Feist, Camarillo lock down 5-4 victory over Yakima Valley

Wednesday, July 26, Corvallis, Ore.  – Relievers Neil Feist and Frank Camarillo slammed the door on Yakima Valley over the final four innings and Corvallis evened the West Coast League series with a 5-4 win before a crowd of 1,977 on a beautiful night at Goss Stadium.

Feist (Cal State Northridge, pictured above) protected a 5-4 lead from the sixth through the eighth innings to earn Washington Park Advisors Player of the Game plaudits. He struck out two and stranded five runners, four in scoring position, with some clutch pitching.

Camarillo (UCSB) earned his first save with a scoreless ninth. He allowed a one-out single but kept the tying run planted at first base by recording a fly out and a strikeout to end the game.

The Knights (35-13, 31-13 WCL, 14-3 second half) remained 2.5 games ahead of second-place Cowlitz in the South Division’s second-half playoff race. They lowered their magic number to clinch their 16^th straight playoff berth to four; any combination of Knights wins and Cowlitz losses adding up to four will clinch a postseason berth for the Knights.

Corvallis went ahead 2-0 in the second inning on an RBI double by Phoenix Call (UCLA) and JC’s Ng’s (Pomona-Pitzer) RBI groundout. Mason Le’s (CSU Northridge) RBI double and a two-run single by Sam Stem (Gonzaga) led to three runs for a 5-2 lead after four.

The Pippins drew within 5-4 in the fifth inning but Feist and Camarillo allowed them to get no closer.

The series concludes at 6:35 p.m. Thursday, matching a pair of Gonzaga hurlers. Miles Gosztola (1-1, 2.07) will go for the Knights, opposed by Payton Graham (3-1, 1.43) for the Pippins.

Corvallis starts its final road trip of the summer on Friday with a three-game series in Bend. It is idle on Monday, then plays at Portland on Tuesday-Thursday.

The final home series of the season is set for Aug. 4-6 against the Ridgefield Raptors. The best-of-3 divisional round of the playoffs starts on Aug. 8.

Wednesday’s crowd of 1,977 raised the season total to 46,295 in 27 dates.

The Knights made several roster moves on Wednesday, as pitchers Kaleb Woltz (Mesa State) and Joey Mundt (Oregon State) were shut down for the season.

Woltz has an inflamed knee that will require further examination. He was 2-0, 3.06 in nine games, with a save and 15 strikeouts in 14.2 innings. He was the winning pitcher at Walla Walla on July 22^nd in his last appearance.

Mundt, recovering from arm surgery that forced him to miss the 2022 and 2023 seasons, was 0-0, 0.00 in one appearance, with one strikeout in two-thirds of an inning.

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