Knights in Kelowna tonight

The Knights arrived safely in Kelowna after a long bus ride and they'll play the Falcons at 6:35 p.m. tonight, Friday and Saturday. Catch all the games on KEJO 1240; we're picking up a feed from Kelowna broadcaster Ryan Watters, who does a great job.

The team is confident it can snap out of its recent funk, as pitcher Nick Hoover and first baseman David Armendariz explained in this preview story in today's Corvallis Gazette-Times.

We're confident, too, that we'll be writing about a win when we compose tonight's game story for the website.

And remember, we're home all next week, against Kitsap on Monday-Wednesday and against Kelowna on Friday-Sunday. Saturday is the first Corvallis appearance of the legendary San Diego Chicken, the most famous mascot in sports. Don't miss it!

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Time to update our Knights in the minors.

DREW GARCIA (2007, White Sox): The 2B from UC Riverside is hitting .222 (40-180) in 50 games with triple-A Charlotte of the International League, with four homers and 18 RBIs.

NICK STRUCK (2009, Cubs): The Mt. Hood CC righty has been promoted again, to triple-A Iowa, and is 0-1, 3.38 in his lone start, with four strikeouts in 5.1 innings.

JIM MURPHY (2007, Phillies): Our 2007 MVP as a first baseman from Washington State is at Lakewood in the Florida State League and is hitting .289 (85-294) in 80 games, with 17 homers and 56 RBIs.

ADAM MELKER (2008, 2009, Cardinals): The ex-Cal Poly outfielder is with the Palm Beach Cardinals in the Florida State League and is hitting .226 (37-164)) in 48 games, with no homers and 17 RBIs.

ROCKY GALE (2007, 2009, Padres): The catcher from the University of Portland was promoted to the PCL's Tucson Beavers for three games and hit .273 (3-11), with no homers and two RBIs. He's back at Lake Elsinore in the California League and is hitting .141 (10-71) in 27 games, with no homers and 10 RBIs.

NICK AKINS (2007, Dodgers): The former Vanguard College infielder is on a rehab assignment with the Arizona Rookie League Dodgers and is hitting .400 (6-15) in four games, with a homer and two RBIs. He was hitting .217 (28-129) with the Great Lakes Loons in the Class A Midwest League, with six homers and 24 RBIs in 36 games, before being injured.

GREG PEAVEY (2007, Mets): The one-time Oregon State pitcher is with the St. Lucie Mets in the Florida State League and is 2-0, 1.59 in three games, with seven strikeouts in 17 innings.

ALEX BURG (2008, Giants): The MVP of the 2008 WCL champions, a Washington State alum, is hitting .382 (29-76) in 22 games with the San Jose Giants of the Class A California League, with five homers and 16 RBIs.

DAVID ANDRIESE (2009, Padres): The former UC Riverside star is 2-1, 2.75 in four games with the Eugene Emeralds, with 18 strikeouts in 19.1 innings.

JAMES NYGREN (2009, Marlins): The former OSU righty is 1-1, 0.95 with a save in four games with the Gulf Coast League Marlins. He has 11 strikeouts in 9.1 innings.

DAYTON ALEXANDER (2011, Athletics): The former Feather River outfielder is hitting .156 (5-32) with no homers and and one RBI in 10 games with the Arizona Rookie League Athletics.

DEAN GREEN (2008, Tigers): The former Oklahoma State/Barry U. standout is hitting .289 (13-45) with a homer and eight RBIs with the (Norwich) Connecticut Tigers in the short-A New York-Penn League.

MICHAEL BLAKE (2010, Diamondbacks): The former Mt. Hood CC/Hawaii star is 1-3, 6.43 in seven games with the Yakima Bears in the short-A Northwest League, with 11 strikeouts in seven innings.

NIC CUCKOVICH (2011, Royals): The onetime Riverside (Calif.) CC standout is hitting .370 (17-46) in 11 games with no homers and seven RBIs with the Arizona Rookie League Royals.

DUSTIN EMMONS (2009-10, Mets): The former UC Riverside star is 1-0, 0.90 in five games with Kingsport (W. Va.) in the short-A Appalachian League, with four strikeouts in 10 innings.

