Happy St. Patrick's Day!

It's not an official holiday down here at the WWHQ and none of us are even wearing green, but Happy St. Patrick's Day to all. Everyone's Irish today.

First, a happy 19th birthday to OSU freshman and future Knights pitcher (2011) Tom Zarosinski. Sto Lat!

We're down to a mere 78 days before our June 3 opener at Walla Walla, and it's only 82 more days until our June 7 home opener against the Klamath Falls Gems. Got your punch card or season-ticket yet? Don't wait.

And as promised, our 2011 promotional schedule is now available. It's real, and it's spectacular, with the San Diego Chicken; ZOOperstars!; the West Coast League All-Star Game; our July 3 Fireworks show, two $1,000 kid's dashes for cash, etc.

There's also a story on our website, and in today's Corvallis Gazette-Times, but it's not linked online yet. We'll work on getting that resolved.

In the meantime, a few other notes of note about the Knights and the WCL:

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Knights infielder Corey Moore (2001) was 1-for-4 and scored Pacific Lutheran's lone run in a 10-1 loss to St. Martin's. Max Beatty (2010, 2011) pitched a scoreless inning in relief.

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Redlands' pitcher Kyle Hart (2011) pitched a scoreless inning of relief in a 12-8 loss to Kean University.

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Here's a story from the Longview (Wash.) Daily News on the Pepperdine-to-Longview pipeline being established by our West Division rivals, the Cowlitz Black Bears. There are several other WCL-related notes in the story by reporter Rick McCorkle, who has covered the team from its inception in 2010.

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WALLA WALLA: Here are 10 more things you need to know about the Walla Walla Sweets, courtesy of their website.

Rain, rain go away

Yes, it will stop raining by the time we open our fifth season in Corvallis. The Knights have never had a home game rained out, or even had a rain delay, so we promise the skies will clear before our June 7 home opener at Goss Stadium against the Klamath Falls Gems.

And speaking of opening night, it's just 79 days until we meet Walla Walla on June 3 in Washington in our first game, and only 83 days until the Gems come to town.

We'll release our promotional schedule sometime this week, perhaps even later today. But we do know the first homestand against the Gems features:

JUNE 7: Opening Night, presented by Fidelity National Title. The first 500 fans get those handy schedule magnets.

JUNE 8: It's our first $1 hot dog night.

JUNE 9: It's our first Block 15 Thursday (I can already taste the cold Summer Knights Ale available in the beer garden). It's also United Way Night presented by The Corvallis Clinic; the first 500 fans get schedule posters.

Again, our complete promotional schedule will be released shortly; keep an eye on the news portion on our home page.

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Former Knights infielder Bobby Scales (1997) is making a bid for a spot with the Chicago Cubs, according to this story in the Chicago Sun Times, and according to this story in Real GM Baseball.

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You can believe Bleacher Report stories at your own risk. But at least this one has a positive report on Chicago White Sox third baseman Brent Morel, saying that the first former Corvallis Knight (2007) to play in the majors has locked up the starting job.

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Former Knights catcher Chris Stewart (2001) continued his bid for the San Francisco backup job with a strong showing against the Rangers the other day. He's hitting .316 (6-19) with three RBIs, in 12 games.

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Here's a rundown on the progress of our Division II, Division III, NAIA and junior-college players:

HAWAII PACIFIC: The 10-day signee pitcher Taylor Hill is 0-1, 5.40 in 6.2 innings over five appearances, with six strikeouts. HPU plays at Grand Canyon on Thursday and Friday.

COLLEGE OF SOUTHERN IDAHO: Pitcher Tyler Duffin is 1-2, 6.00 in 12 innings over nine games, with 12 strikeouts. CSI plays doubleheaders at Salt Lake CC this Friday and Saturday.

CONCORDIA: Infielder Sean Myrom is hitting .344 (21-61) in 16 games, with four homers and 12 RBIs. Concordia hosts the University of British Columbia in doubleheaders this Saturday and Sunday.

FEATHER RIVER: Outfielder Dayton Alexander is hitting .344 (21-61) in 15 games, with four homers and six RBIs. Feather River plays Shasta this Friday and Saturday.

