Happy Friday; more schedule information

Happy Friday, everyone.

As we mentioned yesterday, we now have our 2013 schedule. Some game times haven't been finalized just yet, and there may be a change or two in some established starting times, but the date and opponent won't change.

So here's the schedule, taken from our website. It sure was a long time coming, but it should be a good one and our staff has already started matching our promotions with the appropriate date.

We play 54 league games (27 home, 27 away), and five home non-league games. Two of our non-league games will be against the independent Portland Lobos, a U-19 team of college players; two will be against a team from WCL Portland, and we'll host the Albany Mid-Valley Rockets American legion team again.

The schedule is unbalanced because of the WCL's recent expansion. We play eight teams six times apiece (three home, three away); we don't visit Walla Walla, and Victoria doesn't visit Corvallis.

And the 11 teams have been organized in a revised divisional setup with the addition of the expansion Victoria HarbourCats and Medford Rogues. The league will now be split into North and South divisions instead of East and West.

The South Division features the Knights, Medford, Klamath Falls, Bend, Cowlitz and Kitsap. The North Division includes Victoria, Kelowna, Bellingham, Wenatchee and Walla Walla.

So, we're all ready to go. It's only 179 days until June 4, when we host the Portland Lobos at 11 a.m. on Schools Day II at Goss Stadium.

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Former Knights Adam Melker (2008, 2009), Carter Bell (2009) and Liam Baron (2008-09) are playing for the Perth Heat in the Australian Baseball League.

Melker is hitting .214 (12-56) in 15 games, with a homer and six RBIs. Bell is hitting .177 (11-62), with two homers and 10 RBIs in 15 games. Baron is 0-0 with a 1.93 ERA and three strikeouts in 4.2 innings in five appearances. The Heat are 10-5 and lead the Sydney Blue Sox by 1.5 games in the ABL pennant race.

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Remember, we're holding a super sale on select team merchandise from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. on Saturday in the lobby of the Madison Plaza building, corner of 4th Street and Madison Avenue, in downtown Corvallis.

Some team clothing items will be discounted, all of our merchandise will be available, and we'll give away a free Knights' smiley hat with all purchases of $10 or more. Punch cards and season tickets will also be available.

So come see us, do some holiday shopping, and save some money!

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Some news from elsewhere in the WCL:

BELLINGHAM: The Bells have released their 2013 schedule, according to The Bellingham Herald newspaper.

KELOWNA: The Falcons open the 2013 season on the road at Victoria. More details are available in this story from the Our Sports Central website.

KITSAP: The BlueJackets are moving from the old West Division to the new South Division for the upcoming season, according to this story in the Kitsap Sun newspaper.

MEDFORD: The expansion Rogues will play 33 home games, according to this story in the Medford Mail-Tribune newspaper.

VICTORIA: The expansion HarbourCats will make their WCL debut at home against the Kelowna Falcons on June 5. Here are more details from the Victoria Times Colonist newspaper.

WALLA WALLA: The Sweets host the Bend Elks on June 5 in their season opener. More info on the upcoming season is available here in this story from Our Sports Central.

WENATCHEE: The defending WCL-champion AppleSox open the 2013 season at home against Corvallis in a rematch of the 2012 Championship Series, according to this story in the Wenatchee World newspaper.

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That's all for today. Have a great weekend, and we'll see you on Monday.

We have a schedule

It's a good news Thursday down here at the WWHQ.

We have a 2013 schedule. Yahoo! It took longer than expected, with two new teams and 11 different franchises to please, but it's done.

We'll have more info on Friday, but here it is:

JUNE: 4: Portland Lobos. 5-7: at Wenatchee. 8-10: at Cowlitz. 12-14: Kitsap. 15-17: Cowlitz. 18-20: at Medford. 21-23: Klamath Falls. 25-27: at Bend. 28-30: at Kitsap.

JULY: 2-4: Bellingham. 5-6: WCL Portland. 8-10: Wenatchee. 11-13: Walla Walla. 15-17: at Bellingham. 18: Albany Mid-Valley Rockets. 23: WCL All-Star Game, at Victoria. 24-26: Medford. 27-29: at Victoria. 30-31: at Kelowna.

