Friday, June 7, Yakima, Wash. – The host Yakima Valley Pippins handed the Knights their first loss of the season by posting a 6-5 victory before a crowd of 775 on a hot, 87-degree night at Yakima County Stadium.
Yakima Valley scored the decisive run in the bottom of the ninth, breaking a 5-5 tie and snapping the Knights season-opening winning streak at six games in a row. Corvallis had also won its first five West Coast League games of the summer.
The Knights (6-1, 5-1 WCL) built an early 4-1 lead but fell behind 5-4 when the Pippins scored four times in the sixth inning. Yakima Valley protected that advantage until the ninth, when the Knights scored to tie the game, setting up the walk-off scenario in the home half of the inning.
Catcher Cole Snidow (Phoenix College, picture above) was 1-for-3 with a double and two RBIs. Left fielder Kellen Segel (LBCC) doubled and scored twice and infielder Kevin Takeuchi (USC), DH Tyler Howard (Portland) and center fielder Brandon Cabrera (Lewis-Clark State) each had two hits and a run.
Cal State-Northridge right-hander Lucas Casey gave up one run over four innings in his starting debut, allowing one hit with one strikeout. Reliever Gabe Hernandez (Cal State Northridge) held the Pippins scoreless for three innings before being touched for the winning run in the ninth.
Game 2 of the series is set for 6:35 p.m. June 8. Payton Riske (0-0, 0.00) of Utah will start for the Knights opposite Colton LaFave (0-0, 7.71) of Central Arizona College. The probables for Game 3 on June 9 are Kaden Segel (1-0, 1.92) of Portland for Corvallis and Quentin O’Connor (0-0, 0.00) of Whitworth for the Pippins.
Corvallis is idle on June 10, then travels to Portland (June 11-13) for a series with the Pickles that completes its season-opening four-city, 12-game road trip.
Corvallis kicks off the home portion of the season on Friday, June 14 when they host the Port Angeles Lefties in a 6:35 p.m. contest at Goss Stadium.