PACIFIC LUTHERAN: Infielder Corey Moore is hitting .294 (15-51), with a homer and 10 RBIs in 12 games. Pitcher Max Beatty is 2-0, 1.23 in 22 innings over three starts, with 14 strikeouts. The Lutes, who haven't played since March 6, play St. Martin's today and Pacific this Saturday and Sunday.

REDLANDS: Pitcher Kyle Hart is 3-1, 3.18 in six starts, with 45 strikeouts in 39.2 innings. Redlands plays Kean State today and Ithaca, Denison, Rutgers-Newark and Puget Sound at the Cal Invite this weekend.

WESTERN OREGON: Infielder Griffin Boyd is hitting .290 in 18 games, with no homers and 12 RBIs. The Wolves play doubleheaders with St. Martin's in Monmouth this Saturday and Sunday.

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Lots of Knights news here!

We're back after a brief respite for a Knights' meeting in Portland to further plan the 2011 season. It's going to be a great one.

Our promotional schedule is now finalized and will be released later this week. The popular pocket schedules are being printed as we speak, and will soon be ready for distribution. Our new Nike team merchandise has arrived and is available for purchse online or at the Knights WWHQ in the Madison Plaza building in downtown Corvallis.

Our 2011 players are having outstanding seasons for their respective college teams. And now it's only 80 days until our June 3 opener at Walla Walla, and only 84 days until our June 7 home opener at Goss Stadium against the Klamath Falls Gems.

So it's getting closer by the day. We hope you share our growing excitement about the upcoming summer, and stay tuned for the release of our promotional schedule!

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First, here's a video interview with 2011 Knights intern Leslie Mak, a star on the Oregon State gymnastics team. Leslie epitomizes the outstanding students we hire to help make the Knights the top franchise in the WCL!

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Knights' catcher Corey Davis (2010, 2011) of Wright State (Ohio) on Monday was named the Horizon League Batter of the Week for the week ending March 13.

A junior, Davis hit .471 with five doubles, a home run and five RBI in doubleheader sweeps of Oakland on Saturday and Canisius on Sunday.

In the first game against Oakland, Davis went 3-for-5 with a three-run homer and two doubles. In the nightcap, he was 2-for-3 with two doubles and two RBIs.

In the second game against Canisius, Davis was 3-for-5 with a double.

Davis is from Happy Valley, Ore., and played at Clackamas High and Mt. Hood before joining the Knights in 2010. He's hitting .320 (16-50), with a homer and nine RBIs, in 14 games this season.

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Knights infielder Griffin Boyd of Western Oregon, a junior from Medford, was named the Great Northwest Conference Player of the Week for Feb. 28-Mar. 6.

Boyd drove in a team-best four runs as the Wolves opened defense of their GNAC title with a four-game sweep of Central Washington. Boyd was 5-for-16, with singles to plate the tying run in the eighth and the winning run in the 14th inning in a March 5 win. Boyd also handled 18 chances (12 putouts, 6 assists) at third base without an error.

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Ex-Knights Sam Gaviglio and Andrew Susac, members of the 2009 Knights, were nominated for Pacific-10 Conference Pitcher and Player of the Week honors, but did not win.

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Now, an update on how our other 2011 Division I Knights are faring with their respective teams:

OREGON STATE: Lefty Ben Wetzler shut down VMI this past Saturday on two runs and four hits over six innings in a 13-3 win. He is 2-1, 3.98 in four starts, with 22 strikeouts in 20.1 innings.

Righty Scott Schultz started the March 8 game against Oregon, allowed one run over 4.1 innings but didn't get a decision. He's 1-0, 3.18 in 11.1 innings over three appearances.

Pitcher Tom Zarosinski and infielder Brandon Defazio haven't played yet.

OREGON: Outfielder Connor Hofmann is hitting .222 (6-27) with three RBIs in 12 games. Pitcher Jimmie Sherfy hasn't thrown yet.

CAL POLY: Infielder Jimmy Allen had two doubles and four RBIs against Loyola Marymount this past Saturday and is hitting .267 (4-15) with four RBIs in seven games. Infielder David Armendariz is hitting .162 (6-37) with a homer and three RBIs in 13 gamnes.

