Ainsworth steps down as Knights' trainer

Happy Friday everyone, from the home of your 2016 West Coast League champions!

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Longtime Knights' trainer Jeremy Ainsworth has stepped down after 10 years with the team to focus on his new position as an athletic trainer at Oregon State.

An OSU graduate, Ainsworth joined the Knights after they relocated to Corvallis from Gresham for the 2007 season. He was responsible for game training, medical coverage, treatment, and coordinating additional care for the Knights. He often helped out the opposing team as well, if asked.

For more on Jeremy's decision, please click here for an informative story from our website.

All the best to a quality trainer and an even better person.

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Time to update the stats of our two alums in the Australian Baseball League.

* NICK RUPPERT (2013): The outfielder from Dartmouth is playing for the Perth Heat. He is hitting .258 (16-62) in 18 games, with no homers and seven RBIs, but is on the 10-day DL.

* DEVON BARKER (2012-13): The left-handed pitcher from Centralia CC was 0-0, 5.06 in four appearances with seven strikeouts in 5.1 innings before being re-assigned by the Adelaide Bite.

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Season tickets for the 2017 season are now on sale. To check out your many options and to purchase 2017 season tickets, please click here.

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The Knights are looking for a seasoned Food & Beverage Director to lead our concessions and hospitality operations. The role is part-time and will be paid hourly. Previous experience managing staff and overseeing a food and alcohol operation is required.

This position oversees all aspects of our food and alcohol operation. Please click here for full details.

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Things are pretty slow on the Knights front right now, so that is all for today. Have a great weekend, and we will see you again on Tuesday.

Knights' 2017 roster now complete

Happy Tuesday and Happy New Year, everyone, from the home of your 2016 West Coast League champions!

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The signing of pitcher Alex Perron of the College of Southern Idaho, announced here last week, completes our roster for the 2017 season, which begins on June 2 with the opener of a three-game series with the Cowlitz Black Bears at Longview, Wash.

We play our first nine league games on the road, as Goss Stadium must remain fee for potential Oregon State NCAA Regional and Super Regional games. We host the Portland Sea Dogs on June 7 in our annual SEAS game; our WCL home opener is June 14 against the Port Angeles Lefties, the former Kitsap BlueJackets.

The season opener is less than six months away!

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The 2017 Knights will feature 10 returnees from the club that defeated Bellingham 2-0 in the 2016 WCL Championship Series to capture our fourth title.

They are pitchers Jacob Fricke, Grant Goodman, Aaron Pope, Ty Fox, Cameron Richman, Tanner Howell and Louis Crow; catcher/first baseman Zak Taylor, infielder Matt Kelly and outfielder Emilio Alcantar.

For more on the 2017 roster, please click here for an informative story from our website.

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Season tickets for the 2017 season are now on sale. If you purchase your season tickets before the end of 2016, you will save $10 off each full-season ticket order. To check out your many options and to purchase 2017 season tickets, please click here.

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The Knights are looking for a seasoned Food & Beverage Director to lead our concessions and hospitality operations. The role is part-time and will be paid hourly. Previous experience managing staff and overseeing a food and alcohol operation is required.

This position oversees all aspects of our food and alcohol operation. Please click here for full details.

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Things are pretty slow on the Knights front right now, so that is all for today, and this year. Have a great week, and we will see you again on Friday.

Oregon honors 2016 intern Zoe Raiter

Happy Friday everyone, from the home of your 2016 West Coast League champions!

Our last blog of 2016 will be brief, as news is sparse this week. But here goes!

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We have some great news to report from our 2016 intern staff. Zoe Raiter was recently profiled by the University of Oregon's Lundquist College of Business as an emerging leader. For complete details on Zoe's honor, please click here.

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Time to update the stats of our two alums in the Australian Baseball League.

* NICK RUPPERT (2013): The outfielder from Dartmouth is playing for the Perth Heat. He is hitting .258 (16-62) in 18 games, with no homers and seven RBIs.

* DEVON BARKER (2012-13): The left-handed pitcher from Centralia CC is 0-0, 5.06 in four appearances with seven strikeouts in 5.1 innings. He plays for the Adelaide Bite.

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Season tickets for the 2017 season are now on sale. If you purchase your season tickets before the end of 2016, you will save $10 off each full-season ticket order. To check out your many options and to purchase 2017 season tickets, please click here.