CODY BARTLETT (2007, Blue Jays): The ex-Washington State middle infielder is hitting .194 (6-31) with Bluefield, W. Va., in the short-A Appalachian League, with no homers and seven RBIs in nine games.

JOHN ESHLEMAN (2008, Giants): The former Mt. San Jacinto (Calif.) JC player is hitting .239 in 12 games with Salem-Keizer in the Northwest League, with no homers and four RBIs.

SCOTT LYMAN (2010, Marlins): The former UC Davis pitcher has been assigned to the Jamestown Jammers in the short-A New York-Penn League but has not pitched yet.

CARTER BELL (2009, Diamondbacks): The former Oregon State infielder is with Yakima in the Northwest League but has not played yet.

Off to Kelowna

The Knights returned from Bend on Tuesday and left for Kelowna, British Columbia, at noon on Wednesday.

They're not thrilled at being swept by Bend and of a tailspin that's seen them lose 5 of 6 and fall out of first place in the West Division. (Hey, not even "Mr. Winning" himself, Charlie Sheen, wins every day, right?)

But they're confident things will get turned around, starting with a Thursday-Saturday series against the Falcons at Elks Stadium (6:35 p.m., KEJO AM 1240). Check out our preview story on the homepage of this website for more details.

Outfielder David Andriese won't make the trip; he's got shingles. Here's to a speedy recovery.

Our rotation for the series is Thursday, RHP Chase Johnson (0-1, 6.10); Friday, RHP Chris Johnson (2-0, 2.60), and Saturday, RHP Kyle Hart (2-0, 1.93), who makes his first start after a string of strong relief outings.

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Here's a link to a story in today's Oregonian on our pitchers from Oregon State, Ben Wetzler, Scott Schultz, Jace Fry and Adam Duke. Please check it out.

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The Knights rank third in the West Coast League in attendance at 1,374 fans per game (WCL games only). Bend (1,758) and Walla Walla (1,591) are 1-2.

Other teams are Wenatchee (1,240); Cowlitz (1,033); Klamath Falls (968); Kelowna (554); Bellingham (409) and Kitsap (276).

The Knights have drawn 17,490 for all home dates, an average of 1,345. We're almost 5K ahead of last year at a comparable date.

The WCL has drawn 117,765 for 115 openings, an average of 1,024. That doesn't include nonleague games.

Tuesday news

The Knights are over in Bend, where they will attempt to win tonight's series finale with the Elks and snap out of a nosedive that's seen us lose 4 of 5 after winning 10 of 12.

Baseball is a cyclical game, no?

Then we're off on the long bus ride to Kelowna, British Columbia, on Wednesday. We start a three-game series with the Falcons on Thursday, then head home on Sunday for a three-game home series against the Kitsap BlueJackets on Monday, July 11.

In the meantime, a few notes to tide you news-thirsty Knights fans over:

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The Knights have added Oregon State catcher/pitcher Ryan Gorton to the roster. He's with the club in Bend and will start tonight's game against the Elks.

He's a senior-to-be from Tigard High who has lettered three times at OSU.

He was 0-0, 9.00 in nine innings in eight appearances in 2010. He was 5-2, 3.76 in 29 games in 2009 and 2010, with 46 strikeouts in 69.1 innings. He also hit .200 (3-15) in 13 games as a position player, with six RBIs, in 2009 and 2010.

Gorton played for Madison in the Northwoods League in 2010 and for Wenatchee in the WCL in 2009. He was all-league and all-state at Tigard his junior and senior years.

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The Knights have also released pitchers Matt Pechmann of Mt. Hood CC, Tyler Duffin of the College of Southern Idaho and Justin Hepner of San Diego State.

Pechmann was 0-2, 2.75 in seven games; Duffin was 0-0, 9.00 in four games and Hepner was 0-1, 5.79 in three games. Hepner also caught briefly in two non-league games but did not appear as a position player in a league contest.

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Nice story on Knights' coach Brooke Knight by reporter Kevin Hampton in today's Corvallis Gazette-Times.

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And Knights' pitcher Jace Fry of Southridge High School has been named the Brian T. Meehan Oregon Baseball Player of the Year.

Here are the particulars on the award from The Oregonian.

July 4 update

We had a busy weekend at the ballpark and haven't updated since Friday, so even though it's a holiday we have a few notes to pass along.