AUGUST: 1: at Kelowna. 3-4: Kelowna. 5-7: Bend. 8: Portland Lobos. 9-11: at Klamath Falls. 13-15: WCL Divisional playoffs. 17-20: WCL Championship Series.

Starting times haven't been completely finalized but most of our games will still start at 6:40 p.m. The Aug. 4 date with Kelowna is a doubleheader.

Thanks for your patience! Only 180 days until opening day! Play ball!

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Remember, we're having a sale on select merchandise from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. this Saturday in the lobby of the Madison Plaza in downtown Corvallis. Some team clothing items will be discounted, all our merchandise will be available, and we'll give away a free Knights' smiley hat with all purchases of $10 or more.

Punch cards and season tickets will also be available. So come see us, do a little holiday shopping, and save some money!

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No other news today from around the WCL, so that's it. See you on Friday.

Big Saturday sale set

Happy Wednesday, everyone.

We've had several inquiries about our 2013 schedule and the best we can say is, it's coming soon, hopefully by the end of the week. We're as eager as you are to find out when the season starts, who we'll be playing and when, and what promotions will match with what night.

In the meantime, we've got a few news items to announce.

* The Knights are holding a super sale on select team merchandise from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. this Saturday in the lobby of the Madison Plaza building, corner of 4th Street and Madison Avenue, in downtown Corvallis.

Some team clothing items will be discounted, all of our merchandise will be available, and we'll give away a free Knights' smiley hat with all purchases of $10 or more. Punch cards and season tickets will also be available.

So come see us, do some holiday shopping, and save some money!

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We've already announced that the West Coast League All-Star Game will be held in Royal Athletic Park in Victoria, B.C. Now we've got a date: July 23. It's the first time the game will be played in Canada, and we're looking forward to it.

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Some news from elsewhere in the West Coast League:

KLAMATH FALLS: The Gems have hired former Oregon catcher Brett Hambright to assist head coach Mitch Karraker for the 2013 season. Karraker and Hambright were both catchers during their playing careers. Here are all the details from the Our Sports Central website.

WSU OF Nate Blackham to return for his third season

Good news on the homefront today: The Knights have signed Washington State junior outfielder Nate Blackham, a key member of our 2012 WCL Championship Series finalists, for the upcoming season.

A 5-9, 170-pound lefty from Mt. Spokane High School Mead, Wash., Blackham hit .311 (37-119) in 35 total games for us in 2012, with 14 RBIs, 13 steals and some stellar catches in left field. He also hit .316 (6-19) for the Knights in 2011 before a wrist injury ended his season after just six games.

Blackham is a two-year starter at WSU and hit .400 as a freshman in 2011 and .265 in 2012. He will be available on June 17; welcome back, Nate!

The Knights have also signed pitcher Eric Huson of Mt. Hood CC, a 6-3, 195-pound sophomore right-hander from Forest Grove.

Huson was 5-0 with a 2.20 ERA in 12 games in 2012. He was 4-0, 1.69 in his final four games, all starts, with 18 strikeouts and only three walks in 32 innings. He also made the NWAACC all-tournament team and was a two-time Pacific League all-star at Forest Grove.

Huson will be available on June 5; welcome aboard, Eric!

And, we've signed Pacific University sophomore pitcher Kyle Treadway, a 6-4, 240-pound sophomore from Phoenix, Ore., to a 10-day contract. He was 1-2 with a 4.30 ERA in eight games for the Boxers in 2012, with 15 strikeouts.

Treadway was a first-team Skyline Conference all-star in 2011 as a 1B, 3B and RHP at Phoenix High. He also made all-conference in football as a defensive end.

Welcome to the club, Kyle.

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Don't forget, we're having a sale on select merchandise from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. this Saturday in the lobby of the Madison Plaza in downtown Corvallis. Some team clothing items will be discounted, all our merchandise will be available, and we'll give away a free Knights' smiley hat with all purchases of $10 or more.

Punch cards and season tickets will also be available. So come see us, do a little holiday shopping, and save some money!

