Brooks Hatch Blog: Alum Ryley Widell Signs With Twins

Happy Tuesday, everyone, from the world-wide headquarters (WWHQ) of the Corvallis Knights, your 2016 West Coast League champions!

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The Knights opened a three-game series with Victoria on Monday with a 9-1 victory. Oregon Staters Zak Taylor and Elliot Willy hit homers, giving us a league-leading 20 for the summer.

The series continues at 6:40 tonight, and on Wednesday. San Diego righty Louis Crow (0-0, 3.00) gets the start tonight; Portland lefty Jordan Horak (3-0, 2.50) goes on Wednesday.

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Lots of promotions this week.

• Tonight is Law Enforcement Night, presented by Housley Agency Farmers Insurance.
• Wednesday is Block 15 Koozie Night. The first 500 fans get a free drink koozie.
• Thursday is 106.3 KLOO-FM Star Wars Night presented by COUNTRY Financial. The first 250 kids get a mini lightsaber.

Our total attendance this season is 14,540 for 11 dates, an average of 1,322 per opening. That’s down 1,262 from a corresponding date in 2016.

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Left-handed pitcher Ryley Widell, a key member of our 2016 WCL championship team, has signed with the Minnesota Twins. He was their seventh-round selection as the 196^th overall pick in the 2017 MLB draft.

Ryley played at Central Arizona JC in 2017 after spending 2016 at Washington State. He was honorable-mention all-WCL in 2016 and was No. 27 on Perfect Game’s list of the top 30 WCL pro prospects. He has not yet been assigned to a minor-league affiliate.

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Alum Cade Gotta (2011) has been promoted to Durham of the triple-A International League by the Tampa Bay Rays. He earned his promotion by hitting .311 (57-183) in 49 games with the Biscuits, with five homers and 32 RBIs.

He’s hitting .254 (15-59) at Durham, with no homers and three RBIs in 18 games. Congrats to Cade, who was selected in the 26^th round of the 2014 draft after playing at San Diego Christian.

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Colorado Springs (AAA Pacific Coast League, Brewers) catcher Andrew Susac (2009) was 2-for-4 with a homer, an RBI and two runs scored in a 14-3 win over Omaha on Monday to earn Corvallis Knights Minor League Player of the Day honors. He played at Oregon State.

Honorable mention goes to:

• Lancaster (A California, Rockies) catcher Chris Rabago (2012-13) was 2-for-5 with an RBI in a 9-6 win over Inland Empire. He played at UC Irvine.

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Western Oregon junior first baseman Nyles Nygaard of the Cowlitz Black Bears and University of British Columbia first-year pitcher Adam McKillican of the Victoria HarbourCats were named the West Coast League Player of the Week and Pitcher of the Week for June 19-25.

Nygaard went 8-for-12 (.667) with seven runs scored, three HBP, two doubles, a homer and four RBIs. He is hitting .480 for the season (12-25).

McKillican earned two wins. In two starts, he tossed 13.2 innings and allowed no runs while walking only one and striking out seven. He earned home victories vs. Port Angeles (June 19) and Walla Walla (June 24), both by 6-1 scores.

He is 3-0 with a 1.68 ERA, and has earned Pitcher of the Week honors two times. Please click here for more details.

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That’s all for today. See you at the ballpark this week, and back here on Thursday.