First, a system failure with the fireworks shortened our postgame show on Sunday night, and for that we apologize. We take great pride in our postgame fireworks and unfortunately last night's were not up to our usual standards.

The materials set up in the infield for the grand finale did not shoot. Our pyro vendor feels awful, as do we. The vendor has promised to make it up to us for the July 26 fireworks after the WCL All-Star game.

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We've had several injuries since we last met. First, shortstop Alex Foulon injured a shoulder while stealing a base in the 11-7 win over Wenatchee on July 1, and is out indefinitely.

Foulon, from Mt. Hood CC, was hitting .298 in 16 games, with three RBIs and a team-high 10 runs. He'll be back, but in the meantime he'll be missed.

And pitcher Jimmie Sherfy of Oregon will miss the balance of the summer with a lower abdominal muscle strain. He was 0-0, 2.70 in 3.1 innings over two games.

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Last night's sellout crowd of 2.930 for Fireworks Night raised our season attendance to 17,490 for 13 appearances, an average of 1,345 per night. We're 4,955 fans ahead of last year's total for a corresponding number of home dates.

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Klamath Falls coach Brian Embery has resigned for family reasons, the Gems announced Saturday. Here's the release from the Gems' front office:

KLAMATH FALLS - The Klamath Falls Gems today announced the resignation of head coach Brian Embery, effective immediately. Embery will return to his Auburn, Washington home to attend to family and personal issues that demand his attention.

"We are sorry to see coach Embery leave Klamath Falls, but we tell all our people that family always comes first," Gems General Manager Chuck Heeman said. "It's no different for coach or anyone else, you only get one family, and when situations call for us to be with our families, we need to be there."

Embery is also the owner of Evergreen State Sports, a baseball training center based in Sumner, Wash., and will return home to deal with business matters with that entity. In addition, Embery's son, Brian, suffered a broken left arm during a game on June 10, leading to surgery and an extensive rehabilitation schedule that he will undergo at his Washington home.

Gems assistant coach John Welker will assume Embery's duties for the remainder of the season while a permanent replacement is found.

You can help on Fireworks Night

It's a grand and glorious day down here at the WWHQ.

It finally feels like baseball weather, we're in first place, we've got a big home series with Wenatchee to finish, and our annual Fireworks Night game is on Sunday against the Bend Elks.

And the parents of Jimmy Allen, our third baseman from Cal Poly, are visiting our fair city and their son for the weekend, and they just stopped in the office. It's always great to see the parents of our players, so stop in the next time you're in Corvallis!

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Knights fans can help out their community and beyond on Fireworks Night, and here's how.

The Knights and the Mid-Valley Lions Club of Corvallis will team up to collect used glasses and hearing aids before Sunday's 7:05 p.m. Fireworks Night game against the Bend Elks at Goss Stadium.

The Lions will man several large yellow eyeglass collection boxes in the plaza outside of the stadium to collect the items. They'll be wearing their distinctive Lions vests, so they'll be easy to spot.

Once collected, the they are boxed and sorted; the Oregon Lions Sight & Hearing Foundation takes the hearing aids to Vancouver, Wash., where they are cleaned, repaired and returned to audiologists for reuse, free of charge, to area residents who cannot afford the service.

Eyeglasses are sent to the women's prison facility in Wilsonville for calibration. They are sorted and boxed for shipment to Mexico, Central and South America and the South Pacific. Lions send medical teams to these locations to fit eyeglasses to the people in need.

So help out if you can on Sunday. It's for a good cause.

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Our series with the two-time WCL-champion Wenatchee AppleSox continues at 6:40 tonight with a great pitching matchup for Knights fans who also follow that other baseball team in town (just kidding, of course). Oregon State rising sophomore Cole Baylis will start for Wenatchee, opposed by OSU signee Jace Fry of the Knightys, a talented lefty who was selected by Oakland in the recent MLB draft.

The series concludes at 6:40 p.m. on Saturday, with another OSU pitcher, rising sophomore Adam Duke, set to start for the Knights.

Sunday is our big fireworks night; the game against the Bend Elks starts at 7:15 p.m., later than usual so we're sure it finishes after dark.

All the reserved seats are sold out; we still have $5 GA seats available but they are selling fast and we expect our third consecutive Fireworks Nights sellout.

