Pickles end Knights title streak at seven seasons in a row

Wednesday, August 14, Corvallis, Ore. – The Knights amazing seven-season run through the West Coast League playoffs is finally over.

Portland defeated Corvallis 4-1 in the South Division championship game before an enthusiastic Goss Stadium crowd of 1,269, eliminating the Knights from the postseason for the first time since 2015. The Knights (49-14 overall, 2-1 playoffs) were seeking their eighth straight WCL crown, but they fell short against a determined Portland club.

Portland scored twice in the fifth to break a 1-1 tie, then added an insurance run in the seventh to assume an insurmountable 4-1 lead. The Knights left the bases loaded in the fifth and did not threaten again; 13 of their final 14 batters were retired in order and Corvallis did not have a base hit after the fifth inning.

Right fielder Luke Lavin (Stanford) was 2-for-3 with a run and shortstop Ty Yukumoto (Gonzaga) had the team’s lone RBI on a third-inning opposite-field single. Center fielder Blake Wilson (Washington) had the only other Corvallis hit.

Starting pitcher Cohen Gomez (Stanford, pictured above) allowed one run and five hits over four innings and left with the score tied 1-1. He struck out four and walked two.

The Pickles roughed up the normally-stellar Knights bullpen for three runs on six hits in fifth-and seventh-inning rallies. Portland finished with 15 hits.

Reliever James DeCremer (Oregon State) inherited a bases-loaded, no-out situation in the ninth and retired the Pickles without giving up a run. He struck out two and earned Washington Park Advisors Player of the Game honors.

Portland, which joined the league in 2018, will host North Division champion Wenatchee on Aug. 16, seeking its first WCL title. The AppleSox, who eliminated Bellingham 1-0 in their title matchup, won titles in 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010 and 2012 under current Knights associate head coach Ed Knaggs.

The crowd of 1,269 raised the final season total to 53,960 in 35 dates, an average of 1,542 per opening.

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