Knights move into third place going into final series

The Aloha Knights stayed in the chase for a berth in the West Coast League by sweeping a road series against Kelowna this week.

The Knights completed the three-game sweep with a 7-6 win Thursday night in British Columbia. Aloha scored in each of the first four innings to build an early 7-3 lead. Shawn Wayt led the attack with an RBI-double in the first inning followed by an RBI-single in the fourth.

The Falcons put the tying run at second base in the sixth inning before reliever Nick Hedgecock entered the game. He forced a groundout to shortstop Ryan Selden to end the threat. Hedgecock didn't allow a base runner the rest of the way, retiring all 10 batters he faced.

Aloha (24-15) moved into a third-place tie with Bend going into the final series of the regular season this weekend. Both teams trail Wenatchee (25-14) by a single game in the chase for a berth into the West Coast League championship series.

The Knights opened the series with a convincing 7-1 win, pounding out 15 hits and stealing five bases. Barlow graduate Bryan Donohue led the attack by hitting 4 for 5 with two RBIs, while pitcher Anthony Carrillo went the distance and struck out six.

Aloha added a 5-3 win Wednesday night, stringing together a series of hits to jump to a 3-0 lead in the second inning. Mark Samuelson added an RBI-double in the fifth inning for what proved to be the winning run.

A full report, including playoff possibilities, will appear in Saturday's edition of the Gresham Outlook.