By Pierre LaBossiere and Michael Carman
Peninsula Daily News
PORT ANGELES — The Lefties had a rough game against the Knights Saturday night, committing seven errors and giving up 10 walks, 14 hits and five stolen bases in an 11-2 loss to Corvallis.
The Knights, who won the South Division title in the first half, are off to a 9-2 start in the second half and are showing that they are the class of the WCL so far.
The Lefties’ Wyatt Haccou took the loss, though he only gave up two earned runs in three innings.
Marten Pauwells had a good game at the plate, going 2 for 4 with a double and a home run. Taylor Adams also went 2 for 4 with an RBI and a stolen base. Austyn Tengan went 1 for 3 with a run scored and a walk, while Ian Nowak also had a hit.
Travis Paynter also pitched a scoreless inning for the Lefties.
Knights’ star Jordan Qsar had his 16th double and 40th and 41st RBIs (in 38 games) of the season. He also has 11 home runs.
The Lefties (14-25, 4-8 in the second half), take a two-day break for the West Coast League All-Star Game. The Lefties’ Nowak will participate in the WCL Home Run Derby today in Yakima.
No “snubs”
Lefties manager Zach Miller avoided the word “snubs” when asked if deserving Port Angeles players had been overlooked in recent West Coast League All-Star balloting by league coaches.
The Lefties placed two players on the All-Star game roster, pitcher Nick Bonniksen and catcher Brody Kato.
“I wouldn’t call them snubs because there’s a lot of good talent in the league and the voting came before we had seen some teams,” Miller said.
“We turned in the ballots last Friday [July 7], so we hadn’t seen Bellingham yet, we haven’t seen Yakima [Valley] yet.
“It all comes down to who’s seen who.”
He did offer up a few suggestions on other worthy All-Star candidates.
“Keiran Shaw, he picked up his first win [Friday] night,” Miller said.
“He was 0-3 before that but his ERA was near the top of the league. He’s worked his tail off coming from a relieving role because he wants to be a starting guy and that’s where Harvard wants him to be.”
Infielder Sean Roby is fourth in the West Coast League in RBIs with 30, while also hitting above .300 (.301) with five home runs, five doubles and 19 runs.
“And we have a leading RBI guy [Sean Roby] on our team who’s up there, too,” Miller said. “I think it’s good for those guys, but I don’t put too much weight into [All-Star voting].” “It’s good for the kids who make it, it’s a nice accomplishment, but we want the guys to go back to their teams better than they were before [they came to play in the WCL].”
Cases also could be made for pitcher Wyatt Haccou (4-3 with 32 strikeouts, a 3.37 ERA and a paltry eight walks in 37.1 innings pitched through Sunday and infielder Austyn Tengan (.324 average, 19 runs, 4 doubles, six RBIs and four stolen bases).
Corvallis 11, Port Angeles 2
Knights 1 1 1 4 1 1 0 2 0 — 11 14 1
Lefties 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 — 2 6 7
WP: Massey LP: Haccou
Pitching
Knights — Massey 5IP, 2ER, 4BB, 4K; Fricke 1IP, 0H, 0ER, K; Nelson 2IP, 0H, 0ER, 3K; Cantwell 1IP, H, 0ER, K.
Lefties — Haccou 3IP, 6H, 2ER, 2BB, 3K; Buckson 3IP, 7H, 5ER, 2BB, 3K; Paynter 1IP, 0H, 2BB, 0ER; Mundt 2IP, 0H, 2ER, 4BB, 2K.
Hitting
Knights — Shrum 3-5, R, RBI; Johnson 2-5, 2B, R, 4RBI, BB; Qsar 1-3, 2B, R, 2RBI, 3BB, SB; Taylor 2-6, 2R, RBI, 2SB; Claunch 2-5, SB; Stevens 2-3, 2B, BB.
Lefties — Pauwells 2-4, 2B, HR, RBI, R; Adams 2-4, RBI, SB; Tengan 1-3, R, BB; Nowak 1-4.
