Corvallis Quest for Eight Straight Begins with First-Round Playoff Series Versus Rival Ridgefield

Friday, August 9, Corvallis, Ore. – The Knights did it again. The seven-time defending West Coast League champions qualified for the WCL post-season for a 17^th consecutive time and posted the league’s top mark for a 5^th straight season.

Corvallis embarks on another championship run against a very good Ridgefield Raptors team. While the Knights took all six regular-season games against the Raptors this summer, five of the matches were decided by two or less runs.

This past Monday in Victoria, the Knights clinched the best record in the WCL by edging the HarbourCats, 5-3, to ensure homefield advantage throughout the playoffs.

After dropping two consecutive games at Bend July 20-21, the Knights won its last six series going 12-3 over that stretch.

Corvallis is the #1 seed in the WCL South Divisional Series thanks to a blistering start where the Knights went 22-5 to capture the first-half South title.

As tradition, pitching and defense led the charge for the Knights, as Corvallis finished with the second lowest ERA in the league at 3.04 and posted the fourth highest fielding percentage at .971. Offensively, the Knights hit .275 as a team, the third highest average in the league. Corvallis also registered the league’s top road record at 20-7.

The Knights strength is up-the-middle as the team’s end-of-season rotation settled with WCL All-Stars Ty Yukumoto (Gonzaga) at shortstop, Blake Wilson (Washington) in center field and Kevin Takeuchi (USC) at second base.

Tyler Howard (Portland) and Luke Lavin (Stanford) have been stellar at catcher, along with reserve Cole Snidow. Knights catchers allowed the least number of passed balls with five and opponents only stole 59 bases versus Corvallis, the second lowest number in the WCL.

Takeuchi powered the offense, leading the league in RBIs with 45 and the team in WCL batting average (.323), homers (5), doubles (16) and games played (53).

While Takeuchi was the Knights big hitter, Yukumoto ignited things for Corvallis. Ty led the club in runs scored with 45, walks with 38 and stolen bases with 21. Overall, counting non-league contests, Yukumoto’s .336 batting average was a team best and he swiped 29 bags in total.

Wilson has been productive hitting third in the Corvallis order, batting .287 with 13 doubles, 2 triples and 16 stolen bases. Blake also shined at shortstop this summer.

Lavin has heated up at the plate, as the left-handed hitter finished the WCL season with a .250 average, 7 doubles and 23 RBIs. Howard hit .255 with 4 doubles and 14 RBIs, and Snidow hit .273.

Over the latter half of the season, Thomas Ferroggiaro (Santa Clara) locked down third base and the lead-off spot. The switch-hitter has played stellar defense while hitting .295 with 19 stolen bases.

WCL All-Star Brandon Cabrera (Lewis-Clark State) has been just that, an all-star, hitting .314 with 15 doubles, 2 homers, 30 RBIs and 18 stolen bases while shining on defense in the outfield.

Left-handed hitting Quin Dufort (Portland) and righty Colter McAnelly (Utah) have shared first base duties. Both have been steady defensively and key offensive contributors. Dufort hit .299 with 24 RBIs in WCL play. Overall, Quin batted .309 with 29 RBIs. McAnelly batted .273 with 3 doubles, 2 triples and 21 RBIs in league action. Adding non-league stats, Colter hit .311 with 8 doubles and 28 RBIs.

Utility man Kasen Khansarinia (UCLA) played all over the field this summer but should be slated for right field in the post-season. Over the WCL regular season, Kasen hit .277 with 5 doubles, 14 stolen bases and led the team in HBP with 10. Overall, Khansarinia batted .284 with 7 doubles, 20 stolen bases and 17 RBIs.

Coach Knight’s bench is solid featuring slick-fielding and exceptional bunter infielder Peyton Miller (Gonzaga) and slugging outfielders CJ Colyer (Utah Valley), Kellen Segel (Linn-Benton CC) and Ben Leid (Central Washington).

Overall, Miller hit .245; Colyer batted .189 with 2 homers, 7 stolen bases and 25 RBIs; Segel hit .288 with a homer, 10 stolen bases and 17 RBIs; and Leid went 5-for-23 with 3 RBIs.

On the mound, Corvallis has thrown lots of strikes under new pitching coach Cole Stringer (Linn-Benton CC). The Knights staff walked only 221 batters this regular season, a league low mark.

WCL All-Stars Tyner Horn (Nebraska), Kaden Segel (Portland) and James DeCremer (Oregon State) anchor the staff.

Horn is Saturday’s probable starter at Ridgefield Outdoor Recreation Complex. He made 9 appearances and 7 starts this summer, leading the team in strikeouts with 39 while posting a 2.20 ERA and going 1-0 with a save over 32.2 innings pitched. Tyner threw a scoreless inning at the WCL All-Star Game at Bellingham’s Joe Martin Stadium broadcast on MLB Network.

