Saturday, July 20, Bend, Ore. – Corvallis rallied to force extra innings but lost 7-6 in 11 to Bend before a crowd of 1,178 at Vince Genna Stadium.
The Knights (34-9 overall, 29-9 WCL, 7-4 second half) had won four games in a row against the Elks in 2024 and five straight overall in a rivalry that dates back to the founding of the West Coast League in 2005.
A bases-loaded walk, one of four in the inning, forced in the winning run. Corvallis pitchers combined to walk nine batters and five of them scored.
Corvallis had forced extra innings by scoring twice in the ninth to erase a 6-4 deficit. Ty Yukumoto (Pacific) walked and went to third on Blake Wilson’s (Washington) single. Yukumoto scored and Wilson moved to second on a passed ball.
Wilson took third on a groundout, then scored to knot the game at 6-6 on Kevin Takeuchi’s (USC) RBI single. Takeuchi reached third with two outs but was stranded.
Takeuchi had two hits, two runs and an RBI. McAnelly had two hits and three RBIs.
Bend built a 5-0 lead by parlaying walks and errors into five runs in the second inning without benefit of a hit to take the early lead. A solo homer made it 6-0 in fourth inning.
The Knights clawed back and cut the deficit to 6-2 in the fifth on a sacrifice fly by Luke Lavin (Stanford) and Colter McAnelly’s (Utah) RBI single. However, the Knights left the bases loaded.
Corvallis stranded two runners in the seventh but drew within 6-4 in the eighth on a two-out, two-run single by McAnelly, setting up the tying rally in the ninth.
Reliever Sean Wiese (Arizona Christian, pictured, above) and CJ Colyer (Pacific) each pitched three shutout innings to keep the Knights close enough to rally. Wiese struck out two and did not issue a walk; Colyer had one strikeout.
The Knights and Elks conclude the series on July 21 at Vince Genna Stadium in Bend. Payton Riske (2-1, 2.25) of Utah is the scheduled starter for Corvallis, opposed by Jackson Elder of Utah for the Elks.
Corvallis is idle on July 22. It opens a three-game series with Ridgefield on July 23, starting in Washington. The July 24 game is at Goss Stadium and the series shifts back to Ridgefield for the July 25 finale.
Corvallis has clinched the first-half South Division championship and will advance to the West Coast League playoffs for the 17th consecutive season. The postseason starts on Aug. 10.