Knights clinch tie for title, wrap up playoff berth.

Corvallis right-hander Chase Johnson (pictured) of Cal Poly struck out three, walked two and allowed three hits over five shutout innings in a 13-2 victory over Klamath Falls.

The Knights thus clinched a tie for their fifth consecutive West Division championship and wrapped up a West Coast League playoff berth.

Johnson's (2-1) performance extended a string of excellent starting pitching. Chase Johnson (5), Chris Johnson (5) and Jace Fry (6) have combined for 16 shutout innings in the past three games.

Corey Davis and David Andriese had solo homers, David Armendariz doubled twice, singled and scored three times and Matt Nylen and Jimmy Allen had two hits and two RBIs apiece to lead a 16-hit attack.

The Knights also stole home twice in the same inning, scored once from second on a wild pitch, and stole seven bases overall.

Corvallis (35-16, 33-16 WCL) leads second-place Bend (28-21) by five games with five to play. Bend staved off elimination Tuesday with an 8-1 victory over Walla Walla, but any Knights win, or any Bend loss, in the final week of the season will give the Knights their fifth straight outright West Division crown.

Corvallis also leads third-place Cowlitz by 5.5 games with five games remaining so it will advance to the West Division playoffs. The top two teams meet in the best-of-3 playoffs, which start Aug. 12 with one game at the No. 2 seed's ballpark.

"We really have pulled together, overcome some adversity and played very well over the past month," said Brooke Knight, who has piloted the Knights to a division championship in each of his four seasons as manager.

"The guys have embraced their roles, we've solidified our defense, our pitching has been phenomenal, and our offense has really come around. It's been a complete team effort."

For the second night in a row, the Knights took a big early lead by scoring six times in the third. Armendariz doubled in Cade Gotta for a 1-0 edge and Dane Lund added a second run on an error on the play.

The Knights then capitalized on a slow windup by Gems' starter Bryan Clough. Armendariz subsequently stole home, as did Ryan Gorton, who�d walked. Nylen added a two-run single to cap the rally.

Alert baserunning enabled Gorton to score from second on a wild pitch in the fifth and Davis followed with a solo homer to make it 8-0. Andriese hit a solo homer as a pinch-hitter in the seventh.

The Knights were 14-12 on July 5 after losing their third straight game to Bend. However, they've since won seven consecutive WCL series, are 19-4 during that span, and have won 9 of their last 10 games, including five straight against the Gems (16-30).

Idle Cowlitz (26-22) was eliminated from championship contention and dropped 1.5 games behind Bend in the race for second place. Cowlitz owns the tie-breaker should they finish with identical records because it won the season series.

The series resumes at 7:05 p.m. Wednesday. Righty Kyle Hart (3-1, 3.98) of Redlands is the Knights' scheduled starter, against Patrick O'Rourke (3-3, 1.11). WCL all-star Dylan Stuart (2-1, 1.31) of UC Riverside will start Thursday�s 7:05 series finale, against Josh Ferrell (1-2, 4.62) in a battle of lefties.

The Knights next home game is a nonconference encounter against the Dukes of WCL Portland at 6:40 p.m. Friday. They play the Ports of WCL Portland at 6:40 p.m. Saturday.