Another big comeback goes unrewarded, 11-6

Wednesday, June 17, Corvallis, Ore.  – Another late-inning comeback by the Knights went for naught as they fell 11-6 to Nanaimo in Game 2 of their West Coast League series.

Corvallis (10-8, 9-8 WCL) thus lost its third straight game in its first sustained homestand of the summer. And the NightOwls won their first series at Goss Stadium since joining the WCL in 2022.

Highlighting of the night for Corvallis was the debut of incoming Stanford freshman right-hander Bryce Hill. He allowed one unearned run in three one-hit innings, earning Washington Park Advisors Player of the Game honors.

Often reaching the mid-to high-90s on his fastball, he struck out five in an impressive 60-pitch outing.

Corvallis trailed 5-0 before scoring three times in the sixth. Nanaimo stretched the lead to 6-3 in the seventh, but the Knights scored twice in the seventh and once in the eighth to pull even at 6-6.

However, Nanaimo scored five times in the ninth for an 11-6 cushion and shut the Knights down in the ninth to break the Knights hearts for the second night in a row. It prevailed 11-10 in 11 innings in the June 16 series opener.

Hot-hitting Trey Swygart (Portland) was 3-for-5 with a double, a run, a walk and an RBI. He was his sixth multi-hit in his last nine appearances; he is 15-for-32 (.469) in that span, with eight RBIs.

Ethan Porter (Oregon State, pictured above) was 2-for-5 with a run, a double and an RBI. He is 5-for-13 (.385) with three doubles, three runs and two RBI. Ian Draper (Washington) also had two hits.

The series concludes at 6:35 p.m. on June 18. Another WCL series, vs. Edmonton, follows on June 19-21.

Corvallis finishes the homestand with nonleague games against Gunderson Baseball on June 24 and vs. the Corvallis Gerding Construction American Legion team on June 25.

The highlight of the homestand is the June 20 Drone Night game vs. Edmonton, with a special 7:05 p.m. starting time.

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