Hammond says goodbye with 5-RBI sendoff

Friday, July 31, Corvallis, Ore. – Third baseman Tate Hammond drove in five runs in his Knights finale, leading an 11-6 win over Yakima Valley in the opener of their South Division series at Goss Stadium.

Off to UCLA in the fall, Hammond tripled, doubled, hit a sacrifice fly and scored twice. He closed the summer on a tear, with 10 hits in his last seven games, raising his average to .200, with 23 RBIs and a .330 on-base percentage.

He was the Washington Park Advisors Player of the Game.

The Knights (31-22, 27-22 WCL, 14-8 second half) maintained their hold on third place and a playoff berth with their seventh win in their last 10 games. Walla Walla also prevailed and stayed a game ahead in the second-half pennant race.

Shortstop Ryan Severns (UCSB, pictured above) slammed a two-run homer in the first inning to get the Knights off to a quick start. It was the Knights first homer in league action since July 12 at Springfield.

Severns also doubled, scored three times and reach safely in four of five plate appearances. Second baseman Diego Cruz (Oregon State) was 2-for-6 with a run and an RBI.

Incoming Stanford freshman right-hander Bryce Hill continued his strong second half with another quality start. He hit 99 MPH on several pitches and  averaged 95 on his fastball. He allowed two hits and one run over four innings, with seven strikeouts.

Hill has posted a 1.83 ERA over his last five starts, with 26 strikeouts in 19.2 innings. He has pitched four or more innings per start over that span, allowing only 12 hits.

He was not eligible for the win because he did not go the required five innings. The decision instead went to reliever Luke Schoeffler (Linfield), who shut the Pippins down on one run and four hits from the fifth through the seventh.

Corvallis scored three in the third and sixth innings, twice in the fourth and once in the fifth to build an 11-2 lead after seven innings. Three relievers combined for seven walks over the final two innings, leading to four runs for the Pippins before position player Joey Marasco (George Fox) ended the 3:20 marathon with a strikeout.

Game 2 of the series is set for 6:35 p.m. on Aug. 1. Cal Poly righty Arlo Pendleton (2-2, 4.91) is the projected starter for the Knights.

They finish the home portion of the regular season at 5:05 p.m. on Aug. 2. Newcomer Levi Hodges of Douglas College (0-0, 0.00) is the probable Corvallis starter. He pitched a scoreless inning on July 30 in his summer debut.

The Knights conclude the regular season at Ridgefield on Aug. 3-5. The postseason playoffs, involving the top four teams from the North and South divisions, begin on Aug. 7 with the best-of-3 divisional round.

Reliever Matthew Kosderka left the club after the July 30 game to report to Western Kentucky. He was 1-0, 2.89 in 13 appearances, with one save and 14 strikeouts in 18.2 innings.

The crowd of 1,614 raised the season attendance to 45,326 in 30 dates. That’s an average of 1,511 per opening.

Box score