Also on Sunday you can purchase a red, white and blue glow stick compliments of OSU Federal Credit Union. Your glow stick is your ticket to watching the fireworks down on the field with the Knights' players and coaches. The ticket office and stadium gates both open at 5:30 p.m.

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Time for update on our Knights in the minors; we have a few additions from our last installment, as our latest group of 2011 draftees have started their pro careers.

DREW GARCIA (2007, White Sox): The 2B from UC Riverside is hitting .214 (33-154) in 43 games with triple-A Charlotte of the International League, with four homers and 14 RBIs.

NICK STRUCK (2009, Cubs): The Mt. Hood CC righty has been promoted to double-A Tennessee and is 1-1, 2.31 in six games, with 26 strikeouts in 35 innings.

JIM MURPHY (2007, Phillies): Our 2007 MVP as a first baseman from Washington State is at Lakewood in the Florida State League and is hitting .290 (80-276) in 75 games, with 17 homers and 55 RBIs.

ADAM MELKER (2008, 2009, Cardinals): The ex-Cal Poly outfielder is with the Palm Beach Cardinals in the Florida State League and is hitting .243 (36-148) in 43 games, with no homers and 17 RBIs.

ROCKY GALE (2007, 2009, Padres): The catcher from the University of Portland was promoted to the PCL's Tucson beavers for three games and hit .273 (3-11), with no homers and two RBIs. He's back at Lake Elsinore in the California League and is hitting .149 (10-67) in 25 games, with no homers and 10 RBIs.

NICK AKINS (2007, Dodgers): The former Vanguard College infielder is hitting .217 (28-129) with the Great Lakes Loons in the Class A Midwest League, with six homers and 24 RBIs in 36 games. He's currently on the disabled list.

GREG PEAVEY (2007, Mets): The one-time Oregon State pitcher has been promoted to St, Lucie in the Florida State league and is 1-1, 1.80 in two games, with three strikeouts is 10 inings. He was 6-2, 3.12 in 14 games at Class A Savannah in the Sally League, with 69 strikeouts in 78 innings.

ALEX BURG (2008, Giants): The MVP of the 2008 WCL champions, a Washington State alum, is hitting .426 (23-54) in 16 games with the San Jose Giants of the Class A California League, with three homers and 12 RBIs.

DAVID ANDRIESE (2009, Padres): The former UC Riverside star is 2-1, 2.40 in three games with the Eugene Emeralds, with 16 strikeouts in 15 innings.

JAMES NYGREN (2009, Marlins): The former OSU righty is 0-0, 0.00 with a save in two games with the Gulf Coast League Marlins. He has eight strikeouts in 4.2 innings.

DAYTON ALEXANDER (2011, Athletics): The former Feather River outfielder is hitting .174 (4-23) with no homers and and one RBI in seven games with the Arizona Rookie League Athletics.

DEAN GREEN (2008, Tigers): The former Oklahoma State/Barry U. standout is hitting .259 (7-27) with no homers and three RBIs with the (Norwich) Connecticut Tigers in the short-A New York-Penn League.

MICHAEL BLAKE (2010, Diamondbacks): The former Mt. Hood CC/Hawaii star is 0-2, 6.35 in five games with the Yakima Bears in the short-A Northwest League, with 10 strikeouts in 5.2 innings.

NIC CUCKOVICH (2011, Royals): The onetime Riverside (Calif.) CC standout is hitting .417 (15-36) in nine games, with no homers and five RBIs with the Arizona Rookie League Royals.

DUSTIN EMMONS (2009-10, Mets): The former UC Riverside star is 0-0, 1.29 in four games with Kingsport (W. Va.) in the short-A Appalachian League, with two strikeouts in seven innings.

CODY BARTLETT (2007, Blue Jays): The ex-Washington State middle infielder is hitting .417 (5-12) with Bluefield, W. Va., in the short-A Appalachian League, with no homers and five RBIs in four games.

JOHN ESHLEMAN (2008, Giants): The former Mt. San Jacinto (Calif.) JC player is hitting .194 in eight games with Salem-Keizer in the Northwest League, with no homers and two RBIs.

SCOTT LYMAN (2010, Marlins): The former UC Davis pitcher has been assigned to the Jamestown Jammers in the short-A New York-Penn League but has not pitched yet.