Also on Saturday, pitcher Chase Johnson threw five shutout innings against LMU, with four strikeouts and no walks. He's 0-1, 2.08 in 8.2 innings in three games, with eight strikeouts.

DELAWARE: The Blue Hens swept George Mason over the weekend. Pitcher Eric Young is 1-1, 4.58 in 19.2 innings over four starts.

HAWAII: Outfielder Michael Blake is at .184 (7-38), with six RBIs, in 16 games.

SANTA CLARA: Pitcher Chris Mendoza is 1-2, 3.98 in 20.2 innings over four starts.

SAN DIEGO STATE: Pitcher Justin Hepner is 0-0, 4.50 in two innings in two appearances, with two strikeouts.

SEATTLE: Like everyone else in the Northwest, the RedHawks have been battling the wet weather and their weekend games with PLU were washed out. Infielder Nate Roberts, a star at Moses Lake last summer, is struggling at .100 (2-20), and pitcher Cam Christian is at 0-1, 16.22 in 2.2 innings in three games.

UC IRVINE: Pitcher Nick Hoover is 1-0, 2.79 in 9.2 inings over five appearances. Pitcher Sebastian Santos has a scoreless inning in his lone game.

UC RIVERSIDE: Outfielder David Andriese contiues to have a great year, as he's hitting .408 (20-49), with three homers and nine RBIs in 13 games.

Pitcher Dylan Stewart is 0-0, 0.00 in eight innings over three games, with 11 strikeouts. Closer Mitch Patito has three saves in five games and is 0-2, 3.38 overall in 5.1 innings.

PORTLAND: Catcher Beau Fraser is at .222 (10-45), with two homers and seven RBIs in 12 games. Pitcher Chris Johnson allowed just one run over seven innings in a victory over Hawaii last weekend and improved his numbers to 1-0, 5.06 over 16 innings in three games, with 15 strikeouts.

WASHINGTON STATE: Outfielder Nate Blackham is hitting .600 (3-5) in nine games. Infielder J.K. Dykes hasn't played yet.

We'll update the progress of our Division II, Division III, NAIA and JC Knights later this week.

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Now, some news from around the WCL:

BELLINGHAM: The Bells have added 6-4 righthanded pitchers Aaron Wolfson of UC San Diego and Carsen Nylund of Lewis-Clark State, and infielder Scott Zeman, also of UCSD. All are freshmen. Wolfson is from Sage Hill High School in Newport Beach, Calif. Nylund is a native of Surrey, British Columbia, and played at Fleetwood Park Secondary. Zeman graduated from Buena High School in Ventura, Calif.

KLAMATH FALLS: The Gems have hired University of Oregon junior sports marketing major Philipp Pohl as their Baseball Operations Intern. He's a 2008 graduate of Klamath Union High School.

Pohl's duties will include official scorekeeping during games; designing and producing statistics packages for staff, fans and media; posting information to the Gems Web site; helping Gems coaches and staff with baseball-related duties, and assisting in sales and marketing efforts.

Our new merchandise is here

It's Friday, and we have some news to report.

Our new Corvallis Knights branded Nike merchandise is now available in person at the WWHQ during the week in Madison Plaza in downtown Corvallis, or online by clicking right here.

It's good stuff. Here's a story about our new merchandise from the Knights' home page.

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There's also a new edition of the Knight Show on video right here.

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Incoming Knights pitcher Chris Johnson (2011) of Portland pitched two-hit ball over seven innings on Thursday and got the win as the Pilots defeated Hawaii 5-1 in Honolulu. He struck out six and gave up just one run.

Outfielder Michael Blake (2010, 2011) had the Warriors' only RBI.

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Former Knights pitcher Matt Andriese (2009) had a career-high 10 strikeouts on Wednesday for UC Riverside but the Highlanders entered a 10-day layoff for exams by losing 4-1 to Pepperdine.

Current Knights outfielder David Andriese had two hits and ex-Knight Dustin Emmons (2009, 2010) gave up one run in one inning of relief.

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Oregon's Tyler Anderson, who pitched briefly for the Knights in 2009, had 12 strikeouts and alloswed one earned run over eight innings in a 6-3 win over BYU on Thursday. Incoming Knights outfielder Connor Hofmann scored as a pinch-runner for the Ducks.

