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Myrom powers Knights over Walla Walla.

June 24, 2011

Myrom powers Knights over Walla Walla.

Corvallis designated hitter Sean Myrom doubled, singled and drove in three runs to lead the Knights to a 5-2 home win over the Sweets.

Myrom gave the Knights (10-7, 9-7 WCL) an immediate 2-0 lead in the first inning with a two-run double that hit the center-field fence on one hop. He also singled home David Andriese, who'd tripled, in the eighth with the Knights' final run, delighting a Goss Stadium crowd of 1,238.

The Knights won for the fifth time in their last seven West Coast League games; they�re now just one game behind West Division leader Bend. It was also their sixth win in a row at Goss Stadium.

It was the fifth straight loss for the Sweets (5-9), who fell nine games behind East Division leader Wenatchee.

Myrom is a San Diegan who hit .278, with five homers and 20 RBIs, as a junior at Concordia (Portland) University this spring. A 10-day signee who has earned a full-time position, his booming double off of lefty starter Kyle Anderson hit the center-field wall on the bounce.

"I love facing lefties," Myrom said. "I got a fastball and just drove it."

In the eighth, Myrom fouled off several two-strike pitches before punching a single through a drawn-in infield for an added insurance run.

I kept fighting at the plate and finally got something to hit," Myrom said. "I wanted that ribbie (RBI) bad."

Myrom's double was his seventh double of the year, tied for second-best in the WCL. He also leads the Knights with nine RBIs, and eight of his 14 hits have gone for extra bases.

"I've always done better with faster pitchers," he said, explaining his success against better competition than he faces in the NAIA Cascade Conference. "I just look for my pitch.Z"

David Armendariz followed Myrom's double with a triple to the same spot for a 3-0 lead. The Sweets scored single runs off starter Adam Duke in the second and off Kyle Hart in the third before the bullpen clamped down the rest of the way.

Hart pitched three innings and was the winner. Ben Wetzler and Scott Schultz followed with two shutouts innings apiece and Schultz earned his first save by ending the game on a fielder's choice with the tying run at the plate.

At one point, Hart, Wetzler and Schultz combined to retire 13 consecutive Sweets between the fourth and eighth innings while protecting a 3-2 lead.

Shortstop Trent Oleszczuk had three singles and scored once; Andriese tripled, doubled and scored once for the Knights. Oleszczuk is hitting .375 (6-16) in four games since joining the Knights this past Monday as a replacement for injured infielders Griffin Boyd and Nate Roberts.

The series concludes at 6:40 p.m. Saturday. Knights' lefty Jace Fry (0-1, 1.69) of Southridge High School will make his second start, opposed by Sweets' lefty Tyler Billen (0-0, 0.00, 1 save) of Harding (Ark.) University. It's a $1,000 Kids Dash for Cash Night, presented by All Family Vision Care.