Otness tops Gems in first start as Knights roll 14-1.

Jake Otness (pictured) took a shutout into the seventh inning and Dalton Kelly, Phil Leopold and Kevin Kline homered as Corvallis crushed Klamath Falls 14-1 on Sunday.

A rising senior right-hander at Pacific Lutheran who joined the team in mid-July, Otness blanked the Gems for 6.2 innings in his first start of the summer before giving up a solo homer. He spaced nine hits, had one strikeout, and did not issue a walk.

The Knights (36-16 all, 32-16 WCL) remained four games ahead of Bend in the South Division pennant race, with six games remaining. The Knights and Elks (28-20 WCL) open a three-game series at Goss Stadium at 6:40 p.m. Tuesday.

Corvallis has won nine consecutive WCL series and is 21-6 in that span. The magic number to clinch a postseason berth is one; a win by Corvallis or a loss by Wenatchee in any of the final six games assures the Knights of nothing worse than a wild-card berth.

Kelly (UC Santa Barbara) blasted a two-run homer, his fifth, in the fifth inning; four are against the Gems (12-36 WCL). Leopold (Bellarmine) had a three-run shot in the seventh; all three of his home runs are against the Gems at Kiger Stadium. Kline (Dixie State)added his team-high eighth homer, a two-run blast, in the eighth.

Kelly was 4-for-6 with four RBIs to lead a 22-hit attack; Grant Melker added three hits, four RBIs and two steals. Kline, Michael Lucarelli (Portland) and Tim Rausch (Western Oregon) had three hits each, Kevin Farley (Portland) two.

Closer Brandon Choate (Washington), idle since July 24 with a tender elbow, returned and retired the Gems on three pitches in the ninth. He has pitched 13.2 consecutive scoreless innings in his last 10 appearances.

The Knights won 7 of 9 games against Klamath Falls this summer. They host the NCBL Portland All-Stars at 6:40 p.m. Monday.