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Riverside Community College played Santa Ana and Irvine Valley earlier this week and infielder Nic Cuckovich (2011) was a combined 2-for-7. Pitcher Kyle McNutt gave up four unearned runs in the first inning of his start at Irvine Valley and was the losing pitcher.

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Some news from elsewhere in the West Coast League:

KELOWNA: Former Falcons' ace James Paxton (2007) has signed with the Seattle Mariners. He was their fourth-round selection in the 2010 June draft.

Paxton is scheduled to arrive in Peoria, Ariz., this week and will participate in spring training as a non-roster invite. He pitched at Kentucky from 2007-09.

He was 1-1, 1.38 in 13 innings in two starts against the Knights, with 13 strikeouts in 13 innings. He struck out 62 hitters at Kelowna in 2007, a franchise record.

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Finally, the countdown is all the way down to 84 days before our June 3 opener at Walla Walla, and 88 days until our June 7 home opener against Klamath Fallas, as we head into the weekend.

And remember, our popular mascot, Mack the Knight, and several others of us from the ballclub will be representing at the Woodstock's Run for Kids at Avery Park on Saturday morning. See you there; it's for a good cause.

And our spectacular WWHQ in the Madison Plaza building is a stop on Saturday's Rhapsody in the Vineyard wine walk in downtown Corvallis, so stop by and see us!

More honors for Susac

The honors keep pouring in for former Knights catcher Andrew Susac (2009), now a sophomore at Oregon State.

He is one of 42 players from around the country on the watch list for the 2011 Johnny Bench Award, the Greater Wichita Area Sports Commission announced Thursday.

The award is given annually to the nation's top Division I catcher.

Susac leads the Beavers with a .447 batting average, .816 slugging percentage and .566 on-base percentage. He has three homers and 15 RBIs, has not made an error and has two pickoffs.

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Lots of updates on former Knights in this blog about the Oregon State baseball team by Cliff Kirkpatrick of the Corvallis Gazette-Times.

James Nygren, Sam Gaviglio, Ben Wetzler, Josh Osich, Taylor Starr, Matt Boyd, Susac, Dylan Jones and Carter Bell, a veritable Knights all-star team for the last three years, merit a mention.

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We missed this last week, but it's never too late to make amends.

Knights' infielder Sean Myrom (2011) of Concordia was named the Cascade Conference's Red Lion Player of the Week for Feb. 21-27.

A junior first baseman from San Diego, Myrom hit .333 with a homer and two RBis in a doubleheader against George Fox.

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Mack the Knight and several other team representatives will be at the Woodstock's Run for Kids on Saturday morning at Avery Park, lending our support to a very fine cause. See youn there!

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Some news from around the West Coast League:

KELOWNA: The Falcons have signed junior first baseman Nicholas Colwell and junior pitcher Mark Hermes of North Dakota State for the upcoming season.

Colwell is in his first season with the Bison after two years at Iowa Central Community College, where he hit .387, with 17 doubles and 54 RBIs.

He graduated from Irondale High School in New Brighton, Minn., and is majoring in exercise science.

Hermes was 1-3, 4.10 at NDSU in 2010 and had 46 strikeouts in 52.2 innings. He graduated from Apple Valley High School in Apple Valley, Minn., and is an exercise science major at NDSU.

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Finally, the countdown. Only 85 more days until the June 3 opener at Walla Walla, and only 89 until our June 7 home opener against Klamath Falls at Goss Stadium.

Wednesday update

More than halfway through the work week after today, and one day closer to our opener. It's only 86 days until June 3, when we meet the Walla Walla Sweets in Washington, and only 90 until we host the Klamath Falls Gems on June 7 in our fifth opener in Corvallis.

And it was a big milestone on Tuesday for 2011 Knights pitcher Scott Schultz, an Oregon State freshman righthander from Gig Harbor, Wash. He allowed just one run over 4.1 innings in his first start in OSU's 4-1 win over Oregon on a frosty night at Goss Stadium.

