Nine Knights Earn All-WCL Honors

Thursday, August 17, 2023 – The West Coast League announced its all-league teams this morning and the 2023 WCL champion Corvallis Knights were well represented. Three Knights earned first-team all-WCL honors, Ethan Hedges of USC, Sam Stem of Gonzaga and future Arizona Christian lefty Sean Wiese.

Hedges, who started this past spring for the USC Trojans as a freshman, played both first and third base this summer and hit .282 with 7 doubles, 3 triples, 2 homers and 31 RBIs while stealing 14 bases.

Stem, a rising sophomore at Gonzaga, led the West Coast League in at bats with 220 and extra base hits with 23. The left-handed hitting outfielder tied for the league lead in games played with 54, was second in total bases with 93, tied for second in runs scored with 37, tied for second in triples with 3 and tied for third in hits with 59. Sam also earned West Coast Conference all-freshman team and honorable mention all-WCC honors in 2023.

Wiese, who pitched this past spring at Hawaii, went 6-0 with 2 saves while posting a 2.80 ERA over 16 appearances and 35.1 innings pitched. The southpaw recorded two saves in the post-season.

In total, nine Knights were selected, as third baseman Tyler Quinn and starting pitcher Merit Jones were named second-team all-WCL to go with four honorable mention selections. Quinn will join Jones this fall as teammates at University of Utah.

Quinn, a rising senior who starred at Pacific prior to transferring to Utah, played a spectacular third base and hit .297 with 11 doubles, 4 homers and 36 RBIs. Tyler earned team MVP honors last summer with the Knights.

Jones, who started this past spring for the Utes, went 1-1 with a 1.45 ERA over 9 appearances and 6 starts while striking out 32 over 31 innings pitched. In the post-season, he did not give up a run over two starts, 11.2 innings pitched and struck out 15. He earned the win in the Knights title game victory over Victoria and was named the WCL Pitcher of the Week.

The four Knights earning honorable mention honors were first baseman Blake Avila (.265, 2 HR, 19 RBI), slick-fielding shortstop Ty Yukumoto (.303, 17 SB), starting pitcher Zach Johnson (4-0, 2.34 ERA, 30.2 IP) and relief pitcher Nathan Marshall (2-2, 2.01 ERA, 35.2 IP). Avila played this past spring at Central Arizona and is heading to Grand Canyon University in the fall, Yukumoto is a rising junior at Pacific, Johnson is transferring from Portland to Utah Valley and Marshall will be returning to Lane CC for his sophomore season.

Corvallis finished the season with the league’s top record at 39-15 and captured its 7th consecutive WCL title.