Network and as the founder of the Simon Keith Foundation.

The 51s organization were nominated and selected to receive this honor because of their dedication to saving lives through organ, eye and tissue donation. Through a strong partnership with Nevada Donor Network, the 51s have worked tirelessly each year to ensure every opportunity to promote donation is used before and during the game. Fans of the 51s are encouraged to register as organ, eye and tissue donors, becoming "Fans for Life" in honor of the 51s.

Important Facts - Organ Donors

1 organ donor can save up to 8 lives!

1 tissue donor can heal more than 50 people!

More than 123,000 people are waiting for life saving transplants, that's enough to fill all the seats at Cashman Field nearly 13 times!

A new name is added to the waiting list every 10 minutes.

In Nevada, 600 people are waiting for life saving transplants.

Organ donors save the lives of more than 25,000 people every year.

Fans interested in being an organ donor are encouraged to register at www.nvdonor.org

Game three of the series on Sunday, April 19 will feature "Little League Day" at 12:05 p.m. and selected 51s players will be available to sign pre-game autographs for the Little League teams in attendance. In addition, all children will have the opportunity to "Run the Bases" at the conclusion of the contest (with proper shoe attire).

Players for Las Vegas and Fresno will honor the late legendary coach Jerry Tarkanian and wear "Tark Theme" jerseys of the Rebels/Bulldogs. The "Las Vegas Tark" jerseys will be available for "On-Line Auction" on the 51s website on Sunday evening.

JERRY TARKANIAN (1930-2015) - "TARK THE

Jerry Tarkanian, a 2013 inductee into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass., coached 31 years on the Division I level at Long Beach State (1968-73), UNLV and Fresno State (1995-2002) and finished his career with a 784-202 record (.795). In his 19-year run with UNLV, from 1973 to 1992, he went 509-105 for an .829 winning percentage. He took the Runnin' Rebels to the Final Four "4" times, winning the NCAA title in 1990, the only one the program has ever won. He passed away on February 11, 2015 at the age of 84.

The finale of the four-game series and homestand against the Grizzlies on April 20 will feature "Smith's Value Menu Monday." Monday "home" games will feature a "Value Menu" for the seventh straight season! The 51s and Aramark have teamed together for discounted food items on Hot Dogs, Popcorn, Peanuts, Cracker Jacks and Pretzels for just $1.00 per item.

The 51s, in conjunction with radio partner Lotus Broadcasting, are proud to announce that KOMP 92.3 FM will sponsor all Budweiser Dollar Beer Nights and KXPT 97.1 FM will sponsor selected firework shows as well as various promotion nights during the 2015 campaign.

The 51s will broadcast all games on Lotus Broadcasting on Sports 920 (AM) The Game, which will carry live all 144 regular season games. Also, all games will be available on the 51s website (Major League Baseball Advanced Media, MLBAM) at www.LV51.com. Russ Langer, the nine-time Nevada Sportscaster of the Year by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association (NSSA), is in his 16th season behind the microphone calling 51s baseball.

All 51s games (home & away) will also be broadcast on MiLB.TV via LV51.com.

Following the homestand, Las Vegas will embark on its second road trip of the season to Northern Nevada. The 51s will travel to Aces Ballpark to face intrastate rival, the Reno Aces, Triple-A affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks, in a four-game series from Tuesday-Friday, April 21-24.

In 2009, Las Vegas and Reno developed the Silver State Diamond Challenge and the "Silver Plate Trophy" to add to the excitement to the rivalry for the two PCL teams that represent the state of Nevada.

CHAMPION OF THE SILVER STATE DIAMOND CHALLENGE:

2009: Las Vegas 51s (series tied 8-8 and won the "Draw of the Cards" between the two Mayors)

2010: Reno Aces (Reno won series 11-games-to-5)

2011: Reno Aces (series tied 8-8, Aces retain trophy)

2012: Reno Aces (series tied 8-8, Aces retain trophy)

2013: Las Vegas 51s (Las Vegas won series 13-games-to-3)

2014: Las Vegas 51s (series tied 8-8, Las Vegas retain trophy)

Tickets for all 51s home games can be purchased at the America First Credit Union Box Office at Cashman Field. The box office is open Monday-Friday (non-game days) from Noon to 4:30 p.m. Tickets can also be purchased through Ticketmaster (1-800-745-3000, www.ticketmaster.com). Ticketmaster outlets are located at selected Smith's Food & Drug.

The individual game tickets for the 72-game home season are priced at $11.00 (reserved, $12.00-Day of Game); $14.00 (plaza, $15.00-Day of Game) and $15.00 (field, $16.00-Day of Game) & the blue dugout seats at $25.00. The traditional $2.00 discount for Military personnel is offered on plaza and reserved seats throughout the season except for the "Fireworks Extravaganza" on Saturday, July 4 (all seats are priced at $15.00 for this special event).

Season tickets and mini-plan packages (11, 22, 36-game plans) are available by calling the 51s office at (702) 798-7825.

Check out the Las Vegas Aviators Statistics

• Discuss this story on the Pacific Coast League message board...

Pacific Coast League Stories from April 15, 2015


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central