Ex-Knight lefty Matt Boyd (2010) dominated over the final 2.2 innings for the save. Oregon's Connor Hofmann, also a 2011 Knight, had one of the Ducks' few base hits.

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Today we'll update how our Division II, Division III, NAIA and JC players are doing with their respective college teams.

COLLEGE OF SOUTHERN IDAHO: Lefty pitcher Tyler Duffin is 1-2, 7.71 in 9.1 innings over seven appearances, with nine strikeouts.

CONCORDIA: Infielder Sean Myrom is hitting .344 (21-61) in 15 games, with four homers and 12 RBIs. Concordia plays the College of Idaho this Friday and Saturday.

FEATHER RIVER: Outfielder Dayton Alexander is hitting .313 (15-48), with two homers and three RBIs. FRCC plays Butte College this weekend.

HAWAII PACIFIC: Pitcher Taylor Hill is 0-1, 5.40 in 6.2 innings over five games heading into Sunday and Monday games against Dixie State.

PLU: Infielder Corey Moore is hitting .294 (15-51), with a homer and 10 RBIs, in 12 games. Pitcher Max Beatty is 2-0, 1.33 in 22 innings over three games, with 14 strikeouts. PLU plays at Seattle U. on Saturday.

REDLANDS: Pitcher Kyle Hart is 2-1, 3.48 in five games, with 36 strikeouts in 33.2 innings. Redlands host Wabash and Rutgers-Newark this weekend.

WESTERN OREGON: Infielder Griffin Boyd is hitting .254 (16-63) with no homers and 11 RBIs in 16 games. The Wolves play Chico State this weekend.

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Some news from around the West Coast League:

WENATCHEE: Oregon State sophomore outfielder/infielder Ryan Barnes, freshman pitcher Cole Baylis and junior pitcher Glenn Wallace will play for the AppleSox.

A West Linn High graduate, Barnes played for the Humboldt Crabs of the West Coast League Tri-State in 2010 and hit .275 with 15 RBIs in 38 games.

Bayliss is az 6-7 righthander from Los Altos, Calif., who is 1-0, 0.00 in 4.2 innings in four appearances.

A Reno native, Wallace played two seasons at the College of San Mateo before transferring to OSU, and was 4-4, 3.32 in 2010. He has not played this season; his older brother, John, played for OSU and the Corvallis Knights on the 2008 WCL championship team.

COWLITZ: Arizona State freshman right-hander Mark Lambson, a 5-10, 185-pounder from Tualatin, Ore., has joined the 2011 pitching staff.

Lambson joins returning pitchers Jeff Gold (Oregon), Kevin Bosson (Cal Poly Pomona), Richi Sandoval (New Mexico Highland), and new Black Bears Matt Maurer (Pepperdine), Ricky Villareal (Pepperdine), Grahamm Wiest (Cal St Fullerton), and Brandon Brennan (Oregon). The Black Bears have more players to sign before their June 3 opener against the Portland Bucks at Story Field.

BELLINGHAM: The Bells hazve signed freshmen outfielders Michael Aquino of Rice and Andy Fortuna of Texas-Pan American for the 2011 season.

Aquino is a 5-10, 170-pound freshman from The Woodlands, Texas, who was a Houston Chronicle first-team 2010 Greater Houston all-star.

Fortuna graduated from Sunset High in Miami, Fla. He hit .470 with 28 steals as a high school senior.

Happy Tuesday to the Knights Nation

Knights Nation.

OK, we just made that up. But in his previous life The Blog also coined the term, "Beaver Nation," early in the Jerry Pettibone coaching era, way before their actually was a Beaver Nation.

So who knows, "Knights Nation" might someday catch on too. Either way, I can promise you you're in "Knights Nation" when you're reading the Knights blog.

We reported yesterday that it was a very good weekend for 2011 Knights pitcher Ben Wetzler. The Oregon State freshman won his first college game with a standout performance against the University of Hartford this past Saturday.

Turns out it was also a great weekend for his batterymate, ex-Knights catcher Andrew Susac (2009). He was named the Pacific-10 Conference Player of the Week on Monday for hitting .500 (8-16) in five games, with two homers, three doubles, eight RBIs, 10 runs and a 1.055 slugging percentage and .608 on-base percentage.

