Spring Break
Knights streaking through summer
Large winning streak has been full of team, individual highlights for Corvallis Knights
Casey Grogan
Issue date: 7/1/09 Section: Sports
"This was only my second start of the summer and the first one was kind of decent," Andriese said after the game. "This start I felt really comfortable. I had a lot of time between starts and I just wanted to come out and pound strikes. I wanted to play to the wood bat and make them swing early."
The performance earned Andriese honors as the West Coast League Player of the Week, the second of the season for the Knights after Oregon State-bound Taylor Ard earned the honors during week one of the season.
Andriese and the rest of the pitching staff have been benefactors of the top defensive team in the league. The Knights have only made ten errors as of June 29.
"We have the core back from last year," said returning Knights infielder Josh Hogan. "That has kind of spread to everybody and this team really gels together."
During the 14-game winning streak, many individual Knights have had streaks of their own. Outfielder John Desmarais went on a seven-game hitting streak, while Brent Warren extended his streak to seven games on Monday. Western Oregon's Billy Clontz surpassed a five-game streak from earlier in the season with his six-game streak through Monday night.
At the plate, two of the top hitters in the league wear Knights across their chest. Ard and infielder Richie Jimenez lead the squad in hitting, while Clontz leads the league in runs scored. Outfielder Pat Colwell of San Diego State is one of the top players in the RBI category.
Pitchers Dustin Emmons and Gaviglio have the lowest ERA's in the WCL.
"Last year we had a lot of power pitchers," said Liam Baron, a holdover from last years championship team. "This year we have a lot of guys with great control who get the job done. Our offense comes through all the time. Being out there all the time, we have confidence that if we give up three runs our offense is going to bounce back and out-score the other team."
Not ready to put the season in cruise control, Team President Dan Segel recently made the acquisition of pitcher Tyler Anderson. The ace of the Oregon Ducks pitching staff earlier in the spring, Anderson will have strong support from his offense in Corvallis as the Knights currently lead the league in hitting.
"This pitching staff is already pretty good," Hogan said of adding his Oregon teammate. "He is just going to make it better, having another arm out there ready to go. He has really good stuff and a good mentality."
The Knights continue their massive streak of home games tonight in game three of a series with the RiverHawks. Thursday they play host to the Portland Lobos and meet the Bend Elks on Friday. Corvallis will be sent off on the road in style Friday night, when after the game there will be the first fireworks show of the year.
Corvallis hosts Spokane tonight at 6:35 p.m. and Portland at 6:35 Thursday. Friday night's game will begin at 7:05 p.m., with fireworks beginning right after the final out.
Casey Grogan, sports editor
sports@dailybarometer.com
The performance earned Andriese honors as the West Coast League Player of the Week, the second of the season for the Knights after Oregon State-bound Taylor Ard earned the honors during week one of the season.
Andriese and the rest of the pitching staff have been benefactors of the top defensive team in the league. The Knights have only made ten errors as of June 29.
"We have the core back from last year," said returning Knights infielder Josh Hogan. "That has kind of spread to everybody and this team really gels together."
During the 14-game winning streak, many individual Knights have had streaks of their own. Outfielder John Desmarais went on a seven-game hitting streak, while Brent Warren extended his streak to seven games on Monday. Western Oregon's Billy Clontz surpassed a five-game streak from earlier in the season with his six-game streak through Monday night.
At the plate, two of the top hitters in the league wear Knights across their chest. Ard and infielder Richie Jimenez lead the squad in hitting, while Clontz leads the league in runs scored. Outfielder Pat Colwell of San Diego State is one of the top players in the RBI category.
Pitchers Dustin Emmons and Gaviglio have the lowest ERA's in the WCL.
"Last year we had a lot of power pitchers," said Liam Baron, a holdover from last years championship team. "This year we have a lot of guys with great control who get the job done. Our offense comes through all the time. Being out there all the time, we have confidence that if we give up three runs our offense is going to bounce back and out-score the other team."
Not ready to put the season in cruise control, Team President Dan Segel recently made the acquisition of pitcher Tyler Anderson. The ace of the Oregon Ducks pitching staff earlier in the spring, Anderson will have strong support from his offense in Corvallis as the Knights currently lead the league in hitting.
"This pitching staff is already pretty good," Hogan said of adding his Oregon teammate. "He is just going to make it better, having another arm out there ready to go. He has really good stuff and a good mentality."
The Knights continue their massive streak of home games tonight in game three of a series with the RiverHawks. Thursday they play host to the Portland Lobos and meet the Bend Elks on Friday. Corvallis will be sent off on the road in style Friday night, when after the game there will be the first fireworks show of the year.
Corvallis hosts Spokane tonight at 6:35 p.m. and Portland at 6:35 Thursday. Friday night's game will begin at 7:05 p.m., with fireworks beginning right after the final out.
Casey Grogan, sports editor
sports@dailybarometer.com
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