Knights thrill Wilson Motors Night crowd with comeback win

Wednesday, July 24, Corvallis, Ore. – Corvallis rallied from an early 5-0 deficit and thrilled a Wilson Motors Night crowd of 2,469 with an 8-6 comeback victory over Ridgefield at Goss Stadium.

Second baseman Peyton Miller (Gonzaga, pictured above) was 3-for-4 and drove in three runs, including the go-ahead RBI in the sixth inning, to garner Washington Park Advisors Player of the Game honors.

Miller entered the night hitting .192 with only two RBIs and mired in an 0-for-13 slump. He raised his average to .221 with his third multi-hit game of the summer and his first since June 14.

The Knights (36-10 overall, 31-10 WCL, 9-5 second half) thus won the South Division West Coast League series. They took the opener 7-5 at Ridgefield on July 23.

Veteran reliever Sean Wiese (Arizona Christian) blanked Ridgefield on three hits over 4.1 innings to earn the pitching decision. He struck out two, walked none, and extended his scoreless streak to 7.1 innings over his last two appearances.

Gabe Hernandez (CSUN) earned his second save by getting the last four outs. He was touched for an unearned run in the ninth but retired the final hitter – the potential tying run – on a grounder to Miller to end the game.

Ridgefield hit three homers in the first three innings and led 5-0 before the Knights exploded with five runs in the fourth to tie. Ty Yukumoto’s two-out, two-run single tied the game after Kevin Takeuchi (USC) and Miller had RBI base hits.

Kasen Khansarinia (UCLA) scored the go-ahead run in the sixth. He was hit by a pitch, advanced to third on two fly-ball outs, and scored on Miller’s single.

Colter McAnelly (Utah) and Miller knocked in insurance runs in the eighth. Takeuchi and Khansarinia each scored twice; Takeuchi had at least one RBI in his last six games, seven overall in that span, and a team-leading 36 overall.

The series shifts back to Ridgefield for the 6:35 p.m. July 25 finale. Cohen Gomez (0-0, 5.09) of Stanford will get the ball for Corvallis, opposed by Jake Swenson (0-1, 4.82) of Linfield for the Raptors.

The Knights then open a key six-game WCL South Division homestand against the Portland Pickles on July 26-28 and the Walla Walla Sweets on July 29-31. The top promotion is Lil’ King Bobblehead Night against the Pickles at 6:35 p.m. on July 27.

The scheduled starting pitchers for the Knights vs. the Pickles are Tyner Horn (1-0, 1.52) of Nebraska on July 26; James DeCremer (0-0, 3.95) of Oregon State on July 27 and Payton Riske (2-1, 3.09) of Utah on July 28.

Corvallis has clinched the first-half South Division championship and will advance to the West Coast League playoffs for the 17^th consecutive season. The postseason starts on Aug. 10.

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