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Some news from elsewhere in the West Coast League:

MEDFORD: The Rogues have signed six more players for the upcoming season, including incoming UCSB shortstop Brody Weiss, the son of Colorado Rockies manager Walt Weiss. Here are the details, from the Our Sports Central website. And here's the story on the signings, and info on several de-commits, from the Medford Mail Tribune newspaper.

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That's it for today. See you on Wednesday!

Knights sign another Oregon Duck

Happy Monday, everyone.

We're back to work after a weekend watching the Beavers whip Nicholls State, and then seeing them earn a berth opposite Texas in the Alamo Bowl. Quite a coup for the locals, considering they were picked to finish last or fifth (I disremember which) in the six-team Pac-12 North.

So, big ups to the Beavers! Unfortunately the blog can't go to the game, but we'll be watching on TV.

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We're having a sale on select merchandise from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. this Saturday in the lobby of the Madison Plaza in downtown Corvallis. Some Knights' clothing items will be discounted, all our merchandise will be available, and we'll give away a free Knights' smiley hat with all purchases of $10 or more.

Punch cards and season tickets will also be available. So come see us, and save some money!

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Now, on to baseball.

First things first: Remember, 2013 season tickets and 10-game punchcards are on sale at the WWHQ, our headquarters in the Madison Plaza building in downtown Corvallis. Current season ticket-holders have until Dec. 31 to reserve their current seats; after that, they're fair game for everyone.

We've also got lots of Knights' merchandise, which makes for a great holiday gift. So stop in and see us!

And, we're finally close to a 2013 schedule. Hopefully by the end of the week.

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The Knights have signed University of Oregon redshirt freshman pitcher Sam Johnson of Westview High School in Beaverton. He's a 6-foot, 200-pound right-hander.

Johnson missed the 2012 season after undergoing reconstructive elbow surgery. He was rated as Oregon's No. 1 prospect by Perfect Game and No. 2 by Baseball Northwest after leading Westview to the 2011 6A state championship.

He was 8-3 as a senior, with a 2.61 ERA and 96 strikeouts in 72.2 innings. He was a three-time all-state selection, a three-time Metro League all-star, and played in the Reser Oregon All-Star Series.

Welcome to the Knights, Sam!

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We reported on Friday that Victoria has been awarded the 2013 West Coast League All-Star Game, to be played July 23 at Royal Athletic Park. Here are more details, from the Victoria Times Colonist newspaper.

Congrats to Victoria. We're sure they will do a great job.

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No news from around the WCL. See you on Tuesday.

Another week in the books!

Like we always say down here at the WWHQ of the Corvallis Knights - Friday, Friday, Friday is our favorite day! Especially the Friday before an OSU football weekend.

We finally have the first draft of the 2013 West Coast League schedule. It's not official, and our non-league games haven't been confirmed yet, and there undoubtedly will be some tweaks, so we can't release it to everyone yet.

But at least now we've got a starting point, and this means we're a giant step closer to getting everything all wrapped up for next summer within a week or two.

We've got lots of news to report today, so let's get after it.

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The 2013 West Coast League All-Star Game will be held in Victoria this July, the HarbourCats announced Friday. The exact date has not been set but it will be sometime during the week of July 22. Here are the details from the Island Sports News website.

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Former Knights Adam Melker (2008, 2009), Carter Bell (2009) and Liam Baron (2008-09) are playing for the Perth Heat in the Australian Baseball League.

Melker is hitting .238 (10-42) in 11 games, with a homer and five RBIs. Bell is hitting .188 (9-48), with two homers and nine RBIs in 11 games. Baron is 0-0 with a 2.48 ERA and three strikeouts in 4.1 innings in four appearances. The Heat are 8-3 and lead the ABL by two games.

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Former Knights' pitchers Chase Johnson of Cal Poly (32), Ben Wetzler (50) and Matt Boyd (56) of OSU and Jimmie Sherfy of Oregon (63) all made Baseball America magazine's list of the top 100 eligible college players for the 2013 MLB draft.

So our 2011 WCL champions had three of the top 100 college junior prospects (Johnson, Wetzler, Sherfy). No wonder we dominated! Boyd played for us in 2010 before spending the past two summers in the Cape Cod League.

Baseball America is a pay site, so we can't link it.

