Written by Raptors Broadcaster Patrick McColl
After four games at the Ridgefield Outdoor Recreation Complex (RORC), the Columbia River Cup moves north of Ridgefield for the first time in 2024. Starting Friday, the Cowlitz Black Bears will host the Ridgefield Raptors for three games at David Story Field in Longview.
Through the first four games of the annual Columbia River Cup, the Raptors lead the season series 3-1. Cowlitz beat Ridgefield on May 30 in Game 1 of the series, 4-1. In response, the Raptors swept the Black Bears at home from July 5 to July 7 to open the second half of the season.
The ‘Raps started the second half with 13 straight wins against the West Coast League (WCL) and 14 overall when including Ridgefield’s 6-5 win against the Redmond Dudes, a non-league opponent. Despite its winning ways, Ridgefield has struggled against Corvallis, its most recent opponent. Ridgefield has played to an 0-5 record against Corvallis this year, and the Knights beat the Raptors in the first two games of their series on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Ridgefield (23-18) secured both the West Coast League’s Moss Adams weekly honors last week. Hawaii’s Isaiah Magdaleno was named pitcher of the week after six scoreless innings against the Harbourcats. The right-hander allowed just two hits and earned 11 strikeouts. Player of the week Hunter Katschke reached base nine times, drove in seven runs and hit two home runs.
Against Corvallis, Fresno State catcher Justin Stransky notched three hits in Game 1 and hit two home runs against the Knights in Game 2 of the series on Wednesday night. Stransky is now tied for third in the WCL in home runs.
Cowlitz (16-25) will play Game 3 of its series against the Bend Elks at Vince Genna Stadium on Thursday. The Elks have taken the first two games of the series.
The Black Bears have a lot of offensive help from Dallas Baptist’ Keaton Grady. The 5-foot-7 infielder is near the top of the squad with a .321 batting average. Grady owns 21 RBI, two doubles, two triples and one home run. Infielder Bronson Neave is just behind Grady in batting average (.313) and leads the Black Bears with 24 RBI.
On the mound, Loyola Marymount’s Colin Caycedo leads the starters with a 2.36 ERA. Caycedo has only walked 10 batters and struck out a team high 25 batters in 26.2 innings of work. Texas native Chase Brushe leads the team in innings (27) and starts (seven).
The first two games of the series will begin at 6:35 p.m. from David Story Field in Cowlitz. The third game of the series will start at 1:05 p.m. on Sunday.
Tickets to the upcoming home series against Springfield at the RORC are available on ridgefieldraptors.com. The live stream to listen to the games against Cowlitz will be available on ridgefieldraptors.com/stream. #GoRaps