Written by Raptors Broadcaster Patrick McColl
After four games are done in the season-long series, the Ridgefield Raptors and Cowlitz Black Bears will decide the winner of the Columbia River Cup in a three-game series in Longview from Tuesday to Thursday.
The Raptors played the Northwest Star Nighthawks on Friday and Saturday, winning the short two-game series with a 7-3 win and an 11-2 victory. Ridgefield last played Cowlitz in mid-July and took two out of three games at the Ridgefield Outdoor Recreation Complex (RORC).
Against the Nighthawks, several pitchers showed out. New Mexico Military Institute pitcher Jiyeong Park pitched two scoreless innings, and so did Austin Sheldon (Loras), Chris Cornelius (California State Dominguez Hills) and Blaze Wong (Saint Martin’s).
Offensively, catcher Jackson Upton and shortstop Angelo Aleman both had two hits in Game 1 against Northwest Star. In Game 2, first baseman Dawson Downs notched two hits and two RBI, and Central Washington’s Jack Lockwood also had two hits.
Hours away from David Story Field, the Black Bears lost two out of three games this past weekend against the Bend Elks. The Black Bears are 7-6 in the second half standings in the South Division, putting them 3.5 games behind the Portland Pickles.
Cowlitz outfielder Will Jesske had a great series against Bend, totaling nine hits and two RBI. The Nebraska junior had three doubles on Sunday and stole a base in two games of the series.
In a 13-7 win over the Elks on Friday night, Pacific Lutheran reliever Chris Moreno struck out five batters in four innings, giving up just one unearned run for the Black Bears.
Each game in the series against Cowlitz will start at 6:35 p.m. on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. After the series, Ridgefield will return home to play the Portland Pickles over the weekend.
Fans can go to ridgefieldraptors.com to purchase tickets to the upcoming home games against Portland at the RORC. The live stream to listen to the games against Cowlitz will be available on ridgefieldraptors.com/stream. #GoRaps