Moses Lake wins WCCBL title, edges Corvallis 3-2 at Larson Field.

The Knights season came to an end as Moses Lake took advantage of three Corvallis errors to score 3 unearned runs. Corvallis collected 12 hits, but could only manage 2 runs as the Knights left 12 men on base. Moses Lake swept the best two-out-of-three series to win the 2007 WCCBL Championship. It was the Pirates first title.

The Knights strength during the regular season fell short in the WCCBL Championship Series - defense. Minus infield depth, the Knights appeared to tire at the end of the season. That's how Corvallis played defensively Monday night.

Starter Eric Massingham of Cal Poly SLO was on the top of his game, but he could not overcome a complete breakdown by the Knights' infield defense in the third and fourth innings of game two.

The third inning was a mess as things started to go bad when catcher Rocky Gale of University of Portland mistakenly threw to second on a sacrifice bunt attempt by WCCBL co-MVP Zach Kim following a Curran Redal single. No error was charged on the fielder's choice, but instead of recording an out Moses Lake had runners at first and second with no outs.

Massingham bowed his neck and struck out All-WCCBL outfielder Steve Tinoco to record the inning's first out and then it appeared the Knights would get a break as Redal's and Kim's double steal try looked to fail miserably. Gale's throw beat Redal by 10 feet, but Knights' third baseman Clayton Shaw of University of Portland had trouble applying the tag and Redal was called safe after kicking the ball out of Shaw's glove. No error was charged and Redal and Kim were credited with stolen bases.

Massingham again dug deep and struck out Zach Hedges swinging. With two outs and men at second and third, Massingham then got Marcus Tackett to hit a hard smash to shortstop Josh Hogan of Mt. Hood CC, but Hogan couldn't handle the ground ball allowing two runners to score on the error.

The momentum of the game turned earlier in the inning as the Knights appeared to go up 2-0 in their half of the frame on a bases loaded fielder's choice ground out by Braden Wells of OSU, but first base ump Tim Lawson called Wells out at first. Wells was a step and a half by the bag when Lawson called him out resulting in an inning-ending 3-6-1 doubleplay. Not only was Wells by the bag, he beat Moses Lake's starting pitcher Michael Ratigan to the base. First base coach Marty Rubinoff and head coach Matt Dorey both vehemently argued the call.

After the nightmare third, Moses Lake was ahead 2-1.

The Pirates would score again in the fourth as Redal reached on a routine two-out ground ball that was booted by Shaw. Redal proceeded to steal second on a throw Hogan could have caught and tagged Redal for the inning's third out. Redal then scored on a Kim double.

Massingham worked 5 innings and struck out 6 while allowing 3 unearned runs. In two playoff appearances, Massingham did not allow a single earned run while allowing 7 runs over 12 innings pitched. He was the hard luck loser in both Knights' road playoff games.

Relievers Daniel Bibona of UC Irvine and Kevin Castner of Cal Poly SLO held the Pirates at bay giving Corvallis a chance to come from behind. Castner tossed two scoreless innings and struck out 4.

The scrappy Knights fought to the end as with two outs Brett Casey of OSU doubled, Jim Murphy of WSU walked and Matt Wyckoff of George Fox singled scoring Casey. Down 3-2 with the tying run at second and winning run at first, outfielder Jake Roy of Dakota Wesleyan battled Moses Lake closer Daniel Wolford for eight pitches before striking out on a Wolford curve ball to end the game and Knights' season.

Corvallis hit the ball well all night collecting 12 hits to the Pirates 6. Casey collected 3 hits and Murphy, Wyckoff and Roy recorded two hits each. Murphy hit the ball hard four times and was robbed of a third hit on another questionable call at first base by Lawson.

With the loss, Corvallis ended the season with a 38-20 overall record. The team won the West Division and the West Divisional Series, but went 0-2 in the Championship Series losing consecutive 3-2 games in which the team's defense allowed unearned game-winning runs.