Johnson shines again as Knights win finale

Sunday, July 20, Corvallis, Ore. – Zach Johnson (pictured, above) turned in another outstanding start as the Knights defeated Springfield 4-2 to salvage the finale of their South Division series.

A Goss Stadium crowd of 1,528 on Pat Casey Night saw the Linfield right-hander limit the Drifters to one run and three hits over six innings. He struck out five, earned the pitching decision and was named the Washington Park Advisors Player of the Game.

He is 3-0, 2.52 over this last five starts, all wins for the Knights. He has 20 strikeouts and only seven runs allowed in that span.

Trey Swygart (Portland) shut the Drifters down over the final two innings to earn the save. Springfield brought the tying run to the plate five times in the eighth and ninth but could not advance a runner past first base.

The Knights (30-13 all, 26-13 WCL, 9-3 second half) jumped to a 2-0 lead in the first inning on back-to-back doubles by Brooks Avery (LBCC) and Thomas Ferroggiaro (Santa Clara) and a Maddox Riske (USC sacrifice fly.

Riske drove in another run in the third on a grounder to restore a two-run lead at 3-1. Springfield closed to within 3-2 in the top of the seventh, but the Knights responded in the home half with a big insurance run on a wild pitch for a 4-2 advantage.

Ferroggiaro was the lone Knight with two hits. Avery and Ian Fernandez (UC Santa Barbara) each doubled and Blake Wilson (Washington) scored twice.

The Knights are idle on July 21. They then hit the road for a three-game series with the Naniamo NightOwls in British Columbia on July 22-25. It will be the first games between the teams since the Nighthawks joined the WCL in 2022.

Corvallis made a number of roster changes over the weekend.

Right-handed pitcher Kaleb Wing, scheduled to be an incoming freshman at Loyola Marymount, will not return. He is expected to sign with the Chicago Cubs, who selected him in the fourth round of the recent MLB draft. Wing was 0-0 in two games, with a 14.72 ERA and five strikeouts in 3.2 innings.

Veteran right-handed pitcher Nate Marshall (Eastern Illinois) has been shut down for the summer at his EIU coach’s request. He was 1-1, 4.69 in 13 games, with a save and 12 strikeouts in 15.1 innings.

Right-handed pitcher Landen Parker of Northwest Nazarene left the team after the July 20 game. He was 1-0, 3.75 in eight games, with 14 strikeouts in 12 innings.

Catcher Aiden Hazen (Linn-Benton) will miss the balance of the season with an injury. He hit .282 in 15 games, with no homers and 12 RBIs.

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