Knights fall to Ridgefield but clinch South Division title

Saturday, August 5, Corvallis, Ore.  – Ridgefield defeated Corvallis 8-1 to even the final regular-season series of the West Coast League summer at a game each before a capacity Fireworks Night crowd of 3,085 at Goss Stadium.

Three Ridgefield pitchers stymied the Knights (42-15, 38-15 WCL, 21-5 second half) on two hits. Ethan Hott (Stanford) had an RBI double in the fifth inning and was named the Washington Park Advisors Player of the Game.

Otherwise it was a quiet night for the offense. Phoenix Call (UCLA) had their only other hit.

However, the night was not a total loss. The Knights clinched the South Division’s second-half championship when Cowlitz (20-7) lost 6-5 to Bend in Longview, setting up the opening-round pairings for the upcoming playoffs.

Corvallis will play at Cowlitz on Tuesday night in the opener of the best-of-3 South divisional series. The Knights will host Game 2 at 6:35 p.m. Wednesday and Game 3 (if necessary) at 6:35 p.m. Thursday.

It will be the 16^th consecutive postseason appearance for the Knights. They are the only WCL team to qualify for the playoffs in every season since the divisional format was introduced in 2007.

Ridgefield won the first half title and has the top seed. It faces Portland in the first round, starting at Portland on Tuesday.

Morgan Codron (pictured above) of Portland pitched three scoreless innings of relief, allowing three hits with two strikeouts. Sean Wiese (Arizona Christian) also tossed a scoreless frame.

Corvallis’s starter for Sunday’s 1:05 p.m. regular-season finale is undetermined. Camden Oram (3-0, 4.20) of Lower Columbia College goes for Ridgefield.

Saturday’s crowd of 3,085 raised the season attendance to 53,376 in 30 openings.

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