Monday, July 15, Corvallis, Ore. – The Knights snapped their two-game tailspin with a 6-2 victory over Springfield before a crowd of 1,395 at Goss Stadium.
Supported by numerous regional mascots on Mack the Knight’s birthday, outfielder Blake Wilson (Washington) doubled, singled, scored three times, stole two bases and drove in a run to pace the Knights bounce-back effort after successive losses at Walla Walla over the weekend.
Luke Lavin (Stanford) smacked a two-run, pinch-hit double, giving Corvallis (31-8 overall, 27-8 WCL, 5-3 second half) an insurmountable 6-0 cushion in the seventh inning. Shortstop Ty Yukumoto (Pacific) was 2-for-5 with a run and a stolen base.
Starting pitcher Lucas Casey (CSUN) allowed no runs and three hits over 4.1 innings in his second start of the summer. He struck out five and walked one, the final hitter he faced. Casey has permitted just one run and four hits in 8.1 innings in his last two starts and has lowered his ERA to 0.54.
Dom Tatone (Western Oregon) relieved Casey with two on and one out and escaped the jam unscathed. He retired six of the first seven Drifters he faced, but a single and two two-out walks loaded the bases in the seventh and he was pulled.
Mason Goodson (Oregon) induced a 3-1 groundout to end the seventh-inning threat. He allowed two runs in the eighth, though, and Quin Dufort came on to get the final out.
Dufort then set the Drifters down in the ninth inning to notch his first save. Tatone was credited with the pitching victory and earned Washington Park Advisors Player of the Game honors.
The series resumes on July 16, which is Armed Forces Night, sponsored by Pioneer Connect. Active military, National Guard and Reserve members and veterans can pick up their free tickets at the box office, starting at 6 p.m.
Stanford’s Cohen Gomez (0-0, 4:05) will make his initial start of the summer for the Knights. Springfield’s scheduled starting pitcher is Brady Baltus (3-0, 0.75) of New Mexico State.
The WCL All-Star Game is set for July 17 at Bellingham, to be televised by the MLB Network. Seven Knights will compete in the league’s first midsummer classic since 2019.
The all-star Knights are pitchers Tyner Horn (Nebraska), Kaden Segel (Portland) and James DeCremer (Oregon State) and position players Kevin Takeuchi (USC), Blake Wilson (Washington), Brandon Cabrera (Lewis-Clark State) and Ty Tukumoto (Pacific).
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.