Monday, August 5, Victoria, B.C. – Corvallis wrapped up home-field advantage throughout the upcoming West Coast League playoffs with a 5-3 victory over Victoria in their first regular-season matchup since the 2019 season.
The Knights (46-12 overall, 40-12 WCL, 18-7 second half) now own a 2.5-game lead over Portland (37-15) in the race for the top overall record with only two games remaining in the regular season. The best Portland (37-14) can earn is a tie for best record, and the Knights own the tie-breaker as a result of their 5-1 advantage in the season series.
Corvallis scored all of its runs in the fourth inning. Kevin Takeuchi (USC, pictured above) erased a 1-0 deficit with a three-run homer. Kasen Khansarinia (UCLA) and Luke Lavin (Stanford) added RBI singles. Takeuchi leads the Knights with four homers; his 44 RBIs lead the team and the WCL.
The HarbourCats drew within 5-3 in the seventh inning but relievers Zach Johnson (Salt Lake CC) and Kaden Segel (Portland) closed the door over the final two innings to preserve the win. Johnson got the win and Segel earned a save by retiring the final hitter on a popout to second base, stranding the tying runs.
Starter Caleb Debban (George Fox) allowed one unearned run and four hits over four innings, with three strikeouts. He has not allowed an earned run in his last 19.1 innings, over nine appearances.
The Knights stretched their WCL winning streak to six games in a row. They are 11-2 in their last 13 league games, a stretch that enabled them to keep Portland at bay in the battle for the best overall record.
The series resumes at 6:40 p.m. Aug. 6 and concludes at 6:40 p.m. Aug. 7. Cohen Gomez (2-0, 3.76) of Stanford and Jackson Walker (0-0,0.00) of Yakima Valley CC will start for the Knights, respectively.
The Knights claimed the first-half South Division championship and advanced to the West Coast League playoffs for the 17th consecutive season. The postseason starts on Aug. 10; Corvallis will have the home-field advantage in the best-of-3 divisional round.