Saturday, July 25, Yakima, Wash. – Tate Hammond and the Knights set up a decisive Game 3 in their South Division series by clobbering Yakima Valley 16-3 at Yakima County Stadium.
An incoming freshman at UCLA, Hammond (pictured, above) doubled twice, singled twice, drove in four and scored twice to anchor the Knights (27-21, 23-21 WCL, 10-7 second half) 17-hit offensive explosion.
Hammond has seven hits in his last three games. He went 3-for-5 on July 23 in a 20-2 blowout of Bend that gave the Knights a 2-1 win in that series against the Elks.
He had plenty of help on a warm night in Yakima. Second baseman Berkley Reents (George Fox) was 2-for-5 with three RBIs, giving him seven runs knocked in in his last two starts.
Third baseman Dakota Chun (Portland) was 2-for-3 with three runs, three walks and two RBIs. Catcher Xavier Rios (CSU-San Marcos) was 2-for-5 with two runs and two RBIs and DH Ethan Porter (Oregon State) singled, doubled and scored twice.
Shortstop Ryan Severns (UCSB) doubled, walked twice and scored three times. Second baseman Diego Cruz (Oregon State) singled, doubled and scored.
Incoming Stanford freshman Bryce Hill turned in another strong start, allowing one earned run and two hits in four innings. He also had three strikeouts, but did not go the required five innings to earn the decision.
Blake Sebastian (Nebraska), Micah Hagler (Seattle) and Cooper Markham (Oregon) finished up. Sebastian went two scoreless innings and was credited with the win. Markham pitched the final two, scoreless innings and struck out six of the eight batters he faced.
Hammond’s two-run double was the key blow in a four-run first inning, when the Knights jumped off to an early lead they never relinquished. Reents added a bases-loaded walk for the final counter.
Corvallis added six more runs in the third to take a 10-0 lead and blow the game open. Rios had a two-run single and Reents and Maverek Russell (UCSB) had RBI singles.
The Knights added two more runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings and led 16-2 at one point.
The series concludes at 5:05 p.m. on July 26. Cal Poly righty Arlo Pendleton (1-2, 4.73) is Corvallis’s probable starter.
Corvallis then finishes its 2026 regular season home schedule with a six-game homestand from July 28-Aug. 2. Ridgefield is in town on July 28-30, followed by Yakima Valley on July 31-Aug. 2. All games start at 6:35 p.m. except the 5:05 p.m. home finale.