Brooks Hatch

It’s opening night for Year III at Goss Stadium for the Corvallis Knights of the West Coast League. The team they’ll field for the opening series against Bend won’t look anything like it will in a week or two, when all the players arrive, but manager Brooke Knight says they’ll be competitive and hold down the first until everyone shows up.

Games are Tuesday-Thursday, all starting at 6:35 p.m. Tonight’s projected starting pitchers are Kyle Kraus (Portland) for the Knights and Eugene Wright (Cal Poly) for Bend; Wednesday’s probables are Nick Struck (Mt. Hood) for the Knights and Spencer Jackson (Washington State) for Bend; Joey Donofrio (California) will start for Bend on Thursday, while the Knights’ starter is undetermined.

Struck, from Clackamas High, outpitched OSU’s Ryan Gorton (Tigard) to win the 6A state championship in 2008, the same year OSU’s Sam Gaviglio pitched Ashland to the 5A state title.

The Knights drew 419 for their 2007 opener and 793 for the 2008 opener. They should match 2008’s number tonight, although it would be nice if the weather would finally start cooperating and it would warm up a bit.

Wednesday is Bi-Mart 2-for-1 night and $1 hot dog night. THen comes the first Block 15 Thursday, with discounted beverages available. And, for any OSU students still remaining in town, or for any Corvallis students already home for the summer from their school, it’s College Night and $2 admissions are available with your college ID.

The opening-night results were mixed from around the WCL last weekend. Bellingham drew 1,125 for its debut against Kitsap, and ex-Beaver Tyrell Poggemeyer pitched a two-hitter over seven for the win. Moses Lake drew 643 against Wenatchee on a night when rain stopped the game after six, and Spokane drew 178 for a game with Kelowna.

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Two of those soon-to-arrive Knights – pitcher Dustin Emmons of UC Riverside and shortstop Kyle Smith of Cal Poly – recently earned second-team all-Big West Conference honors.

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The MLB draft begins today; fellow GT staffer Cliff Kirkpatrick is handling that so check his blog for updates. Several ex-Knights are certain to be selected, such as WSU catcher/utility Alex Berg, last year’s Knights’ MVP, and WSU left-handed pitcher Matt Way, the ace of the 2007 staff.

At least one OSU player has been drafted every year since 1993; a record nine were selected in 2006, the year of the first NCAA championship. OSU had 21 players selected 24 times from 2006-08 (Tyler Graham, Mitch Canham and Mike Stutes were picked twice as collegians).

Twenty-one Beavers have been drafted in the first nine rounds in the Pat Casey coaching era (1995-present). All but one signed (Stutes turned down the Cardinals in 2007) and 12 are still playing affiliated baseball.

And 12 current Beavers have been drafted, but did not sign.

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Oregon announced its 2009-10 baseball signing class on Monday. No Oregonians on that list.

The winning pitchers in the Oregon 5A (Zach Moeller, McNary) and 4A (Jordan Poyer, Astoria) tournaments will both play for the Beavers; Poyer next year, Moeller in 2011.

And OSU signee Matt Boyd of Eastside Catholic High in Mercer Island was named the Washington Coashes Association’s state Player of the Year.

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OSU executive senior associate AD Todd Stansbury, the No. 2 guy in the department, is still in the mix to be the new AD at the University of Houston, according to the Houston Chronicle. He’s worked for the Cougars in the past.

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We’ll have our Oregon State baseball season wrapup story in Sunday’s paper/online, and our Corvallis Knights 2009 season preview in Monday’s paper/online. So those of you out there in cyberspace who are baseball freaks have that to look forward to, I guess.

One other item of note: The word on the street is (that’s at this moment; of course, everything in life is day-to-day and NOTHING is etched in granite) no OSU sports will be cut for 2009-10 and 2010-11. If the economy picks up, the football team keeps winning, men’s basketball continues to build on last year’s success and attendance increases, and the campaign to expand the donor base succeeds, no program cuts will ever be necessary.

That should help increase the candidate pool for the vacant men’s soccer position, as that sport probably would have received serious consideration had it been necessary to eliminate a program.

(Several million (to start) bucks a year from the Pac-10 Network, should that proposal ever become a reality, would help the bottom line as well.)

