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Corvallis Knights

Corvallis Knights Take Title

August 23, 2011 - West Coast League (WCL)
Corvallis Knights News Release


As you undoubtedly already know, the Knights won their second West Coast League title this past Thursday with a resounding 11-4 victory over the Walla Walla Sweets at Goss Stadium to complete a sweep of the best-of-3 WCL Championship Series.

That memorable night concluded an incredible hot streak for the Knights, who won their final four playoff games after being pushed to the brink of elimination with a loss at Bend in game one of the WCL West Divisional Series.

We won 27 of our final 33 games to finish 45-18 overall. We won our final nine WCL regular-season series and both of our playoff series, and we did not lose back-to-back games in that span.

The Knights really showed their moxie after losing at Bend in its playoff opener. We rallied to eliminate the Elks with 7-5 and 3-0 wins at Goss Stadium, and then steamrolled the Sweets 14-3 at Walla Walla and 11-4 at home to capture our first WCL championship since 2008 and our second overall.

Outfielder Kramer Scott of Portland was our

own Mr. August. He hit .625 (10-16) in the five playoff games, with his first homer of the summer, two doubles and seven RBIs. He had at least one hit and one RBI in every postseason game.

Corey Davis of Wright State and Ryan Gorton of OSU each thrived while sharing the catcher/DH role. Davis hit .474 (9-19) and Gorton hit .444 (8-18); Gorton had two homers and nine RBIs and if there was such a thing as a WCL Playoff MVP, either he or Scott certainly would have won it.

We hit .349 as a team in the playoffs after hitting .253 during the regular season. Corvallis hit eight homers in 54 league games, but had four in the two games against the Sweets in the Championship Series.

By the way, congrats to the Sweets for reaching the finals in only their second season in the league and for creating lots of playoff excitement in Walla Walla. We tip our cap to an amazing management team led by GM Zachary Fraser and owners John Stanton, Greg Shaw and former big leaguer Jeff Cirillo.

All in all, it was a magical summer in Corvallis, with a great team; a championship; record attendance; the WCL All-Star Game; the San Diego Chicken; and many more great memories at Goss Stadium.

And to cap it all off, a jubilant dogpile and a championship celebration that will be a lifetime memory for our players, coaches and fans.

So, even though another season is now in the books and the 2012 schedule is still a ways off, the work doesn't stop. We've still got players to sign, interns to hire, tickets to sell, merchandise to move and many other things to prepare for 2012.

The Knights won't rest in finding ways to entertain and inform the best fans in the West Coast League as we strive to make 2012 even better than 2011.

And remember; check us out online at corvallisknights.com or head on down to our office at 4th and Madison in downtown Corvallis to buy some merchandise or to just talk some baseball.

Gorton Named WCL Player of the Week

Corvallis catcher/designated hitter Ryan Gorton earned the final West Coast League Player of the Week honor after leading the Knights to a sweep of Walla Walla in the WCL Championship Series.

A senior-to-be at Oregon State, Gorton homered, singled twice and drove in four runs in an 11-4 win in the Knights' clincher. His three-run homer in the first inning erased a 2-0 Sweets' lead and sent the Knights on their way to the title.

Gorton also homered, doubled and drove in three runs in game one of the WCL Championship Series at Walla Walla. He hit .625 (5-8) for the series, with two homers, a double and seven RBIs.

Knights Break Season Attendance Record

The Knights smashed their single-season total attendance record at its July 30th game against the Bend Elks, and didn't stop there.

We drew 42,447 fans over 33 dates, an average of 1,286 fans per game, well above our preseason goal of 1,200 per game. We increased our attendance from 2010 by 11,438, and broke the old record of 31,536 (2009) by 10,911.

We also set a Corvallis playoff record on Thursday, August 18th, when 1,646 fans packed Goss Stadium to root the Knights on to a championship. It was our 23rd crowd of 1,000 or more, another franchise record.

Josh Hogan Named New Head Coach of Klamath Falls Gems

Former Corvallis Knights star infielder Josh Hogan (2007-09) has been named the new skipper of the Klamath Falls Gems. Hogie`s been an assistant at Cowlitz the past two seasons and is ready for a team of his own.

We wish Hogie the best of luck - except when he's playing us, of course.

Knights Finish Ranked No. 6 in National Poll

The Corvallis Knights were ranked #6 in the final Perfect Game summer college baseball national poll, which was released yesterday.

Corvallis Makes Top 50 Attendance List

Goss Stadium was the place to be this summer, and the Corvallis Knights ranked 35th in total attendance in summer collegiate baseball. Click here to review the top 50 in attendance.

Follow the Knights

The season may be over but we'll have lots of news about signings and other Knights' business over the coming months. So keep up with the club by checking out Brooks Hatch's daily Knights' blog.

Championship T-Shirts

If you interested in purchasing a WCL championship t-shirt, please reply with a size (or sizes) asap. We will be ordering these soon.

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West Coast League Stories from August 23, 2011


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.

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