Susac has an eight-game hitting streak heading into today's game with Oregon and has 14 hits and all three of his homers in that span. He's hitting .441, with an .853 slugging percentage and a .571 on-base percentage.

Also, former Knights pitcher Eddie Orozco (2008, 2009) was nominated for Big West Conference Pitcher of the Week honors, but did not win the award.

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We had hoped to update how our Division II, Division III, NAIA and JC players are doing but it turned into a very busy day. So we'll cut this short for today, and attack that elephant in Wednesday's blog.

And lest we forget, 87 days until the June 3 opener at Walla Walla and 91 days until our June 7 home opener with Klamath Falls.

Start of a new week

It was a big weekend for 2011 Knight-to-be Ben Wetzler, who we profiled last week in the news portion of our home page, and some former Knights' standouts, at Goss Stadium in Oregon State's opening home series of the 2011 season.

A freshman left-handed pitcher from Clackamas High, Wetzler won his first college game on Saturday with an outstanding performance against the University of Hartford. Wetzler gave up two hits over seven innings and had nine strikeouts in a 16-1 blowout.

For the season, Wetzler is 1-1, 4.40, with 18 strikeouts in 14.1 innings. The other future Knight to see action this year for OSU, righthanded pitcher Scott Schultz, didn't pitch this past weekend and is 1-0, 3.86 in two appearances.

In fact, Knights' pitchers won every game this weekend.

Josh Osich (2008) and James Nygren (2009) were the winners in Sunday's doubleheader sweep, and Sam Gaviglio (2009) won Saturday's opener.

And ex-Knights catcher/ DH Andrew Susac (2009) was 7-for-13 (.538), with two homers, eight RBIs and nine runs scored.

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Here's an update on our other Division I 2011 Knights-to-be after their latest weekend of baseball action (we'll update the Division II, Division III, NAIA and JC Knights on Tuesday):

CAL POLY: The Mustangs swept Valparaiso. Infielder David Armendariz is hitting .176, with a homer and three RBIs. Pitcher Chase Johnson is 0-1, 4.91 in 3.2 innings over two appearances.

DELAWARE: The Blue Hens lost twice to Wilmington College of Delaware. Pitcher Eric Young lost 3-1 on Saturday but gave up just two runs on six hits over 6.2 innings. He's 1-1, 2.87 in 15 innings over three appearances.

HAWAII: The Warriors won two of three at Loyola Marymount. Outfielder Michael Blake is hitting .182, with no homers and five RBIs in 11 games.

OREGON: The Ducks lost two of three at Long Beach State. Outfielder Connor Hofmann is hitrting .208, with no homers and three RBIs, in nine games.

SANTA CLARA: Pitcher Chris Mendoza gave up one earned run in 4.1 innings against San Jose State on Sunday but wasn't involved in the decision in a 6-3 win that gave the Broncos a 2-1 series win. He is 1-1, 2.93 over 15.1 innings in three games.

SAN DIEGO STATE: Pitcher Justin Hepner didn't throw. He's 0-0 9.00 in one inning in his lone appearance.

SEATTLE: The RedHawks took two of three against Portland. Infielder Nate Roberts is hitting .100 (2-20) with three RBIs in six games; pitcher Cam Christian is 0-1, 16.88 in 2.2 innings in three games.

UC IRVINE: The Anteaters split an abbreviated two-game series at St. Mary's. Pitcher Nick Hoover is 0-0, 4.50 in six innings over four games; pitcher Sebastian Santos remains 0-0, 0.00 over one inning in his lone appearance.

UC RIVERSIDE: UCR won three of four at the Coca-Cola Classic in Surprise, Ariz. Outfielder David Andriese is hitting .405, with three homers and seven RBIs, in 10 games.

PORTLAND: Catcher Beau Fraser is hitting .290 (2-6) in seven games for the Pilots, who dropped two of three at Seattle.

WASHINGTON STATE: The Cougars were 1-2 in Mobile at the Dairy Queen Classic. Outfielder Nate Blackham is 2-for-3 (.667) in four appearances.

WRIGHT STATE: WSU was 2-1 at the Elon Invitational. Catcher Corey Davis is hitting .242 with four RBIs in 10 games.

