WCL Corvallis Knights

Knights Win to Advance to WCL Championship Series

Published on August 13, 2012 under West Coast League (WCL)
Corvallis Knights News Release


Rob Dittrick pitched seven shutout innings to power the Knights (39-22) over Cowlitz (31-30) and into the WCL Championship Series for the fifth time in the past six seasons.

The Knights will now face either Bellingham or Wenatchee of the East Division in the best-of-3 finals. Game 1 is at 6:05 p.m. Wednesday at Goss Stadium; Games 2 and 3 are Friday and Saturday in the East Division representative's venue.

A senior-to-be at Pacific University who originally was a 10-day signee, Dittrick capped a suburb summer by allowing just three hits over his seven-inning stint. He struck out four, threw 62 strikes in 88 pitches, walked only one, and lowered his WCL-best ERA to 0.98 in all games.

"I tried to treat it like any other start this summer," said Dittrick, who gave up singles to the first two hitters and then just one more hit to the next 23. "I didn't have to stress about it. My offense and defense have been great behind me all summer."

Dittrick fielded a comebacker and threw out a runner at home for the second out of the first inning, and got the third out on a fly to center. After that, he retired the Black Bears in order in five of the next six innings and did not allow a runner past second base.

Making the win ever sweeter was the presence of his parents, Tim and Pamela Dittrick, who flew over from Hawaii to watch the game. His father has attended several series this summer, but it's the first time his mother has seen him play for the Knights.

"Maybe the fact she was here made me a little nervous" at first, he said. "It's been a heck of a summer. I couldn't have asked for anything better than this."

The Knights scored twice in the first inning for the second game in a row in series and never trailed. Dane Lund alertly scored the first run on a wild pitch when home plate was left uncovered, and Nick Torres drove in Nate Blackham with an infield out.

The Knights had plenty of other chances but didn't score again until the seventh, on a two-out, RBI infield single by Caleb Whalen.

That was more than enough for Dittrick and relievers Taylor Starr and Devon Barker, who went the eighth and ninth, respectively. Two one-out singles in the ninth twice brought the tying run to the plate, but Barker struck the next two batters out on 3-2 pitches to end the game.

Cowlitz had just seven hits and one unearned run in the series. Trevor Frank pitched a complete-game two-hitter in Saturday's opener, a 3-1 win at Cowlitz.

Corvallis has now advanced to the Championship Series in five of the six seasons since it moved to Corvallis from Gresham in 2007. It won the 2008 and 2011 titles, and lost in the finals in 2007 and 2009.

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West Coast League Stories from August 13, 2012


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