Stancato’s Grand Slam Sparks Knights to 7-2 Nonleague Win

Monday, July 5, Corvallis, Ore. – Kyler Stancato’s grand slam led the Knights to a 7-2 victory over the Cascade Collegiate League All-Stars before a Military Appreciation Night crowd of 1,121 at Goss Stadium.

A rising sophomore outfielder at Washington State from Glendale, Ariz., Stancato drove a pitch well into the right-field grandstands in the sixth inning. It broke the game open, expanding the Knights’ lead from 3-1 to 7-1.

The game was tied 1-1 before Corvallis separated in the sixth. A triple by Braden Boisvert (Oregon State) drove in the go-ahead run; three consecutive walks made it 3-1 before Stancato cleared the bases with his first homer of the summer.

“Bases loaded, I’m looking to get a pitch to hit  and just got an inside fastball,” he said. “It was a good moment, there was an awesome crowd. It felt awesome touching every base, the crowd and the team getting after it.”

The win gave the Knights (18-6 WCL, 20-7 overall) their fifth consecutive victory in all competition.

Lefty Colton Meyer (Linfield), the third and most effective of four Corvallis pitchers, was credited with the win. He got the final out of the fifth to escape a bases-loaded jam and blanked Cascade on one hit over 2.1 innings.

Kiko Romero (Central Arizona JC) drove in the Knights’ first run with a third-inning single. Cascade parlayed some wildness by the Knights’ bullpen into the tying run in the fifth inning.

Based in Western Washington, the Cascade Collegiate League was established in 2018 to provide junior college, NAIA and NCAA players an opportunity to compete in during June and July. Teams are managed by current and former collegiate coaches.

The Knights host longtime WCL rival Bellingham on Tuesday through Thursday; each game starts at 6:35 p.m. Tuesday’s probable starters are Gonzaga lefty Bradley Mullan (1-0, 1.92) for the Knights, opposed by Stanford righty Joey Dixon (0-0, 0.00) for the Bells.

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