Tuesday, Aug. 11, Corvallis, Ore. – An old-school matchup will decide the 2026 West Coast League championship.
The Knights advanced to their 15th championship game in 21 seasons by eliminating Ridgefield 7-2 in the South Division title game before an enthusiastic crowd of 1,272 at Goss Stadium.
They will face historic rival Wenatchee, another charter member of the WCL, for the crown at 6:35 p.m. Aug. 13 at Paul Thomas Sr. Stadium in Wenatchee. The AppleSox eliminated Bellingham 18-4 in the North Division final.
It will be the fifth championship-game matchup between the Knights (38-24) and AppleSox (42-13), as they previously met in 2008, 2009, 2012 and 2013. Corvallis prevailed in 2008 and 2013 and is 10-4 all-time in the finals; Wenatchee won in 2009 and 2012 and is 5-3 all-time in title games.
First baseman Ethan Porter (Oregon State) and third baseman Ryan Severns (UCSB) powered the Knights into the finals, combining for five of Corvallis’s 12 hits.
Porter (pictured above) tripled, doubled, singled, hit a sacrifice fly and scored twice to garner Washington Park Advisors Player of the Game honors. He enters the finals with team-highs in RBIs (37) and extra-base hits (22).
Severns doubled twice, drove in three and scored once. His first-inning double sent Corvallis head 2-0, and his second double in the fifth put Corvallis ahead 5-2. His 14 extra-base hits are second on the team to Porter.
The Knights wasted little time in asserting their authority. A single and two walks loaded the bases in the first, and two runners cruised home on Severn’s bloop double down the right-field line.
Medina drove in the third run with a groundout to shortstop and the Knights were on their way to their 12th win in their last 15 games, and their first championship-game appearance since 2023.
Second baseman Diego Cruz (OSU) was 3-for-5 with three runs from the leadoff spot. No. 2 hitter Maverek Russell (UCSB) was 2-for-3 with a run; center fielder Max Medina (Cal Poly) and right fielder Zane Garvey (Portland) also had RBIs.
Starter Colin Nowaczyk (Nebraska) went 4.1 innings, allowing four hits and striking out eight. He threw 52 strikes in 96 pitches and had just two walks.
He took a 3-0 lead into the fifth inning after escaping a bases-loaded, no-outs jam in the fourth with a strikeout and a 6-4-3 double play. However, a leadoff error led to two two-out, unearned runs.
Corvallis got those two runs, and more, back in the home half. Cruz singled and scored on Porter’s double. Severns then ripped a double to the left-center gap, scoring Porter for a 5-2 advantage. Garvey worked a bases-loaded walk to force in a third run for a 6-2 margin.
Porter’s eighth-inning sacrifice fly scored the Knights’ final run.
Reliever Luke Duncan (OSU) allowed two inherited runners to score in the fourth but escaped a huge mess by striking out Ridgefield slugger Josh Proctor on a 3-2 pitch with the bases loaded to end the sixth inning.
Winning pitcher Jinki Tomita (Feather River) added a scoreless seventh and eighth innings. Taking no chances, he was pulled in favor of closer Kellen Segel (Cal Poly) with one out and two on in the ninth.
Segel got the second out on an infield fly and the third on a grounder to second, enabling the Knights to eliminate Raptors from the playoffs for the fourth time in team history. Corvallis is 6-0 all-time against the Raptors in playoffs in the 2021, 2022, 2024 and 2026 seasons.
Corvallis is a 10-time WCL champion under head coach Brooke Knight, with titles in 2008, 2011, 2013, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022 and 2023. Wenatchee won it all in 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010 and 2012.
The crowd of 1,272 raised the season attendance to a final 51,513 in 35 dates, an average of 1,472 per opening. The Knights have drawn at least 50,000 fans every summer since 2021, and in 8 of the last 10 seasons overall.