Froling stars, Knights clout Elks to advance

Sunday, Aug. 10, Corvallis, Ore. – They’re halfway home.

The Knights (45-16) blasted Bend 10-0 at Goss Stadium in the rubber game of their South Division playoff series, completing a two-game comeback from a 1-0 deficit and moving them just two wins away from their 11^th West Coast League championship.

Starter Van Froling (UCSB, pictured above) was magnificent in the longest outing in his Knights’ career. The stylish lefty allowed just one hit in six innings, with no walks and six strikeouts.

He faced 19 batters, just one over the six-inning minimum. After hitting the leadoff batter on an 0-2 pitch, he picked him off, then retired the next 13 Elks in order before allowing a two-out ground-ball single in the fifth inning.

Froling threw only 73 pitches, 52 of which were strikes. He was named the Washington Park Advisors Player of the Game.

Corvallis now advances to the South Division championship game at Portland on Aug. 12. The Pickles are the defending WCL champions and they eliminated the Knights 4-1 in the 2024 divisional final.

The Knights offense also showed up big-time, reaching double figures for the second elimination game in a row. Corvallis outscored Bend 22-3 in the final two games of the series.

Corvallis jumped ahead early for the second straight night, scoring twice in the first inning. It added one more in the third and put the game away by scoring three times in the fourth and twice more in the fifth for an 8-0 advantage.

Thomas Ferroggiaro (Santa Clara) was 3-for-5 with a double, two runs and two steals. Trey Swygart (Portland) was 3-for-5 with a triple, a run and three RBIs.

Catcher Ian Fernandez (UCSB) drove in three runs. Center fielder Brock Ketelsen (Stanford ) scored twice, had a hit and an RBI and stole three bases, giving him 41 bags in the regular season and playoffs.

The Knights thus climbed out of a 1-0 hole to claim a divisional playoff series for the seventh time in franchise history. It erased similar deficits against the Elks in 2008 and 2011, against Yakima Valley in 2017, 2021 and 2022, and against Cowlitz in 2023.

The Knights then went on to capture the WCL crown in all six previous instances.

In the North Division playoffs, host Edmonton survived a five-run, ninth-inning rally by Victoria for an 8-7 victory to win that series 2-1. In the other semifinal, Bellingham tied the game in the last of the ninth and then outlasted Wenatchee 4-3 in 10 innings to claim that series 2-1.

Edmonton will host Bellingham on Aug. 12 with a championship-game berth on the line.

The WCL championship game is set for Aug. 14. Either Portland or Corvallis will host, as they rank No. 1 (43) and No. 2 (39) in overall victories, respectively.

The scorching 99-degree temperature at game time limited the crowd to a season-low 577 but did not impact their enthusiasm. They were on their feet for the ninth inning, when reliever Quin Dufort (Portland) set the Elks down 1-2-3 to seal the deal.

The Knights have drawn 51,365 fans in 33 openings this summer, with one game possibly remaining.  That’s an average of 1,557 per outing; they are 201 fans behind last season’s attendance through a similar number of home dates.

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