VANCOUVER, Wash. — For the first time since 2015, the West Coast League champion will be someone other than the Corvallis Knights.
On Wednesday night, the Portland Pickles beat the Knights 4-1 behind a stellar performance from Murphy Gienger (Univ. of Northern Colorado), who allowed just one run in five innings and escaped a bases-loaded jam in the fifth inning. Chris Downs (Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo) pitched four hitless innings to close out the win and clinch the Pickles’ first South Division title in their seven years in the West Coast League.
The Pickles will now host the Wenatchee AppleSox at 7:15 p.m. today. The AppleSox led the North Division much of this summer and advanced to the title game with a 1-0 victory over the Bellingham Bells on Wednesday night.
Wenatchee’s Evan Canfield (Lewis-Clark State) tossed seven shutout innings, Max Hartman (Washington State) drove in the game’s only run with a third-inning double and Michael Bujacich (Washington) closed out the game with two scoreless innings, including a game-ending strikeout with two Bells aboard.
While this marks the AppleSox’s first appearance in the championship game since 2013, Wenatchee, a charter member of the WCL, won five league titles from 2005 to 2012.
Fans can catch all the action on the West Coast League’s livestreaming video platform, or free mobile apps via Google Play or the iPhone App Store.
