Petet Shines in Knights’ Debut, Pitches Corvallis By Kelowna 8-5

Lefty Logan Petet (pictured, above) allowed one run in five innings and won his first start as the Knights topped Kelowna 8-5 at Goss Stadium in the opener of their West Coast League series.

It was the third win in a row for the Knights (28-18-1, 25-16 WCL, 9-5 second half). They remained one-half game behind leader Portland in the second-half South Division pennant race, as the Pickles thumped Bend. Corvallis also moved 1.5 games ahead of third-place Walla Walla, which lost at Victoria.

A freshman-to-be at Utah Valley University from Boise who joined the team this week, Petet settled down after allowing six baserunners and a run in the first two innings. He retired 10 of the final 12 Falcons he faced, struck out five and walked four.

He was relieved after walking the leadoff batter in the sixth inning. He threw 55 strikes in 95 pitches.

“It was different, I haven’t played in front of a crowd like this,” Petet said. “Everyone treated me great and it was great to have a chance to prove myself as a younger guy joining the team.”

Kolby Somers (Oregon) went the final 2.1 innings for his third save. He allowed two hits and had three strikeouts.

Corvallis jumped ahead 3-1 in the first on an RBI single by Austin Feist (St. Martin’s) and a two-run double by Cody Hawken (Portland). Feist and Cole Cabrera (Cal Poly) had RBIs in a four-runs second.

An RBI double in the eighth by catcher Sam Olsson (San Jose State) provided an important insurance run. Olsson also threw out three would-be base-stealers.

The series resumes at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday. Cal Poly righty Connor Redmond (0-1, 4.58) will start for the Knights, opposed by righty Stone Churby (1-2, 6.18) of Sacramento State.

Thursday’s series finale starts at 6:30 p.m. The probables are righty Cameron Haskell (2-2, 4.67) of Arizona for Corvallis and righty Trevor Brigden (3-2, 3.08) of Okanagan College for Kelowna.

Corvallis concludes the homestand at 6:30 p.m. Friday with a nonleague game against the Hayesville Hammers, a team primarily comprised of players from Chemeketa CC and Corban University.

Tuesday’s crowd of 1,198 raised the season attendance to 32,234 in 22 dates, an average of 1,465 per opening.

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