Ellises add another team to baseball mix

By DAVE RASBACH
Valley Press Staff Writer

Short Season, LLC, which is led by Ellis, his father, Mike, and mother, Judy and Michael and Laura McMurray, purchased the Yakima Bears of the Class A Northwest League. The sale of the Dodgers affiliate was officially announced Friday.

"It's nice for us to have three teams," Ellis said Tuesday. "It's a great market in terms of the fans and everything else. We're very happy."

Part of the reason for the excitement is the state of the franchise. The Bears play in a stadium built in 1993 and average just over 2,000 fans a game.

"This is not a fixer-up job," Ellis said. "That's kind of exciting."

Ellis said his role with the JetHawks will not change with the new addition.

"I'm going to be a part of the Yakima franchise," Ellis said. "But I'm not going to micro-manage it as I do in Lancaster. Lancaster is still my No. 1 priority."

The Ellises and McMurrays also lead an ownership group that along with the JetHawks, owns the Missoula Osprey of the rookielevel Pioneer League.