Brooks Hatch

Here’s your daily Corvallis Knights update, several hours before Friday night’s Kids Dash for Cash/Sam Gaviglio start against the Bellingham Bells:

* The Knights have released right-handed pitcher Nick Struck of Mt. Hood CC, who was 0-1, 4.00, with one save in four appearances. He’ll pitch for the Portland Ports in WCL Portland this summer, where he can be a starter, as he prefers, and not work out of the bullpen.

* The Knights have added a familiar face: Catcher Rocky Gale of the Univeersity of Portland, a starter on the 2007 club that won the West Division regular-season and playoff titles before losing to Moses Lake in the WCL Championship Series.

Gale made his 2009 Knights’ debut on Thursday night. Catcher Tommy Whalen of Concordia, who was hitless in 12 at-bats over four games, was also assigned to WCL Portland.

Gale hit .253, with no homers and 14 RBIs, in 43 games for the 2007 Knights and batted .194, with two homers and 10 RBIs, in 43 games for the Pilots this past spring. He hit .261 as a sophomore in 2008 and .254 as a freshman in 2007, so he’s better than last spring’s numbers.

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It did not take new catcher Andrew Susac, an OSU signee and next year’s possible projected starter,  long to make an impression with the Knights. He easily threw out two would-be base stealers in the first inning of the 7-3 victory over the Ports on Thursday night, and also had a two-run single.

You could almost see the OSU assistant coaches in the stands cringe, because one of the scouts at the game was Bill Harper of the Phillies, the team that drafted Susac in the 16th round on June 10.

They’ll undoubtedly continue to try to  sign him before the mid-August deadline and positive reports from Harper probably won’t do anything to deter them.

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The Knights have drawn 2,644 fans through four games, a 661 average. That’s above last year’s average at a corresponding point (2,612, 653), which included a popular Fireworks Night.

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We’ve got a few leftover notes from our Friday story on first baseman Taylor Ard (who promptly went 0-for-2 on Thursday night, once again proving the viability of the  G-T jinx).

* Ard played in the wood-bat NWAACC in 2009 at Mt. Hood CC and thus has an advantage over players joining the WCL from metal-bat leagues.

“Wood is a little different than metal, and the more you can use it, the easier it gets,” he said. “It seems to be a little harder to get (the wood bat) through the zone, you can’t get it through as quick.

“So you have to learn to start a little earlier. It helped out quite a bit going from wood-to-wood.”

* Ard went 7-for-13 in his first three games with the Knights and that quick start helped build his confidence and make him feel less concerned about the jump from the NWAACC to the WCL.

“It takes the pressure off,” he said. “Instead of slumping right at first, it makes you feel good and relaxed more to get som ehits.

“That lets you perform better because you’re not stressing out and strying to get hits. You just relax, and let them come.”

* Finally, Ard said playing at Goss Stadium with future OSU teammates will ease the transition to Division I baseball when fall practice begins in September.

“Getting a chance to play on the turf, getting used to the field and how it plays, is a big help, (as is) playing with people who are on Oregon State, like Brent (Warren) and James (Nygren),” he said.

“It will be good getting the feel of what it’s like playing here so I’m not overwhelmed when I come here in the fall.”

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We’re not all about the Knights.

The Blog and friends took a tour of the Gill Coliseum basement the other day and here’s a preview of an upcoming Sunday  story detailing what’s going on outside and inside the most historic athletic venue in the state of Oregon:

You’ll still recognize the place when they’re finally finished.

But the ongoing $9 million renovation project at Gill Coliseum will make the state’s most historic athletic venue — a campus icon whose Ralph Miller Court will sport a commemorative 60th-anniversary decal this season — a more attractive, modern and efficient home base for Oregon State’s various Olympic sports.

“Modernizing and bringing new amenities and capabilities to Gill will strengthen services for (our) student-athletes and breathe new life into this legendary venue,” athletic director Bob De Carolis said in announcing the project on Aug. 10, 2007. “Home venues play a major role in recruiting, and they can potentially be a critical factor in an athlete’s final decision about which school to attend.

“As one of the oldest athletic arenas west of the Mississippi, we’re more than due for a facelift after nearly 60 years. The old building deserves to have its luster restored.”

That dream is being realized, above and below ground at the intersection of Southwest 26th Street and Ralph Miller Drive.

Scaffolding and a plastic cover has enveloped the south, west and now the east walls of the building in a one-sided cocoon since last fall as workers stripped off old paint, removed asbestos, and sealed the concrete to prepare the massive structure for a new coat of paint.

That loud, lengthy phase is nearly complete.

“We don’t have to sandblast the north side, because that wasn’t as weather-damaged,” said John Cheney, the assistant director of facilities and operations, on a recent tour of the building. “We could power-wash that; we didn’t have to take it down to concrete” like on the other three sides.

“We hope to have (the prep work) done by the end of June.”
Painting will begin subsequently. No color has been selected, but Cheney said Gill Coliseum won’t again sport the bright white exterior it wore on Dec. 16, 1949, when the Beavers christened their new palace with a 53-41 win over Utah before 5,694 fans.

“Bob (De Carolis) is still considering options,” Cheney said. “There’s a good chance it will be a color similar to what it was before (tan), without the highlight colors” trimmed across the top.

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