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 West Coast League

Post from the Coast: The WCL on OSC

by Bruce Baskin
August 13, 2014 - West Coast League (WCL)


CORVALLIS SLIPS PAST BEND, 2-1, IN WCL SEMI OPENER

Defending champion Corvallis made a successful start to their bid for a repeat pennant by squeaking out a 2-1 win at Bend Tuesday in Vince Genna Stadium. 3B Jackson Soto (Oregon St) had two hits for the Knights, including the go-ahead single that broke a 1-1 tie in the eighth inning.

Bend RF Billy King (Oregon St) opened the game's scoring with a homer in the bottom of the fourth off Corvallis opener Angel Landazuri (UC Riverside), but the Knights fought back to tie it in the fifth after C Dane Lund (Oregon St) doubled, moved to third on an error by Elks P Jesse Pratt (W Oregon) and scored on 1B Dalton Kelly's (UCSB) sacrifice fly. Corvallis took the lead in the eighth when Soto singled in 2B Marc Gallegos (Corban) from second. That was enough as Knights P Chris Bishop (Pacific Lutheran) completed three scoreless innings out of the bullpen to seal the win for the road team. Landazuri and Bishop combined to allow the single run on five hits. Bend's usual closer, Kevin Sheets (Abilene Christian) worked three innings and allowed the final Corvallis run for the loss.

The two teams head west for Game Two of the series on Wednesday night in Corvallis. One more win would put the Knights in their sixth WCL Final in the last seven seasons, resulting in three pennants. Bend lost to Wenatchee in 2010 on their only trip to the Championship Series.

BELLS PULL AWAY FROM PIPPINS, 4-1, BEHIND HEATH, LUDWIG

Some timely batting by 1B Scott Heath (Maine) and airtight relief work from LHP Dan Ludwig (Belmont) paced Bellingham's 4-1 win at Yakima Valley in the WCL opener for both teams. Heath doubled, tripled, scored twice and drove in a run. Ludwig relieved starter Eder Erives (Arizona St) in the seventh and retired all eight Yakima batters he faced, five on strikeouts.

The game was scoreless until Bellingham 2B Dylan Carroll (Utah) led off the top of the fourth inning with a homer off Pippins starter Andrew Woods (VMI). Carroll's only other home run of the WCL season came July 23, also in Yakima. The Bells added another run in the sixth when 1B Scott Heath (Maine) tripled off Woods and scored on a single by DH Danny Miller (Chico St).

The Pippins got a run back in the seventh when DH Reid Martinez (MO Western) plated a run on 2B Ryan Yamane's (N Colorado) groundout to second, but the Bells responded one inning later when Heath doubled off reliever Conner Lau (Yakima Valley CC) and scored two outs later on RF Walker Olin's (Pacific) single to make it 3-1 for the visitors. Bellingham added an insurance run in the ninth when Heath's sacrifice fly to right brought in C Eric Webber (Georgetown) from third.

The two teams head across the Cascades to Bellingham for Wednesday's Game Two. The Bells seek their first Final appearance since the WCL's inaugural year of 2005, when they lost to Wenatchee in two straight games.

KNAGGS STEPS DOWN AFTER 14 SEASONS IN WENATCHEE

After serving as head coach of the Wenatchee AppleSox since 2001, Ed Knaggs is stepping down. Knaggs won five West Coast League titles between 2005 and 2012 after leading the team to the Pacific International League pennant and a berth at the National Baseball Congress World Series in 2003. Knaggs received or shared three WCL Coach of the Year awards. Eight of the 379 players he coached over the past 14 years have appeared in the major leagues, including Toronto outfielder Cole Gillespie and Oakland pitcher Jason Hammel, with more working their way through the minors. The AppleSox have never had a losing season under Knaggs, finishing 30-24 in 2014.

The Cal-Irvine product also coached Wenatchee High School's baseball team for 22 years.

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