As the sun set on the final day of July, the Corvallis Knights earned a 14-0 win against the Walla Walla Sweets in front of their home crowd at Goss Stadium at Coleman Field. Improving to 36-12, earning first overall in the south division and remaining atop the league, while dropping the Sweets to 16-32.
The Knights welcomed fans for their “dress-up” night and, to round out the festivities, rewarded the eager crowd of over 1,200 with a victory.
The Knights got out to a fast lead, jumping to 2-0 to end the first inning. Highlighted by Ty Yukumoto and Kevin Takeuchi stealing home base. However, following the quick start, the teams hit a stalemate as both groups traded back-and-forth strikeouts. Keeping the score at 2-0, favoring Corvallis.
Until the bottom of the fourth, when Ben Leid sent one flying off a fastball, allowing Tyler Howard to run another one home, improving the score to 3-0 with five innings left to play. At this point, the Knights had three runs and five hits, matching the zero runs and merely one hit of the Sweets.
The Knights pitchers were having fantastic outings until this point, with three strikeouts for Cohen Gomez and one for Zach Jonhson. This set the tone early that Corvallis was not letting up anytime soon, and the Knights’ defense was also perfect to match.
Corvallis now held the game in their favor, boasting three players batting .300 plus at this time, Yukumoto and Takeuchi batting at least over .320, and Brandon Cabrera batting at .303.
However, just as the Sweets started to slow down the Knights momentum, and the crowd settled down. All would be for nothing as Colter McAnelly would walk to improve the score to 4-0 at the bottom of the fifth. Which would soon continue to pile up following another foul ball, allowing Ben Leid to walk and advance the score to a heavy 5-0 lead atop the sixth.
With a strong lead, the Knights continued to pile on for the remainder of the game. The last three innings were a slugfest for Walla Walla and a triumph for Corvallis as the floodgates opened. Another whopping nine runs were scored, including eight in the bottom of the eighth.
When the smoke cleared, the Knights would sprint their way to a 14-0 victory. Great outfield defense and a strong pitching game were a part of this win. Gomez and Johnson combined for eight strikeouts. They were a key piece in setting an early statement of how the game would go. Thomas Ferroggiaro and Cabrera led the team with three runs.
The Knights were galloping high after a vital runaway win, and Brandon Cabrera echoed this.
“A strong finish for sure, I like what we had pulled off near the end together as a team. Getting run after run. Just a great finish overall,” said Cabrera. “You love to see the guys get so hyped, especially before tomorrow’s game as well. We can definitely still work on some things but for now we can just enjoy the win.”
The Knights have now beaten the Sweets in their last five matchups, with an overall score of 54-6, cementing themselves as the top dog in their matchups.
The Knights’ next matchup has them set up back home to play the Cascade Collegiate League on August 1. As they still sit atop the league with their current record of 36 wins and aim to hold this lead as the season progresses.
