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WCL Corvallis Knights

Knights Win 4-2

August 10, 2012 - West Coast League (WCL)
Corvallis Knights News Release


KLAMATH FALLS - The Corvallis Knights defeated Klamath Falls 4-2 on Thursday at Kiger Stadium to eliminate the Gems from the West Coast League playoffs on the final night of the regular season.

The Knights (32-22 WCL, 37-22 overall) now play Cowlitz (26-28 WCL) in Longview, Wash., at 6:35 p.m. Saturday in Game 1 of the West Division playoffs. Game 2 is set for 6:05 p.m. Sunday at Goss Stadium; Game 3 (if necessary) will be at 6:40 p.m. Monday.

Cowlitz blanked Bend 5-0 on Thursday to tie the Gems (26-28) for second place. The Black Bears advanced to the playoffs for the first time in their three-year history because they won the regular-season head-to-head over the Gems.

Dylan Stuart of UC Riverside pitched 2.1 scoreless innings in his first relief appearance of the summer for the win. He struck out three, allowed only one hit, and ended the game by retiring Josh Wong, the WCL's third-leading hitter (.371), on a fielder's choice grounder to shortstop.

Wong represented the tying run and was 4-for-4 at that point with two RBIs that boosted his season total to 46, second-best in the WCL. But he slapped Stuart's first pitch to shortstop Nate Roberts, who caught it cleanly and flipped to second baseman Marc Gallegos for the season-ending force.

Ironically, Corvallis eliminated Cowlitz from the playoffs in 2011 with a victory in Longview on the final night of the season.

Corvallis broke a 2-2 tie in the eighth. Connor Hofmann reached third on an error, a sacrifice and a wild pitch, and then scored the go-ahead run on Nate Blackham's single. Blackham was thrown out trying to steal, but Greg Mahle singled and Nick Torres doubled him home for a valuable insurance run.

The Knights' first two runs came in the second inning on consecutive doubles by Torres and Gallegos and an RBI single by Roberts, who was 3-for-4.

Stuart and reliever Kyle Hart combined to allow just one run over the final 6.1 innings to give the offense time to regroup and finally break through.

Hart replaced starter Carlos Rodriguez with one run in, the bases loaded and two outs in the third, and ended the threat on a three-pitch strikeout. The senior-to-be at Redlands then pitched effectively into the seventh, with three strikeouts and one run allowed on four hits.

Hart's performance extended his streak of excellence at Kiger Stadium. He pitched a seven-inning one-hitter there in 2011, and was 1-0 with a 0.69 ERA and 15 strikeouts in 13 innings in three games overall in 2011 and 2012.

The West Division playoff victor will play either East Division champ Wenatchee or runner-up Bellingham in the WCL Championship Series, which starts Aug. 15 in the West. Aug. 16 is a travel day; Game 2 and Game 3 (if necessary) are Aug. 17 and 18 in the East. All the playoff series are best-of-3.

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