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The Knights have signed Oregon freshman pitcher Jared Priestley for the upcoming season. He's a 6-foot-2, 180-pounder right-hander from Roseburg High School.

He was a first-team 6A all-state selection in 2012. He then went 0-0, 1.28 in four games with the Bend Elks, with four strikeouts in seven innings.

Priestley was named the Southern Oregon Hybrid Conference Pitcher of the Year as a junior, and earned second-team all-state honors with a 2.17 ERA and 66 strikeouts in 72 innings.

As a sophomore, he was named first-team all-Southwest Conference after helping Roseburg win the league championship. He then played Doc Stewarts American Legion team, which placed fourth at the American Legion World Series.

He will join the team on June 14, or whenever Oregon's season concludes. Welcome aboard, Jared.

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Former Knights' outfielder John Wallace (2008), who played at Oregon State, has been named the new baseball coach at Ashland High School. Here are the details from the Ashland Daily Tidings newspaper.

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Former Aloha Knights star pitcher Tommy Hanson (2005) has been traded to the Los Angeles Angels from the Atlanta Braves. Here are the details from the ESPN website.

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Here's some news from elsewhere in the West Coast League:

WALLA WALLA: The Sweets have signed Cal Poly sophomore Danny Zandona and Emory University sophomore Connor Dillman, a pair of right-handed pitchers, for the upcoming season. Here are the details, from the Our Sports Central website.

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That's all for today. Have a great weekend!

Dane Lund will return in 2012

We've got some good news to start off a wet, windy Thursday.

San Jose State catcher/outfielder Dane Lund will return to the Knights for a third season. He's a 5-foot-9, 175-pounder from Astoria who played at Mt. Hood Community College for two seasons before transferring to SJSU for the 2012-13 academic year.

Dane hit .261 (30-115) in 38 games for the Knights in 2012, with a homer and 13 RBIs. He hit .259 for us in 26 games in 2011, with no homers and six RBIs.

He was a NWAACC all-star with Mt. Hood in 2012, when he hit .311, with no homers and 20 RBIs.

He joins 2012 returnees Chris Bishop, Devon Barker, Jorge Perez, Chris Rabago and Marc Gallegos on the 2013 Knights. We also expect to announce the signing of one more returnee from last summer in the very near future.

Welcome back, Dane.

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Former Knights' star Matt Hague (2005) has been designated for assignment by the Pittsburgh Pirates. A player who is designated for assignment is immediately removed from the team's 40-man roster, after which the team must either return the player to the 40-man roster within 10 days from the date of designation, or make one of the following contractual moves:

* Place the player on waivers (which can only be done within the first 7 days of the 10-day period).

* Trade the player.

* Release the player.

Hague - the "Slider Guy" in some of our promotional material - hit .229 (16-70) in two stints with the Pirates in 2012, with no homers and seven RBIs. Now 27, he'd been in their organization for five years since being drafted out of Oklahoma State.

Since he is no longer on the 40-man roster, Hague is now eligible for Wednesday's Rule 5 draft.

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Former Aloha Knights standout Bobby Scales (1997) of Michigan has been named the new Director of Player Development of the Los Angeles Angels. Bobby had a long minor-league career, played twice in Japan, and played parts of two seasons with the Chicago Cubs before retiring after last season.

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No news from around the WCL today, so we'll see you on Friday.

Dylan Jones is back with the Beavers

Happy Hump Day, everyone, from the world-wide headquarters (WWHQ) of the Corvallis Knights.

We're sorry to see the rain has returned after several dry days, but rumor has it it will be gone by Saturday morning and the Beavers' final home football game, against Nichols State. That's definitely a plus, as it seems has it's been a pretty wet season so far.

Nothing to report on the 2013 West Coast League schedule yet. I suppose we'll get it sometime soon, but we're already a month behind last season (we received the 2012 slate in late Oct., 2011) and that has prevented us from releasing our promotional schedule.

So, no news yet. But we'll let you know ASAP when we finally get an official copy.

Now, on to the news.

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Former Knights star Dylan Jones, (2009-10) our 2010 team MVP, has returned to Oregon State to complete his degree work and is helping the Beavers as an undergraduate assistant coach.