Segel is Sunday’s probable starter at Goss Stadium. He made 11 appearances and 5 starts and led the club with 39 innings pitched. He posted a regular-season ERA of 1.84 and went 5-0 with 2 saves while walking 5 and striking out 30. Kaden started the WCL All-Star Game for the South and tossed two scoreless innings.

The staff is deep with Cohen Gomez (Stanford) and James DeCremer both finishing strong with quality outings and Payton Riske (Utah) who led the club in starts with 9. Gomez went 2-0 with a 3.30 ERA over 32.2 innings pitched. DeCremer made 8 appearances, 7 starts and struck out 24 over 23.1 innings while posting a 3.85 ERA. Riske went 2-2 with a 4.37 ERA over 37 innings pitched.

The bullpen is loaded with options with lefties Caleb Debban (George Fox), Sean Wiese (Arizona Christian) and Dom Tatone (Western Oregon) and right-handers Garren Rizzo (USC), Gabe Hernandez (Cal State Northridge), CJ Colyer and recent addition Zack Johnson.

Debban blossomed this summer, posting a miniscule 1.18 ERA over 12 appearances, 3 starts and 30.1 innings pitched. The southpaw went 4-1 with two saves while striking out 26. Counting his two appearances in non-league play, Caleb posted an overall 1.03 ERA with 33 strikeouts in total.

Wiese continued his mastery as a Knight, going 4-0 with a 2.01 ERA over 9 appearances and 22.1 innings pitched this regular season.

Tatone was a workhorse out of the pen, making 20 appearances and logging 34 innings while posting a 4-0 mark with a 3.44 ERA.

Hernandez emerged as a late season closer and tied for the West Coast League lead in appearances with 21. He went 4-1 with 3 saves and posted a 2.20 ERA over 36.2 innings pitched.

Rizzo struck out 24 over 10 relief appearances and 18 innings pitched. He tied Segel for the team lead in wins with 5 and recorded a 2.00 ERA.

Colyer made 12 relief appearances and went 1-0 with a save. He posted a 1.10 ERA over 16.1 innings pitched.

Johnson has been impressive in his three relief appearances, earning two wins while allowing no runs and striking out 7 over six innings pitched.

Six Knights have WCL post-season experience with Yukumoto, Howard, Kellen Segel, Kaden Segel, Wiese and Johnson all playing key roles on last season’s championship club.

Corvallis lost its opening playoff game on the road the past two years making for elimination games thereafter at Goss Stadium.

They hope to buck that trend Saturday versus Ridgefield.

It will be a stiff test as the Raptors feature a team loaded with talent.

Like the Knights, Ridgefield is strong up-the-middle with catcher Luke Iverson (Utah Valley) and center fielder Dasan Harris (Oklahoma) being plus defenders. Iverson represented the South in the WCL All-Star Game and is hitting .293 with 11 doubles, 2 homers and 28 RBIs.

Raptors second baseman Taylor Takata (Hawaii) has been Ridgefield’s sparkplug. He is hitting .323 and has played stellar defense.

Ridgefield’s big hitter is Hunter Katschke (Utah Tech). The right-handed hitting slugger leads the West Coast League in homers with 9 and is hitting .367 with 43 RBIs. He suffered a late season injury and his status for the playoffs is uncertain.

The Raptors will feature five players in the post-season that hit over .300 including Katschke, Takata, Harris (.306), Justin Stransky (.364) and Colby Wallace (.343).

Stransky (Fresno State) is one of the top hitters in the WCL and is second on the club with 34 RBIs, 4 homers and 10 stolen bases. Wallace (Washington) debuted on July 4 and has hit 3 homers in 70 at bats.

Late in the season, Ridgefield added two slugging first basemen of note, Doyle Kane (UC San Diego) and Safea Mauai (Chaminade).

Ridgefield pitching is led by WCL All-Star Curtis Hebert (Portland), Dylan Stewart (Pepperdine), southpaw Carson Revay (Fresno State) and reliever Camden Oram (Linfield).

Revay tied for the team lead in wins with 4 and was second on the staff in strikeouts with 29. Oram led the Raptors in saves with 3 and went 2-1 with a 2.28 ERA. Stewart made 5 starts and struck out 26 over 25 innings pitched and posted a 1.44 ERA.

The Raptors have been managed by Chris Cota (College of the Canyons) since their club’s inception in 2019. Ridgefield has made the playoffs four consecutive years and finished this season 31-23 overall. The Portland Pickles (40-14) won the WCL South second-half title and will play the Bend Elks (32-22) in their South Divisional Series.

Game one of the Knights and Raptors series is set for Saturday, August 10 at Ridgefield. The first pitch for all series games is 6:35 pm. Game two is scheduled for Sunday, August 11 at Goss Stadium in Corvallis. If a game three is necessary, it will be at Goss on Monday, August 12.