Knights hold off Cowlitz 6-5, remain perfect in WCL action

Tuesday, June 14, Longview, Wash.  – The Knights remained undefeated in West Coast League play by edging Cowlitz 6-5 at David Story Field.

The Knights (4-1 all, 4-0 WCL) held off a furious Cowlitz rally to take the series opener. The Black Bears (7-3 WCL) scored twice in the eighth and twice in the ninth and had runners at second and third when the final out was recorded.

Starter Nathan DeSchryver (pictured above) allowed four hits and one unearned run in a six-inning stint to earn the pitching victory. The rising redshirt freshman at Gonzaga has a 0.00 ERA through 10 innings in his two starts.

Titus Dimitru (LBCC) had two hits and two RBIs and a run, Jonah Advincula (Redlands) was 2-for-5 with a run and an RBI and Arizona signee/returnee Kiko Romero (Central Arizona) had two hits and an RBI for the Knights.

Corvallis scored three times in the fifth and three times in the sixth to build an insurmountable 6-1 lead. Advincula and Romero knocked RBI singles in the fifth; Dimitru (LBCC) had a two-run single and Mason Le (CSU Northridge) an RBI double in the sixth.

Reliever Joey Gartrell (Portland) entered with the bases loaded, one run in and one out in the eighth and the Knights leading 6-2. After a strikeout, one run scored on a two-out single, but he retired the side on a grounder to short.

He allowed a two-run homer in the ninth but got the final out on a foul popup to right field after an error had prolonged the inning.

The series resumes at 6:35 p.m. Wednesday. Jaden Harris (Utah) makes his season debut as a Knights starter, opposed by righty Carson Angeroth (Umpqua CC) in a matchup of right-handers.

Righty Duke Brotherton (0-0, 0.00) of Washington State starts for the Knights in Thursday’s 6:35 p.m. finale, opposed by lefty Ryan Rembisz of Portland (1-0, 1.00).

Corvallis then kicks off its home WCL schedule at 6:35 p.m. Friday with the opener of a three-game series against the Yakima Valley Pippins at Goss Stadium. It starts a nine-game homestand that also features three games against Walla Walla (June 21-23) and Bellingham (June 24-26).

In other news, former Knights star Travis Bazzana and 2022 Knight Ryan Brown were named Freshman All-Americans on June 13 by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association.

Bazzana, the 2021 West Coast League MVP with the Knights, was a first-team selection; Brown was a second-team choice. It’s the second honor of the season for both players; they were also named Collegiate Baseball News Freshman All-American on June .8

A native of Sydney, Australia, Bazzana hit .306 with 16 doubles, four triples, six home runs, 44 RBIs and 14 stolen bases. He was first-team all-Pacific-12 Conference.

For the Knights, Bazzana was the first player in WCL history to earn the MVP and Top Prospect Award. He won the batting title with a league-record .429 average. He also led the league in runs (46), hits (81), total bases (112), triples (5) and slugging percentage (.593), helping the Knights garner their fifth straight league championship.

A Salem native and South Salem High School graduate, Brown was a first-team Pacific-12 Conference all-star and was 5-1 with a 4.91 ERA and 40 strikeouts in 33 innings.

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