By Joe Traub
Port Angeles Lefties
PORT ANGELES — Two swings of the bat ended one very long streak at Civic Field on Tuesday night.
First, Matthew Christian sent a soaring drive over the left field wall in the third inning to give the Port Angeles Lefties a 3–0 lead against the Corvallis Knights.
Later, Charlie Nasuti led off the seventh by pulling a no-doubter to left to give the Lefties a lead they did not relinquish in a 6–3 home victory over Corvallis that ended the Knights’ 16-game West Coast League winning streak.
On a cold, rainy night, Jonny Chavez was solid on the mound. The Lefties starter constantly worked out of jams, exiting in the sixth inning after giving up just two earned runs to a lineup that led the league with a .303 batting average coming into the game.
Jeff Jamison turned in the defensive highlight of the night for the hosts in the eighth inning. With the score 4–3 in favor of Port Angeles, Corvallis’ Jake Holcroft was on second base with one out when the Knights’ Andy Atwood ripped a single to left field. Jamison unleashed a one-hop throw to the plate that Alex Garcia was able to hang on to and tag out a sliding Holcroft at the plate.
Winning pitcher A.C. Chavez then induced a groundout to end the inning.
Jamison then reached on an error in the bottom of the eighth inning when third baseman Atwood was unable to handle his ground ball, scoring Nick Berry and Connor Denning with a pair of insurance runs. Carter Loewen then struck out two batters in a perfect ninth for his first save of the season.
Port Angeles faced Corvallis late Wednesday in the series’ rubber match.
The Lefties will host the Everett Merchants in a non-league contest tonight before traveling to Yakima to play the Pippins four times in three days — one game serving as a makeup for a rained-out Lefties home game.
Port Angeles 6, Corvallis 3
Corv. 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 — 3 10 3
PA 0 1 2 0 0 0 1 2 X— 6 8 2
WP: A.C. Chavez LP: Kempner
Pitching
Corvallis — Watkins 5IP, 4H, 3R, 2ER, 4BB, 8K; Kempner 2IP, 3H, R, ER, BB, 2K; Haffar 0.2IP, H, 2R, K; Meyer 0.1IP, BB.
Port Angeles — J. Chavez 5.2IP, 8H, 3ER, 2BB, 6K; A. Chavez 2.1IP, 2H, 2BB, 2K; Loewen IP, 2K.
Hitting
Corvallis — Atwood 3-5, RBI; Holcroft 2-5, RBI; Knight 1-4, R; Gretler 1-3, 2BB, 2B.
Port Angeles — Christian 2-5, HR, R, 2RBI; Nasuti 1-4, HR, BB, R, RBI; Jamison 1-5, R, 3RBI; Rosenberg 1-2, 2BB, RBI; Denning 1-3, BB, R; Groff 0-1, 2BB, R.
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Compiled from team reports. Email scores to sports@peninsuladailynews.com or phone 360-417-3525.