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The Knights are looking for a seasoned Food & Beverage Director to lead our concessions and hospitality operations. The role is part-time and will be paid hourly. Previous experience managing staff and overseeing a food and alcohol operation is required.

This position oversees all aspects of our food and alcohol operation. Please click here for full details.

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Things are pretty slow on the Knights front right now, so that is all for today, and this year. Have a great weekend, and we will see you again on Tuesday with the first blog of 2017!

Pepperdine signee Perron to join Knights in 2017

Happy Monday/Tuesday everyone, from the home of your 2016 West Coast League champions!

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The Knights have signed sophomore right-handed pitcher Alex Perron of the College of Southern Idaho for the 2017 season. He is a 6-foot-1, 170-pounder from Bishop Gorman High School in Las Vegas who has signed to play at Pepperdine in 2017-18.

He was 2-6, 9.53 in 14 appearances as a freshman at CSI in 2016, with 37 strikeouts in 34 innings.

Welcome to the Knights, Alex.

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Alum Gus Craig (2013) was released by the Seattle Mariners earlier this month. The former Columbia University star, from Eugene, played for two seasons at the Rookie and Class A level. He hit .225 (58-258), with six homers and 28 RBIs for Clinton in the Midwest League in 2016.

A 30th-round pick in the 2015 MLB draft, Gus played at four levels (Rookie, short-season A, low A and advanced A) and was a career .262 (111-423) hitter in 120 games, with nine homers and 52 RBIs.

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MLB and the Cleveland Indians have suspended alum Dakody Clemmer (2015) for 50 games for a second positive test for a drug of abuse.

A 19th-round pick in the June, 2016 draft, he posted a 7.71 ERA over 17 relief appearances with the Arizona Rookie League Indians last summer. He turns 21 in January and will have to serve the suspension at the start of the season.

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Season tickets for the 2017 season are now on sale. If you purchase your season tickets before the end of 2016, you will save $10 off each full-season ticket order. To check out your many options and to purchase 2017 season tickets, please click here.

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The Knights are looking for a seasoned Food & Beverage Director to lead our concessions and hospitality operations. The role is part-time and will be paid hourly. Previous experience managing staff and overseeing a food and alcohol operation is required.

This position oversees all aspects of our food and alcohol operation. Please click here for full details.

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Things are pretty slow on the Knights front right now, so that is all for today. Have a great week, and we will see you again on Friday with our final blog for 2017!

Rays invite Dalton Kelly to spring training

Happy Friday everyone, from the home of your 2016 West Coast League champions!

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Alum Dalton Kelly (2014) has been invited to spring training by the Tampa Bay Rays, who obtained him earlier this year in a trade with Seattle.

Dalton played at Clinton (A Midwest) in 2016 and hit .293 (141-481) in 130 games, with seven homers and 58 RBIs. He was a 38th-round draft pick in 2015, out of UC Santa Barbara. He was first-team all-WCL as a utility player and was the league's No. 5 prospect by Baseball America and Perfect Game.

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Time to update the stats of our two alums in the Australian Baseball League.

* NICK RUPPERT (2013): The outfielder from Dartmouth is playing for the Perth Heat and is hitting .276 (16-58) in 17 games, with no homers and seven RBIs.

* DEVON BARKER (2012-13): The left-handed pitcher from Centralia CC is 0-0, 5.06 in four appearances with seven strikeouts in 5.1 innings. He plays for the Adelaide Bite.

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Alum Matt Hague (2005) has signed a minor-league deal with the Minnesota Twins after playing in Japan in 2016 with the Hanshin Tigers. He was an International League all-star in 2015 and has MLB experience with Pittsburgh and Toronto.

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Season tickets for the 2017 season are now on sale. If you purchase your season tickets before the end of 2016, you will save $10 off each full-season ticket order. To check out your many options and to purchase 2017 season tickets, please click here.

-----------------------------------

The Knights are looking for a seasoned Food & Beverage Director to lead our concessions and hospitality operations. The role is part-time and will be paid hourly. Previous experience managing staff and overseeing a food and alcohol operation is required.

This position oversees all aspects of our food and alcohol operation. Please click here for full details.

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Things are pretty slow on the Knights front right now, so that is all for today. Have a great weekend, and we will see you again on Tuesday!

Knights add Cal Poly infielder Kuzma

Happy Tuesday everyone, from the home of your 2016 West Coast League champions!