Dylan lettered at OSU in 2010 and 2011, and then played for the Australian Baseball League-champion Perth Heat in 2011-12. He starred at Mt. Hood CC, another Knights' partner school, for two seasons after graduating from Aloha High School.

Here's more on Dylan from the news portion of our website.

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The Knights have signed Pacific Luthern University sophomore pitcher Jake Otness to a 10-day contract. He's a 6-foot-4, 170-pound righty from Greshman who played at Barlow High.

Otness was 3-3, 5.10 in 15 games at PLU as a freshman, with 29 strikeouts in 42.1 innings. He was a first-team Mt. Hood League all-star at Barlow and played in the 2011 Oregon All-Star Series at Goss Stadium.

His uncle, John Otness, starred at Washington and played for the Knights in 2001-02. He later signed with the Red Sox and had a seven-year minor-league career with four organizations before retiring after the 2010 season.

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No news today from the WCL, so we'll stop here. See you on Thursday.

Another day, another blog

Happy Tuesday, everyone.

It's another routine day down at the office. But everyone's spirits have been buoyed by the return of Knights' president Dan Segel, El Presidente. He's been on a much-deserved vacation in Hawaii, and holding down the fort at his home in Portland since his last visit to CorVegas.

Welcome back, boss!

Not much to report on the news front, but we have a few items of interest to pass along.

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We missed this earlier this fall, but the Gateway (Ill.) Grizzlies of the independent Frontier League have exercised their 2013 contract option on ex-Knights' star Richie Jimenez, (2008-09) the 2009 WCL MVP. Ritchie hit .230 (41-178) in 59 games for the Grizzlies in 2012, with two homers, 23 RBIs and an outstanding .370 on-base percentage.

Congrats to Richie, an all-time favorite and one of the greatest players in our six-year history in Corvallis.

And the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks of the independent American Association have exercised their 2013 contract option on RHP Eric Massingham (2006-07). He was 0-0, 2.25 in four appearances at Fargo after joining the club late in the year following a standout season with Evansville in the Pioneer League.

So, congrats also to Eric, who earned WCL postseason honors in each of his seasons with the Knights.

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Former Knights' OSU College of Business intern Jenny Baker (2011-12) is now working as an assistant buyer for Burlington Coats back in New Jersey. Jenny started with us as a merchandise intern in 2011, and then ran our 2012 summer intern program and assisted in the ticket booth this past season after graduating from OSU.

Another Knights' success story! We'll have more on Jenny later this week on our web page.

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We've already had it in the blog and on our webpage, but here's today's story on the signing of Washington's Alex Nesbitt,, UC Santa Barbara's Joe Duffin and Central Washington's Eddie Malone Jr. from the Corvallis Gazette-Times. We're looking forward to seeing all three players this summer.

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Some news from elsewhere in the West Coast League:

VICTORIA: The expansion HarbourCats will have a major announcement on Friday that will impact the entire WCL. For more on the story, please click here, and check back with the blog on Friday.

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That's it for today. See you on Wednesday.

It's a back-to-work Monday

We are back, after a nice, long holiday weekend. Hope your's was as nice as our's was.

The first draft of the 2013 West Coast League schedule is due to be completed early this week. Hopefully it will require just a few tweaks and adjustments and we can announce this summer's slate in the very near future.

It's taken a little bit longer than usual (we had last year's by Oct. 31, 2011), thanks to the addition of Victoria and Medford as our 10th and 11th franchises. But I'm sure it will be well worth waiting for. And when the schedule comes out, we'll start filling in our promotional schedule and the season will really start to feel real.

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Pretty slow day at the WWHQ but here's some news from elsewhere in the WCL:

KITSAP: WCL president Ken Wilson and former Knights' star Jared Prince (2005) will be among the guest speakers at the Kitsap Athletic Roundtable's Hot Stove League session on Wednesday at The Arena Sports Bar and Grille. Here are the details from the Kitsap Sun newspaper.

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That's all for today. Rember, 2013 season tickets are available at the WWHQ; 2012 season-ticket holders have until Dec. 31 to renew and keep their current seats.

We've also got 10-game punch cards ($40) and lots of merchandise, which make great Chriasmas presents or stocking stuffers.