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We are now down to 88 days and counting before our 2011 season opener, June 3 at Walla Walla. And only 92 days until our home opener, June 7 against the Klamath Falls Gems at Goss Stadium.

Both days will be here before you know it, so buy your season tickets online or down here at the WWHQ at Madison Plaza in downtown Corvallis.

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And finally, the Knights were profiled by Joe Raia in the local online newspaper, Corvallis TidBits, late last week.

Here's the link to the story, and some photos; happy reading!

Friday, Friday, Friday is my favorite day

The weekend looms, and that's always a good thing, especially when it's a weekend with some Oregon State baseball games on tap against the University of Hartford, at Goss Stadium.

Future Knight Ben Wetzler will pitch in one of those games, and hopefully bounce back from a tough performance against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi last week.

We have some leftover notes from our recent interview with Wetzler elsewhere on this website, specifically addressing how he expects to bounce back from a rare sub-par effort.

"It was very eye-opening," he said. "It kind of brought me back to my freshman summer in high school, the same thing happened.

"I got my first start on a trip to Montana; I had never really been beaten up and hit around the yard like that. It was an eye-opener."

He said he used that game as a learning experience, and expects to do the same thing this weekend.

"The competition is that much higher," than he faced at Clackamas High School, he said. "So you've got to be that much better.

"You have to make an adjustment, find something good to take away from a bad start, learn from it and move on."

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Knights outfielder David Andriese was 0-for-3 on Thursday for UC Riverside in a 2-1, 10-inning win over Kansas in a tournament at Surprise, Ariz. Ex-Knight Eddie Orozco (2008-09) pitched six innings for UCR and gave up two hits and one unearned run, but didn't figure in the decision.

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Some news from elsewhere in the West Coast League:

WALLA WALLA: Left-handed pitchers Brett Watson of Walla Walla Community College and Dan Sorine of Fordham University will play for the Sweets in 2011.

Watson was slated to join the Sweets for their inaugural season in 2010 but was sidelined for the summer with an elbow injury. A 6-foot 1-inch, 215-pound sophomore from Lewiston, Idaho, he was a second-team NWAACC all-star. He was also the Inaldn Empire League MVP in 2009 as a senior at Lewiston High School.

Sorine is a 6-foot 2-inch, 215-pound sophomore from Eastchester, N.Y., who mazde 18 appearances in 2010 as a freshman, with six strikeouts in nine innings, and one save.

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Finally, only 91 days left until our June 3 opener at Walla Walla, and 95 days left before our June 7 home opener against the Klamath Falls Gems at what we hope will be a sold-out Goss Stadium (hey, a guy can dream, right?)

In the meantime, stay dry at the Beavers' games, and have a great weekend!

Thursday 3/3 update

We're nearing the end of the work week but there's still plenty to be done down here at the WWHQ in Madison Plaza in downtown Corvallis.

Four boxes of new Knights hats arrived at the office yesterday, adding to the stack of new Nike merchandise we've got under lock and key and protected by nasty guard dogs in our underground bunker. It will be availble for purchase on line, or in person down here at the WWHQ, late next week, so keep that in mind come payday.

It's pretty nice stuff.

Some other news of note:

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You know there can't be a blog without a countdown. It hit 92 this morning - just 92 days before our June 3 opener at Walla Walla, and 96 days until our June 7 home opener against trhe KJlamath Falls Gems.

Sounds like a long ways away, but it was at 144 when we started this gig back in early January, so times goes by quickly.

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Former Knights catcher Chris Stewart (2001), who is bidding to back up Buster Posey on the Giants, had two hits, two runs and two RBIs on Wednesday in their exhibition win to up his Cactus league average to .444.

Good luck to Chris, who has also had cups of big-league coffee with the White Sox, Rangers, Yankees and Padres.

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The Blog's story on future Knights pitcher Ben Wetzler, now an OSU freshman, is up on the news portion of our home page. Check it out for a good read on a future OSU star.

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Riverside CC pitcher and future Knight Kyle McNutt (2011) pitched a scoreless inning on Tuesday in an 8-3 win over Mt. San Antonio CC. McNutt had one strikeout.