Written by Raptors Broadcaster Hunter Shumake
The Raps return home to the Ridgefield Outdoor Recreation Complex after traveling deep into the Canadian Providence of Alberta to play the Edmonton Riverhawks. On the road trip the Raps went 2-1 against the Riverhawks and have advanced their overall record in the West Coast League to 28-13.
After dropping game one to Edmonton, the Raptors responded in game two with 15 hits and 11 runs on the way to an 11-0 victory. In the second game, Justin Stransky and Corey Nunez led the way for Ridgefield, both collecting 3 hits against the Riverhawks pitching staff.
Game three was closely contested with Ridgefield prevailing 2-0 to win the series. Game three saw the pitching staff for the Raptors shutting out Edmonton for the second consecutive night. In the ϐinal game, Sawyer Parkin got the start, going 4.2 innings and received a no decision. Hunter Holmes was the first reliever and received the win going 1.1 innings allowing a single hit. The game was closed out with Charlie Royle who went 3 innings and collected his ϐirst save of the season.
Now with the Canadian road trip completed, the Raptors will take a hiatus from WCL opposition, and will play their feeder team—the Northwest Star Nighthawks. These will be uncountable games for WCL standings and stats. Of the 15 games that the Northwest Stars have played this year, 13 of them have been against WCL opponents. This year, the Nighthawks have a record of 1-14. The most recent string of contests for the Nighthawks was against Yakima Valley on July 14th and 15th. The Northwest Stars dropped both contests against the Pippins.
The single victory for the Nighthawks this year was on June 20th, when they bested the Walla Walla Sweets in an 8-0 win. In terms of creating offensive production, Cannon Humphreys and Xavier Gilmore lead the Nighthawks with the most hits at 13.
The first pitch this weekend will be on Saturday, July 22nd at 6:35 PM PDT. The Raptors only have eight more home games left in the regular season before play begins for the West Coast League postseason. For more information, visit ridgefieldraptors.com. #GoRaps