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We have some more roster news to announce.

The Knights have signed freshman shortstop/second baseman Jack Kuzma of Cal Poly for the 2017 season. He is a 6-2, 192-pounder from Minnetonka High School in Minnetonka, Minn. A May signee with the Mustangs who will be a teammate with 2017 Knight Connor Redmond and alums Scott Ogrin, Josh George, Alec Smith, Slater Lee and Craig Colen, he bats and throws right-handed.

Kuzma helped lead the Minnetonka Skippers to the sectional playoffs as a senior, junior and sophomore. He was first-team All-Lake Conference and first-team All-West Metro Section in 2016 and 2015. He also played hockey for MHS, and for the Excelsior American Legion team. Minnetonka is a Minneapolis suburb, just west of the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport on Interstate 494.

Welcome to the Knights, Jack.

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Alum Alex Burg (2008) has re-signed a minor-league deal with the Texas Rangers. He played at triple-A Round Rock and double-A Frisco in 2016 and hit a combined .215 (58-270) in 79 games, with seven homers and 38 RBIs.

Alex played at Washington State and was the MVP of our 2008 WCL championship team. He's a .260 hitter in 552 minor-league games, with 69 homers and 277 RBIs. He was originally drafted by the San Francisco Giants in the 24th round in 2009 and has also played in the Miami organization.

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Season tickets for the 2017 season are now on sale. If you purchase your season tickets before the end of 2016, you will save $10 off each full-season ticket order. To check out your many options and to purchase 2017 season tickets, please click here.

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Things are pretty slow on the Knights front right now, so that is all for today. Have a great week, and we will see you again on Friday!

Knights announce front office changes

Happy Friday everyone, from the home of your 2016 West Coast League champions!

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We have some front office changes to announce.

The Knights have reconfigured their management team to better serve the best fans in the West Coast League.

Former team president Dan Segel is now the Chief Executive Officer of Knights Baseball Club, Inc. Bre Miller has been promoted to President/General Manager and Holly Jones has been promoted to the Chief Operating Officer of the Corvallis Knights.

Miller had served as the General Manager since Aug., 2012. Jones had served as the Senior Vice-President of Operations since Jan., 2015.

The changes are effective immediately. Here are complete details, from our website.

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More roster news to announce:

The Knights have signed future University of Oregon left-handed pitcher Kolby Somers for the 2017 season. He is a 6-foot-1, 200-pound senior at Century High School in Hillsboro.

A three-year letterman, he was named to the 2016 Oregon 6A all-state team as an outfielder. He was also a Metro League all-star as an outfielder and pitcher as a junior, when he hit .490 and had a 1.70 ERA and 78 strikeouts in 50 innings.

He also made the Oregon 6A all-state and all-league teams as a first baseman as a sophomore, when he hit .457 and had a 2.93 ERA with 62 strikeouts in 43 innings. He was honorable mention all-league as a freshman.

"We believe Kolby is one of the top 2017 prospects in Oregon and we are thrilled he chose the Ducks," Oregon coach George Horton said. "Kolby has the mentality and stuff to make an immediate impact for us."

The Knights have also signed junior infielder Kody Matthews of Marshall and freshman left-handed pitcher Dillon Larsen of Central Washington to a 10-day contracts.

A Roseburg High School grad, Marshall played at Mt. Hood CC and Missouri Western State before transferring to Marshall. He played for the Kelowna Falcons in 2014 and Medford Rogues in 2015.

Larsen is a 6-5, 200-pounder from Selah, Wash., who played at Ellensburg (Wash.) High School.

Welcome to the team, guys! We look forward to seeing you this summer.

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Former Corvallis pitcher Trevor Frank (2012) of UC Riverside was selected by the San Diego Padres from the Cleveland Indians as the third pick in the triple-A phase of the Rule 5 major-league draft on Dec. 8.

As a result, he is now on San Diego's 40-man major-league roster and almost certainly will play at the triple-A (El Paso) or double-A (San Antonio) level in 2017 after spending the past two seasons with Lynchburg, Cleveland's high-A Carolina affiliate.

Trevor was drafted in the eighth round by Cleveland in 2013 as the 231st overall selection. He was 1-1, 2.47 in 44 games in 2016, with 17 saves and 43 strikeouts and an excellent 0.916 WHIP in 43.2 innings. He is 7-11, 2.43 in 136 lifetime minor-league games, with 39 saves and an impressive 166-26 strikeout-walk ratio in 155.1 innings.

