Sherwood stands out, Knights claim series

Sunday, June 14, Bend, Ore.  – Pitcher Matthew Sherwood excelled and the Knights blasted Bend 8-3 in the rubber game of their West Coast League series at Vince Genna Stadium.

The Knights (10-5, 9-5 WCL) remained in second place in the Southern Division, 1.5 games behind Ridgefield.

The 2025 Northwest Conference Pitcher of the Year at Pacific Lutheran, Sherwood (pictured, above) retired the first 14 Elks in order and allowed one run and three hits over six innings in his strongest start of the season.

Sherwood struck out six and did not issue a walk. He threw 47 strikes in 66 pitches and face only 21 batters, three over the six-inning minimum.

Colin Nowaczyk (Nebraska) went two innings and Zane Garvey (Western Oregon) pitched the ninth to close it out.

Incoming Stanford shortstop Archer Horn completed a stellar series by going 2-for-4 with two runs, two RBIs and a stolen base. He had two doubles, a homer and eight RBIs in the three games.

Carter Stewart (Portland) was 2-for-4 with a run and an RBI. Joey Marasco (George Fox) and Tate Hammond (incoming UCLA) had two RBIs apiece.

The Knights never trailed. They loaded the bases with two outs in the second and Horn sent them ahead 2-0 with an RBI single. Consecutive errors in center field gave the Knights a third run in the fourth inning.

An error and three walks led to two more runs in the fifth for a 5-0 margin at the halfway mark. Bend scored once in the sixth to trim the deficit to 5-1 but the Knights responded with two more runs in the seventh to restore a comfortable 7-1 advantage. Stewart had an RBI single and Marasco followed with a sacrifice fly.

The Elks scored twice in the seventh, cutting the lead to 7-3. However, Hammond’s sacrifice fly in the ninth gave the Knights another insurance run and the final 8-3 cushion.

The game ended a stretch that saw the Knights play 12 of their first 14 games on the road. They return home on June 15 for a 6:35 p.m. battle with the Marion Berries; Corvallis won the first two games of the series on June 10-11.

It’s the opener of a nine-game homestand that concludes on June 25. The Knights host three-game series against Nanaimo (June 16-18) and Edmonton (June 19-21) and then finish up with nonleague games on June 24 and June 25.

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