Knights open series with Wenatchee

We arrived back in Corvallis at 2 a.m. on Thursday and we're already preparing for our Thursday-Saturday series with the Wenatchee AppleSox at Goss Stadium. All three games start at 6:40 p.m.

The AppleSox finally lost on Wednesday night, falling 8-5 to Klamath Falls in 13 innings, but they're on a roll right now with an 18-3 WCL record. One of those losses was inflicted by the the Knights earlier this June, when the AppleSox won the final two games of their three-game series in Wenatchee.

Tonight is Block 15 Thursday, with specially-priced Knights Summer Ale. It's also Albany Night presented by Samaritan Health Services, and Halloween in June. Kids that dress up get candy, and we'll have prizes for best costumes.

Tonight's probable starting pitchers are Chase Johnson of Cal Poly for Corvallis and Cole Bayliss of Oregon State for Wenatchee.

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Friday is Cowbell Night. The first 500 fans get cowbells compliments of Linn Benton Tractor. At 5 p.m. before the game, the Corvallis Police Department will take on the Corvallis Fire Department in their annual softball game.

The CFD is 2-0 in the series, and the Police are looking for revenge.

Saturday is Pioneer Military Appreciation Night, presented by KRKT. Enlisted personnel and veterans get in free, and fans are encouraged to bring non-perishables for Operation Homefront's pantry. The first 50 to donate receive free general admission tickets.

Sunday's 7:15 p.m. game is our annual OSU Federal Credit Union Fireworks Night. Gates open at 5:30 p.m., and there are plenty of general admission seats remaining.

See you at the ballpark!

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Knights outfielder Nathan Blackham (Washington State) is out indefinitely with a fractured hand he sustained while diving for a fly ball at Wenatchee earlier this month.

Blackham hit .316 (6-19) in six games, with no homers, no RBIs and two steals.

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Former Aloha Knight infielder Bobby Scales (1997), a one-time major-leaguer with the Cubs, recently signed with the Nippon Ham Fighters of Japan's Pacific League. He's heading to Tokyo this weekend.

The Cubs will receive cash considerations from the Ham Fighters. Scales, 33, had call-ups with the Cubs in 2009 and 2010. He is a .284 career hitter in 13 minor league seasons.

Final day in Kitsap

We're checked out of the hotel, the club is at a local YMCA working out and the blog is on the wireless at a local coffee shop, something of which there's no shortage of in the Puget Sound area.

The Knights and Kitsap conclude their series at 6:35 tonight at the Kitsap County Fairgrounds. It's a gray, overcast and windy day, but we'll get the game in and then hop on the bus for the trip back to Corvallis, ETA approximately 2 a.m. Thursday.

Lefty Dylan Stuart (1-0, 0.00) goes for the Knights, opposed by Richie Mascheri (4-0, 2.36) of the BlueJackets.

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Right-hander Tom Zarosinski of Oregon State has been assigned to the WCL Portland Ports, where he'll get far more opportunities to pitch. Tom didn't pitch in a WCL game but did make appearances against the Portland Bucks and T. Gerding Construction.

And Knights' lefty Jace Fry of Southridge High was named the 6A Pitcher of the Year in a vote of the state's coaches.

Fry signed with OSU and is also mulling a possible pro career with the Oakland A's.

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The Knights and the Mid-Valley Lions Club of Corvallis will team up to collect used glasses and hearing aids before Sunday's 7:05 p.m. Fireworks Night game against the Bend Elks at Goss Stadium.

The Lions will man several large yellow eyeglass collection boxes in the plaza outside of the stadium to collect the items. They'll be wearing their distinctive Lions vests, so they'll be easy to spot.

Once collected, the they are boxed and sorted; the Oregon Lions Sight & Hearing Foundation takes the hearing aids to Vancouver, Wash., where they are cleaned, repaired and returned to audiologists for reuse, free of charge, to area residents who cannot afford the service.

Eyeglasses are sent to the women's prison facility in Wilsonville for calibration. They are sorted and boxed for shipment to Mexico, Central and South America and the South Pacific. Lions send medical teams to these locations to fit eyeglasses to the people in need.

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Former Knights first baseman Taylor Ard (2009) of Washington State was named a second-team Rawlings West Region all-star by the American Baseball Coaches Association.