He was honorable-mention all-West Coast League in 2012 and was rated as the WCL's No. 14 pro prospect by Perfect Game after the season. He was 2-2, 1.52 in eight total games for us, with 28 strikeouts in 41.1 innings, highlighted by a 2-hit, one-run gem at Cowlitz in the opening game of the divisional playoff series.

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Season tickets for the 2017 season are now on sale. If you purchase your season tickets before the end of 2016, you will save $10 off each full-season ticket order. To check out your many options and to purchase 2017 season tickets, please click here.

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The Gresham GreyWolves have been sold. Here is more on that story, from Our Sports Central.

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Things are pretty slow on the Knights front right now, so that is all for today. Have a great weekend, and we will see you again on Tuesday!

Knights add three Anteaters for 2017

Happy Tuesday everyone, from the home of your 2016 West Coast League champions!

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More roster news to announce:

The Knights have signed sophomore left-handed pitcher Miles Glazier and freshmen pitchers Kaz Akamatsu and Cole Spear of University of California, Irvine, for the 2017 season.

Glazier is a 6-foot, 175-pounder from San Marino High School in San Marino, Calif. He was 2-0 with a 3.95 ERA in 26 relief appearances in 2016, with 21 strikeouts in 27.1 innings.

Akamatsu is a 6-1, 185-pounder from Edison High School in Huntington Beach, Calif. A pitcher/outfielder, he was a standout in the Sunset League. He played for the PTC Mazda club team, which was coached by former MLB pitcher Shigetoshi Hasegawa.

Spear is a 6-foot right-hander at Orange Lutheran High School in Orange, Calif., who had four wins and 25 strikeouts in 24 innings in 2016. A top pitcher in the Trinity League, he played club for the California Baseball Academy.

"He has the potential to be a weekend starter for us immediately," said UCI pitching coach/former Knight Daniel Bibona (2007). "He features a fastball that is in the upper 80s and can reach 90, a solid curveball and a change-up."

Welcome to the team, guys! We look forward to seeing you this summer.

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Time to update the stats of our two alums in the Australian Baseball League.

* NICK RUPPERT (2013): The outfielder from Dartmouth is playing for the Perth Heat and is hitting .283 (13-46) in 14 games, with no homers and six RBIs. For more on Ruppert, please click here.

* DEVON BARKER (2012-13): The left-handed pitcher from Centralia CC is 0-0, 5.06 in four appearances with seven strikeouts in 5.1 innings. He plays for the Adelaide Bite.

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Season tickets for the 2017 season are now on sale. If you purchase your season tickets before the end of 2016, you will save $10 off each full-season ticket order. To check out your many options and to purchase 2017 season tickets, please click here.

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Things are pretty slow on the Knights front right now, so that is all for today. Have a great week, and we will see you again on Friday!

OSU's Taylor, Willy, Malone to join Knights in 2017

Happy Friday everyone, from the home of your 2016 West Coast League champions!

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More roster news to announce:

Three members of the Oregon State Beavers will join the Knights for the 2017 West Coast League season. They are sophomore catcher/first baseman Zak Taylor, a returnee from the 2016 WCL championship team; freshman infielder Tyler Malone, and freshman outfielder Elliot Willy.

A graduate of Sherwood High School, Taylor was second-team all-WCL in 2016, when he hit .291 (51-175) in 50 total games, with a homer and 21 RBIs. He batted .309 in 40 league games and finished sixth in the WCL batting race. Taylor hit .125 (1-8) with three RBIs in seven games at OSU in 2016.

Willy is a Bend native and a Bend High graduate. He played for the hometown Elks in the WCL in 2016 and hit .246 (14-57) with a homer and five RBIs in 24 games. He earned all-league and all-state honors with the Lava Bears.

Malone is from Woodcreek High School in Roseville, Calif. He was all-city and all-league as a high school player. His father, Todd, played professionally in the New York Yankees organization from 1988-93 after being selected in the fourth round of the 1988 MLB draft.

Welcome to the team, guys! We look forward to seeing you this spring with the Beavers!

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Also, the Knights signed outfielder Emilio Alcantar of Lewis-Clark State for his third season. A redshirt junior at LCSU, Alcantar hit .225 (34-151) in 47 total games with the Knights in 2016, with 16 RBIs and 19 steals. In 2015, he hit .312 (59-189) in 53 total games, with 32 RBIs and 129 steals.

