Monday, Aug. 3, Ridgefield, Wash. – Reliever Luke Schoeffler (above, right) saved the Knights’ bacon…
Knights claim crown with marathon win
Tuesday, Aug. 4, Ridgefield, Wash. – It took a Herculean effort, but the Knights won the South Division’s second-half championship with a stirring 11-8, 10-inning win over Ridgefield at the Ridgefield Outdoor Recreation Complex.
Corvallis now leads second-place Walla Walla by two games with one remaining. The Knights will open the best-of-3 South Division playoffs at Walla Walla on Aug. 7; games 2 and 3 (if necessary) will be at Goss Stadium on Aug. 8-9.
The Sweets lost 6-2 at Marion in a game stopped after 4.5 innings by deteriorating weather conditions due to wildfires, knocking them out of championship contention.
Ridgefield forced extra innings by tying the game 8-8 in the bottom of the ninth. Under WCL extra-inning protocol, the Knights (35-22, 31-22 WCL, 18-8 second half) began the 10th inning with runners on first and second.
They eventually loaded the bases with one out and went ahead 9-8 on a safety squeeze by Kellen Segel (Cal Poly). Ryan Severns (UCSB) followed with a key two-run single for an 11-8 advantage.
Reliever Zane Garvey (Portland) then retired all three Raptors he faced in the home 10th to finally end the see-saw, three-hour, 47-minute marathon.
Corvallis won for the 10th time in its last 12 games.
Ethan Porter (Oregon State) was 4-for-5 with a homer, three RBIs and two runs. Future Beaver teammate Diego Cruz was 3-for-5 with two RBIs and two runs and Severns was 2-for-5 with two RBIs and a run.
The Knights took a 1-0 lead on Porter’s RBI single in the second inning. However, Ridgefield scored five times in the third to grab a 5-1 advantage; three of those who scored reached on walks.
Corvallis responded with four runs in fourth to draw even. Josh Myers (Alan Hancock) walked with the bases loaded, Cruz had a two-run single and Joey Marasco (George Fox) added a run-scoring single to tie the game 5-5.
Garvey’s RBI double in the fifth sent the Knights ahead 6-5, but Ridgefield tied it again, in the bottom half on JT Summers’ second homer of the game.
Porter put the Knights back ahead 7-6 in the sixth with his second RBI single, only to have Ridgefield draw even yet again at 7-7 in the seventh.
Porter’s solo homer in the eighth put the Knights up 8-7. But they couldn’t hold the lead and Ridgefield tied the game for the third time in the ninth, setting up the decisive tenth.
Ridgefield also started the extra inning with runners at first and second. Garvey got the first out on a strikeout, the second on a line drive to shortstop, and the final out on a ground ball to first base.
The regular season concludes at 6:35 p.m. Aug. 5. Corvallis starter is TBA, opposed by Tyler Walton (1-1, 10.35) of UCSB for Ridgefield.
The postseason playoffs involve the top four teams from the North and South divisions. In the South Division, first-half champion Ridgefield will have home-field advantage over No. 4 seed Portland in the other semifinal.
The division series champions meet in a one-game series hosted by the higher seed. The division champions then advance to the WCL championship game, hosted by the team with the best overall record.
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