Ard hit .337, with 10 homers and 55 RBIs, for the Cougars this spring. He was drafted by the Boston Red Sox but has not signed yet.

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Finally, tonight's online postgame wrapup will be quick, as we've got a bus to catch. And don't forget to buy your Fireworks Night tickets in advance at the WWHQ in downtown Corvallis, or online at the website.

Clearing up in Kitsap

It's become party cloudy, almost sunny in beautiful Kitsap/Bremerton/Silverdale or wherever the heck we are bunked while waiting for tonight's Game 2 of the series between your Knights and the Kitsap BlueJackets.

The Knights are off to a local fitness club for a workout. So (since there's no ESPN at the lovely Quality Inn, which is quite an upgrade from where WCL teams stayed in previous visits here, I'm told) we're killing the idle hours before today's 6:35 p.m. game by updating the Knights' e-newsletter many of you will receive shortly, and by writing our daily installment of the Knights' blog.

(As an aside, it's also nice to be able to breathe again, having escaped the pollen-palooza of the Willamette Valley for several days. And it's good to know I'll miss out on some of the construction on 29th Street and Kings Boulevard, my main routes to the WWHQ from lower Timberhill.)

Pitcher Mitch Patito of UC Riverside starts for the Knights. They can extend their West Division lead on second-place Kitsap from .002 percentage points to a full game with a win. Mitch is 0-0, 3.00 with one save; historically a reliever, he's being stretched this summer but he went only two innings at Wenatchee in his previous start.

He'll be opposed by Blake Golding, a junior right-hander from Utah who has a serious NHL-style playoff beard going on.

Once again El Presidente, Knights' president Dan Segel, and I will handle the radio play-by-play and color on KEJO-AM 1240. We split the duties last night and apparently did OK, since I didn't read of any listeners flipping out in today's online version of the Corvallis Gazette-Times.

And since it's not raining, the logistics of the broadcast should be much easier, since we won't be dodging sprinkles and one of us (or Dan's oldest son, Kaden "Big Poison" Segel) won't be holding an umbrella to keep the radio equipment dry.

And hopefully your's truly will have a better sense of perception. The broadcast "booth" (a plastic table and two plastic chairs on a 2-foot platform) is located at field level, at about 7 o'clock if the mound is high noon, and it's hard to judge exactly how far, or exactly in which direction, hit balls are traveling.

But I promise not to describe a fly ball to left field as one fouled out of play. (It looked like it was going left and I lost it once it got over the umbrella.) Anyhow, tune in and check out the least-experienced, but best-looking, broadcast duo in the WCL.

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A few items of interest for Knights fans:

* Nice profile of Knights' catcher Corey Davis as today's Behind the Corvallis Knights feature in today's Gazette-Times by reporter Kevin Hampton.

Corey was 0-for-3 last night and is hitting just .229 (0-6) in 10 games, but we know he'll break out of it eventually and show the pop that helped make him the Horizon League's Newcomer of the Year at Wright State of Ohio.

* Former Knights' pitcher Greg Peavey (2007),has been promoted from low-A Savannah to high-A St. Lucie (Fla.) in the Florida State League by the New York Mets.

He pitched five innings and won his first start there as well after going 6-2, 3.12 at Savannah.

* Ex-Knights broadcaster Jason Schwartz reported last night that ex-Knights P/OF Michael Blake pitched for Yakima against Tri-Cities in the Northwest League and allowed two hits and no runs in 1.2 innings. Schwartz is Tri-City's play-by-play broadcaster.

Greetings from Bremerton

The Blog is coming to you live from the lovely Quality Inn in Bremerton, Wash., where the Knights are bunked during the Monday-Wednesday series against the Kitsap BlueJackets.

It's cloudy, about 70, and there was some slight rain when we checked it, which doesn't bode well for us media types since I just learned the visiting press area at the Kitsap County Fairgrounds is outdoors. Wow, who would have thought it would ever rain on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington when they designed that?

Whatever. Tonight Knights' president Dan Segel and your's truly will make our radio debut as co-play-by-play men, as the customary voice of the Knights, Mike Parker, didn't make the trip. So bear with us and forgive us a mistake or two, OK?

