Wiese shines but Sweets hand Knights first loss of season

Tuesday, June 21, Corvallis, Ore.  – Walla Walla edged Corvallis 2-1 before a crowd of 1,347 at Goss Stadium, handing the Knights their first loss of the young West Coast League season.

All the scoring came in the third inning. The Knights (9-2 all, 9-1 WCL) had six baserunners from that point forward, but could not push across the tying run.

Reliever Sean Wiese (pictured, above) closed the game with four scoreless innings to keep the Knights within striking distance. The future University of Hawaii lefty, who began his career at George Fox, allowed two hits, struck out four and did not walk a man.

Wiese faced the minimum of 12 batters, thanks to a pair of double plays, one he started by snaring a line drive and doubling a runner off of first base to end the sixth inning. He has not allowed a run in 10 innings over four appearances.

Spencer Scott (Portland) scored the Knights run. He singled leading off the third, advanced to second on a wild pickoff attempt and then scored on a throwing error by the pitcher on a base-hit bunt by Mason Le (CSU Northridge).

The series resumes at 6:35 p.m. Wednesday and concludes at 6:35 p.m. Thursday. Washington State righty Duke Brotherton (1-0, 0.00), the current WCL Pitcher of the Week is the Knights probable starting pitcher on Wednesday, opposed by Washington State righty Tyler Hoeft (0-0, 12.60) for the Sweets.

Thursday, Ryan Brown (0-0, 9-0) makes his first start for Corvallis. Southern University righty Anthony Fidanza (0-0, 9.00) is the probable for the Sweets.

The Knights then close out their opening homestand against longtime WCL rival Bellingham, the North Division leader, on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The probable starting rotation is Oregon State righty Ian Lawson (0-0, 0.00), Utah righty Jaden Harris (0-0, 4.76) and Nathan DeSchryver of Gonzaga.

In other Knights-related news on Tuesday, Cal Poly shortstop Brooks Lee and Stanford right-handed pitcher Alex Williams were named first-team All-Americans by the College Baseball Foundation. They helped lead the Knights to the 2019 West Coast League championship.

A native of San Luis Obispo who played for the Knights before his freshman season with the Mustangs, Lee hit .357 in 2022, with 15 homers and 55 RBIs. He was named the Big West Conference Field Player of the Year and is a finalist for the Brooks Wallace Award, given annually to the top collegiate shortstop.

Lee hit .333 and had three homers, 35 RBIs and 36 runs for the 2019 Knights. He was a first-team WCL all-star and was ranked as the league’s top pro prospect. The son of longtime Cal Poly coach/Knights partner Larry Lee, he is ranked as the No. 5 prospect in this year’s MLB draft by MLB.com.

A Castro Valley, Calif., native, Williams earned Pacific-12 Conference Pitcher of the Year honors by going 8-1 with a 1.98 ERA in 15 games, with 84 strikeouts in 91 innings. He had two complete games, and one shutout while helping the Cardinal win the Pac-12 regular-season and tournament championships.

Williams appeared in seven games for the 2019 Knights following his freshman season at Stanford and was 1-0 with an 0.96 ERA. He had three saves, struck out 13 and allowed only five hits in 9.1 innings.

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