Emilio earned honorable-mention all-WCL honors both seasons. Alcantar hit .333 (4-12) in four games, with one RBI, with LC State in 2016 before suffering a season-ending hand injury that sidelined him until June.

Let's welcome back Emilio, one of our most exciting and aggressive players!

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Alum Dean Green was released by the Detroit Tigers on Nov. 2 and his contract was sold to the Yakult Swallows of the Japan Central League. He was Detroit's 11th-round selection in the 2011 MLB draft out of Barry University in Florida. He spent six years in their minor-league system and finally reached triple-A Toledo in 2016.

He batted .306/.371/.479 with 76 home runs and 401 RBIs in his career, and never had an OPS for a season lower than .800. He had 23 homers and 108 RBIs and a slash line of .296/.356/.500 while splitting time with the Double-A Erie SeaWolves and the Triple-A Toledo Mud Hens in 2016.

Best of luck to Dean, who joins Brent Morel (2006-07), Matt Hague (2005) and Bobby Scales (1997) as alums who have/will play in Japan.

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Season tickets for the 2017 season are now on sale. If you purchase your season tickets before the end of 2016, you will save $10 off each full-season ticket order. To check out your many options and to purchase 2017 season tickets, please click here.

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Lots of news from the West Coast League on player signings, coaching additions and the like can be found on the Our Sports Central website. Please click here for more details.

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Things are pretty slow on the Knights front right now, so that is all for today. Have a great weekend, and we will see you again on Tuesday!

Knights sign three more for 2017

Happy Tuesday everyone, from the home of your 2016 West Coast League champions!

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More roster news to announce:

The Knights have signed three more players for 2017. The top signee is freshman corner infielder Gabe Matthews of Oregon, a former standout at South Salem High School.

A left-handed hitter, Matthews was the Greater Valley Conference Player of the Year and a first-team 6A all-state selection in 2016. He also played in the Reser Oregon All-Star Series.

The Knights have also signed Concordia utility man Andrew Barrera and junior pitcher Dominique Baker of Corban to 10-day contracts.

Barrera is a 5-foot-9, 180-pound junior from Kentridge High School in Kent, Wash., who played at Pierce (Wash.) CC in 2015-16. He hit .312 (53-170) in 45 games in 2016, with no homers and 32 RBIs.

Baker is a 6-foot, 193-pound righty from Jerome, Idaho, who played at Chemeketa CC the past two seasons. He was 0-2, 4.27 in 12 games in 2016, with 20 strikeouts in 33.2 innings.

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Some news on our alums in the Frontier League:

* The Gateway Grizzlies have exercised their 2017 contract option on infielder Seth Heck (2013). Seth hit .249 (72-289) in 78 games, with a homer and 26 RBIs. He played at Tacoma CC and at Mississippi State.

* The Joliet Slammers have exercised their 2017 contract option on infielder Carter Bell (2009). Carter hit .312 (108-346) in 91 games, with 13 homers and 73 RBIs. He played at Oregon State.

* The Schaumburg Boomers have exercised their 2017 contract option on pitcher Scott Schultz (2011). He was 4-7, 5.48 in 19 games, with 79 strikeouts in 106.2 innings. He also played at OSU.

* The Washington Wild Things released infielder Grant Fink (2011). He hit .197 (42-213) in 63 games, with nine homers and 24 RBIs. He played at Missouri Western.

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Alum Marc Rzepczynski (2006) has signed a two-year free-agent deal with the Seattle Mariners. The former UC Riverside stand out, one of the top left-handed relief specialists in the majors, played with Oakland and Washington in 2016 and was 1-0, 2.64 in 70 games, with 46 strikeouts in 47.2 innings.

Seattle will be Marc's seventh big-league team. He started with Toronto in 2009 and has also pitched for St. Louis, Cleveland, San Diego, Oakland and Washington. He is 12-24 with a 3.80 ERA in 419 career appearances, with 373 strikeouts in 393 innings.

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Season tickets for the 2017 season are now on sale. If you purchase your season tickets before the end of 2016, you will save $10 off each full-season ticket order. To check out your many options and to purchase 2017 season tickets, please click here.

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Things are pretty slow on the Knights front right now, so that is all for today. Have a great week, and we will see you again on Friday!