Max Beatty of PLU is the Knights' scheduled starter, and that's good new for us and bad news for the BlueJackets as he's been very solid this season (2-0, 2.41, 16 strikeouts in 18.2 innings). So we don't expect to see a repeat of the walkfest the Knights had against T. Gerding Construction in Sunday's exhibition game, when they issued 14 walks and hit aa batter.

Kitsap's probable is Washington sophomore Terik Gofinch, who is 1-0, 3.00 in five games. He's had three starts and has given up a combined 26 hits and walks in 18 innings, so the Knights should have some baserunners.

Mitch Patito will start Tuesday and fellow UC Riverside Highlander Dylan Stuart will start on Wednesday.

It's a key early series. Kitsap leads the West Division at 14-8; the Knights are a 1.5 games behind at 10-7. So if Corvallis can win 2 of 3 or even possibly sweep, it would be a real boost to the Knights' chances at a fifth consecutive West Division championshp. Tuesday's and Wednesday's games both start at 6:35 p.m., and we'll be hitting the road for Corvallis after Wednesday's finale. We open another big series against Wenatchee on Thursday, when it's a Block 15 Thursday and Halloween in June.

And don't forget, the big July 3 Fireworks Night game against Bend is Sunday. My amigos back at the WWHQ said it was crazy at the office today, so don't wait to buy your tickets. We've sold out the past two years and 2011 should be no exception.

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One roster note: Catcher Jaret Bogue of Feather River College has been plaed on the inactive list with an nagging leg/hip injury that bothered him for much of the season. He was 0-for-18 in six games.

Clinc Saturday; Knights-Sweets II tonight

Don't forget our free kids baseball clinic from 12;30-4 p.m. on Saturday at Goss Stadium. Our players and coaches will be there to instruct boys and girls ages 5-18 in the finer points of baseball and on being a good teammate.

Admission is free with an injury waiver form, which is available by clicking here. See you at the ballpark.

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Tonight's 6:40 game against Walla Walla is State Farm Insurance Rally Towel Night. The first 500 fans will receive a Knights/State Farm rally towel, courtesy of your local State Farm Insurance agents.

Saturday is the first $1,000 Kids (10-under) Dash for Cash, presented by All Family Vision Care. And Sunday is Faith Night, presented by Hope 107.9.

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Here are some notes about tonight's 6:40 Game 2 of the series:

* The Knights won Thursday night's series opener 3-1 over the Sweets and now lead the all-time series 6-4. They are 3-1 all-time vs. the Sweets at Goss Stadium, where the Knights are 6-1 this summer, with five wins in a row.

* Right-hander Adam Duke of Oregon State (0-0, 3.00) will make his second start for Corvallis tonight, opposed by righty Kyle Anderson (0-0, 2.70).

* Corvallis third baseman Jimmy Allen (Cal Poly) went 0-for-4 on Thursday night, ending a five-game hitting streak. Left fielder Kramer Scott (Portland) has four hits in his last seven at-bats and has hit safely in five of the last six games he's started.

* Knights' outfielder Nate Blackham (Washington State) suffered a hand injury while diving for a ball in Wenatchee this past Wednesday and is out for an undetermined period. He was hitting .316 (6-19) with no homers, no RBIs and two stolen bases in six games.

* Right-hander Tim Culligan (Nevada) and outfielder Chance Kopacz (Walla Walla CC) are the only Oregonians on the Sweets' roster. Culligan is from Hillsboro (Liberty); Kopacz is from Hermiston (Hermiston).

* Sweets' right-hander Jacob Overbay (Nevada) is the younger brother of Pittsburgh Pirates' first baseman Lyle Overbay. Teammate Sean Santschi is the younger brother of former Oregon State outfielder Scott Santschi, a member of the Beavers' 2006 and 2007 NCAA champions.

* The Knights have drawn 6,493 fans for six dates, an average of 1,082 per game. They are 1,618 fans ahead of last year on a corresponding date.

* The series concludes at 6:40 p.m. Saturday. The projected starters are lefty Jace Fry (0-1, 1.69) of Oregon State for the Knights and lefty Tyler Billen (0-0, 0.00, 1 save) of Harding (Ark.) University for the Sweets.

* The Knights play their annual exhibition against the T. Gerding Construction American Legion team at 5:05 p.m. Sunday to conclude the homestand. They open a three-game WCL series at Kitsap on Monday night.