Four Knights Earn All-West Coast League Honors

Thursday, August 20, Corvallis, Ore. – The West Coast League, the premier summer circuit in Western North America, released its 2026 All-WCL teams this morning as voted on by member coaches and announced by league commissioner Rob Neyer.

Four Corvallis Knights earned all-WCL honors. Relief pitcher Kellen Segel of Cal Poly was a first-team selection while relief pitcher Cooper Markham of Oregon and outfielder Ethan Porter of Oregon State were named to the second team. Starting pitcher Bryce Hill of Stanford was honorable mention.

Segel, who shined as a second baseman at Linn-Benton CC in the spring where he earned all-NWAC South Region first-team honors, emerged as the Knights closer while also playing outfield from opening day through the WCL championship game. He recorded 6 saves and posted a 1.65 ERA over 15 relief appearances and 16.1 innings pitched while striking out 17 and walking only 5. During the summer, Segel committed to Cal Poly for the 2026-2027 school year after two seasons playing at LBCC.

Markham joined the club in July and showcased his electric stuff through the postseason. He posted a 1.59 ERA over 11 relief appearances and 17 innings pitched while punching out 29 and walking 14. WCL batters hit a paltry .109 versus the right-hander. Cooper also starred in the playoffs. He made three relief appearances and logged 10 innings while giving up only one earned run and striking out 13. His overall ERA of 1.33 for the summer was a team low for pitchers with 25 or more innings. This past spring as a freshman, Markham made 9 relief appearances for the Ducks and held hitters to a .192 batting average.

Porter led the Knights offensively topping the club in several categories while playing a solid outfield and first base. Overall, he was tops in batting average (.339), doubles (17) and RBI (40). During the regular season, he stole 12 bases, led the team in OBP (.446) and sacrifice flies (6), tied for the team lead in home runs with 2 and posted a .983 fielding percentage. He also shined brightly in the West Coast League All-Star Game and playoffs. The rising sophomore was named the MVP of the WCL All-Star Game at Royal Athletic Park in Victoria, British Columbia where he blasted a two-run homer, delivered a game-winning RBI double and went 3-for-5 with a stolen base. In the post-season, Ethan went 7-for-19 with 2 doubles, a triple and 4 RBI. Last spring as a frosh, he emerged as an offensive force for the Beavers as he hit .293 with 8 doubles, 2 home runs and 9 RBI over 23 starts.

Hill got his first taste of college baseball in Corvallis as the hard-throwing right-hander from Connecticut will be an incoming freshman at Stanford this upcoming school year. He became one of the South Division champion Knights key starters and blossomed as the summer progressed. This past regular season, Bryce went 1-1 with a 3.25 ERA over 9 appearances, 7 starts and 27.2 innings pitched. Overall, he led Corvallis in strikeouts with 45 and recorded the highest fastball velocity ever measured on TrackMan by the Knights at 101.7 MPH.

Corvallis appeared in the WCL playoffs for a 19^th consecutive season, went 38-25 overall (31-23 in WCL), captured the WCL South second-half title and won the South Division championship game, besting Ridgefield 7-2 at Goss Stadium, before closing out the summer with a tough WCL championship game loss at Wenatchee. The AppleSox posted a league best 39-13 record and captured the WCL crown by edging the Knights, 8-7.

To check out the complete 2026 all-WCL teams, please visit www.westcoastleague.com.