Written by Raptors Broadcaster Patrick McColl
The Raptors will celebrate the fourth of July in one of the only ways they know how – by playing a baseball game. Ridgefield will begin a three-game home series against the Victoria HarbourCats on Friday afternoon.
Before their series in Washington, the Raptors are prepping for Game 3 against the Springfield Drifters on Thursday night, but the team has lost the first two games of the series.
Ridgefield’s Andrew Estrella has had a strong week for the Raps. The LMU Lions commit hit his first home run on Sunday night in Portland, helped him go 3-for-4 with two RBI. Against Springfield, Estrella hit another home run and now leads the Raptors in batting average (.377).
Against Springfield, right-hander Ryan McClaskey pitched two scoreless innings, striking out three Drifters on Wednesday night. On Tuesday night, relievers Connor Cox and Chris Cornelius pitched scoreless outings.
The HarbourCats (14-14) come into the series in Ridgefield after three games against the Nanaimo NightOwls. Victoria beat Nanaimo on Wednesday, 15-9. California native JC Allen notched five RBI and four hits for the Cats in their win.
Victoria is hitting .250 as a team this year, which ranks the team eighth in the West Coast League (WCL). The team’s 4.91 ERA is ninth in the league. Infielders Logan Shepherd (Mercer) and Tanner Beltowski (Westmont) are tied for the team lead with 24 hits. Shepherd’s 19 RBI leads the HarbourCats.
Friday’s game will begin at 3:05 p.m. at the Ridgefield Outdoor Recreation Complex (RORC). Saturday’s game will start at 6:35 p.m. and Sunday’s finale is scheduled to begin at 1:05 p.m.
Fans can go to ridgefieldraptors.com to purchase tickets to the home series against Victoria at the RORC. The live stream to watch or listen to the games against Victoria will be available on ridgefieldraptors.com/stream. #GoRaps