Falcons take on Knights
Kelowna now facing must-win situation at Corvallis in WCL final
The Kelowna Falcons’ Isaac Olson pitches to a Corvallis Knights batter during first-inning playoff action Tuesday evening at Elks Stadium. The Falcons and the Knights are squaring off in a best-of-three semifinal in the West Coast League.
Call it a blowout, a flame-out or a smoke-out.
The latter seems most fitting, with the Kelowna Falcons getting smoked 17-6 by the Corvallis, Ore., Knights in the opener of their West Coast League final on Tuesday night at Elks Stadium. Playing under smoky skies and through a constant haze — but in front of their largest crowd of the season — the Falcons were fired up for their home finale, hosting their first championship series game since 2015 after edging the Bellingham, Wash., Bells in their playoff semifinal.
That fire was doused immediately, as the Knights poured in eight runs in the top of the first inning — sending 13 batters to the plate and chasing Falcons starter Isaac Olson, who only managed one out while yielding seven runs (all earned) on six hits.
Reliever Kellan Richards surrendered another run as the Knights returned to the top of their order, but the damage had already been done.
From there, the Falcons were playing catch-up and did a decent job chipping away at that deficit while holding their own until the Knights’ finishing kick in the ninth.
However, the end result continued Corvallis’ dominance over Kelowna this season in pursuit of a three-peat as the WCL’s two-time defending champion.
Corvallis also won all six regular-season meetings against Kelowna — including five in a row from July 24-29 — before sweeping the Portland Pickles in their semifinal.
The Knights will now try to wrap up their third straight WCL title on Thursday, with Game 2 at Goss Stadium in Corvallis, Oregon.
Game 3, if necessary, would also take place in Corvallis later this week.
The Falcons will need a better start to force that deciding game since Tuesday’s opener was over before it really began.
The Knights’ offence proved potent from the get-go, with Chad Stevens clobbering a lead-off double on the first pitch of Game 1.
Corvallis loaded the bases with none out before breaking out — highlighted by Trace Tammaro’s three-run homer to centre field as part of that 8-1 opening inning.
The Falcons also struggled to bring home their runners, stranding nine through five innings and trailing 11-2 at that point.
Corvallis stretched its lead to 13-2 before Kelowna closed to within 13-6 through eight innings. For a second there, a rally seemed possible — when the Falcons loaded the bases for Adam Stevens, but he grounded into an inning-ending double play to eliminate that threat and keep it a seven-run spread.
Then, the high-powered Knights tacked on four runs in the top of the ninth — to put on an exclamation mark on the outcome. Those insurance markers came off Dan Pruitt, the reigning WCL player of the week who is better known as a hitter than a pitcher.
Regardless, this was a blowout, as much as it was a flame-out by Olson and the Falcons.