Have their been some sacrifices/concessions/cutbacks made, affecting athletic department budgets and employees? Certainly, and there should be an AD Report forthcoming shortly detailing, as much as is possible, the situation.

But the good news is, no programs should be cut and OSU should again offer seven men’s sports (football, basketball, wrestling, baseball, soccer, crew, golf) and 10 women’s sports (volleyball, soccer, golf, basketball, gymnastics, softball, swimming, cross country, track, crew) for the foreseeable future, and remain in full Title IX compliance without adding the sham sport/compliance dodge of competitive cheerleading.

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This won’t make the season-ending baseball wrapup because of space limitations, so that’s one reason we have the blog. Coach Pat Casey was certain sophomore right-handed reliever Taylor Starr, who missed virtually the entire season after having Tommy John reconstructive surgery on his right elbow, would have made a big difference had he been available the entire season.

(Having watched Starr dominate in the WCL last summer for the Knights – 1-2, 2.49, with 10 saves and 28 strikeouts in 25 innings – we agree.)

“He (would have been) one of the top five arms in the conference,” Casey said of Starr, a 6-foot-3, 202-pounder from Longview, Wash. who attended Kelso High. “He would have filled several roles.

“There are times if you have to extend the closer on Friday, you need somebody else to close” on Saturday. “And sometimes thazt gets you in trouble because you don’t want to extend someone” and make him unavailable for the next day.

“If you feel somebody is an 1 1/2-inning guy and you need him to start the eighth hoping to get an out, you don’t do it,” si he’ll be available for the next day. “Taylor could have set up, closed, could have come in in the sixth if he had to because he can get left-handers out.

“He could be a starter next year. I’m not sure if that’s his best role; I see him being a setup guy in the big leagues. He’s a guy who can get you 94, 95 (MHP) from a three-quarter arm slot, who has good makeup.
He’ll get a redshirt year but I don’t think he’ll get to use it,” because he’s draft-eligible after the 2010 season.

His rehab is going according to plan and he should be available next season.

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The Knights don’t open until Tuesday against Bend, but the WCL kicks off its fifth season tonight with three league games. Here’s the opening-night news release from the WCL’s world-wide headquarters in Portland:

PORTLAND, Oregon, Thursday, June 4, 2009 - There’s excitement in the air as the 2009 West Coast League season opens Friday with three games. The Bellingham Bells host the Kitsap BlueJackets at Joe Martin Field, the Wenatchee AppleSox visit the Moses Lake Pirates at Larson Field, while the Spokane RiverHawks begin the season at home at Avista Stadium against the Kelowna Falcons.

The WCL’s fifth season features an expanded schedule. Each team will play 48 games, up from 42 last season. The schedule is unbalanced for the first time, with teams playing more games against teams in their own division. Each club will have two cities it won’t visit during the regular season. The top two teams in each division will make the playoffs.

The Corvallis Knights are the defending West Coast League champion and figure to be a top contender again this season. The Knights begin defense of their crown next Tuesday, when they’re at home at Goss Stadium against the Bend Elks in a rematch of the 2008 West Division Playoffs.

Kitsap and Wenatchee open their home seasons next Friday, June 12. The home openers for Bend and Kelowna are June 16.

The West Coast League attracts top college players from around the country, who get an opportunity to play in a pro-like atmosphere.

The WCL has already announced that Longview/Kelso, Washington will join the league next season and that Klamath Falls, Oregon has been awarded a conditional franchise to begin play as soon as 2010.

And speaking of the Knights, 2005 alum Tommy Hanson is scheduled to make his major-league debut this Saturday as Atlanta’s starter against Milwaukee. He’ll be the fourth ex-Knight to play in the majors, joining pitcher Mike Thurman of Philomath, catcher Chris Stewart, who has played for the Rangers and Yankees, and current Chicago Cuns infielder Bobby Scales.

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* One-time OSU strength and conditioning coach Jeff Macy is being inducted into the Venice (Fla.) High School Hall of Fame.

* Former OSU tailback Yvenson Bernard is in camp with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the CFL and is competing for the kick-returning job, according to this item in the Winnipeg Free-Press. He’s also listed as one of the Bombers’ “10 rookies to watch” in this WFP story.

* Former OSU assistant women’s soccer coach Kellie Evans has been named to a similar position at Illinois State, according to this item in the Bloomington Pantagraph newspaper.

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