The Ridgefield Raptors are surging into the final week of the first-half West Coast League season. The Raptors have won 13 of their last 15 games and head into Bend as the hottest team in the WCL at 16-5, sitting atop the WCL South standings.
The Raps went 5-1 this past week, taking two of three against the Pickles in Portland before sweeping the Walla Walla Sweets at home. Five of the six games were decided by two runs or fewer, including each of the final four contests.
The Raptors split the first two games with the Pickles but pulled out an impressive 9-8 win to clinch the series.
Incoming Arizona State infielder Jackson Weber belted his second home run of the season last Thursday night, leading off the top of the ninth inning with a solo shot to center field that proved to be the game-winning run in Ridgefield’s 9-8 victory.
On Friday in the opener against the Sweets, the Raptors trailed 4-1 through five and a half innings before center fielder Ben Strutt ripped a two-run RBI double with two outs to cut the deficit to 4-3. Ken Tomitaka followed with an RBI single to tie the game at 4-4.
The Sweets regained a 5-4 lead in the top of the ninth on Gage Reeser’s RBI single with runners on first and second.
The Raptors responded in the bottom of the ninth by putting runners on first and second to open the inning following a single and a hit-by-pitch. Weber came through again, dropping a flare just inside the right-field line to score JT Summers (Oregon) and tie the game.
Isaiah Hearn was intentionally walked to load the bases and set up a matchup with Braden Watson (UC Santa Barbara). Watson answered the challenge by lining a walk-off single off the glove of a diving Sweets second baseman to give Ridgefield a 6-5 victory.
Saturday’s game turned into a pitcher’s duel. Walla Walla starter Charles Rogers III threw four innings, allowing two runs on two hits while striking out two.
Ridgefield starter Parker Heintz (Fresno State) also went four innings, striking out four while allowing two runs on a two-run homer in the top of the fourth inning.
Raptors second baseman Jayden Nakamura reached on a throwing error by the Walla Walla pitcher to begin the bottom of the fifth. Michael Perazza (Sacramento State) walked with two outs to put runners on first and second before Tomitaka delivered an RBI single to give the Raptors a 3-2 lead.
Raptors relievers Jake Lenberger (Eastern Oregon), Tyler Walton (UC Santa Barbara) and Boston Jensen (Utah Tech) combined for five scoreless innings to secure the victory.
The Raptors wasted no time on Sunday, jumping out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning before adding one run in each of the second, third and fourth innings to build a 6-2 advantage after four.
The bats cooled off late, as neither team scored from the fifth inning until the top of the ninth. Following Royce Hale’s solo home run in the third inning, Heintz, Vorpahl (Eastern Oregon) and Ryan McClaskey (Northwestern Oklahoma State) retired 17 consecutive Sweets batters until McClaskey issued a leadoff walk to Hale in the ninth.
McClaskey loaded the bases with one out before being lifted from the game. Mateo Rojas (Uncommitted) allowed a two-run single that cut the lead to 6-3 before Landon Runyan drove in another run with a groundout to first, bringing the Sweets within 6-4.
Rojas then induced Austin Owens to ground out to third base, ending the game with runners stranded on second and third.
The Raptors completed their first home sweep of the season and now hold a five-game lead in the WCL South. Walla Walla and Yakima Valley are tied for second place at 11-10.
The Raptors take on the seventh-place Elks (6-12), who have lost seven of their last 10 games, this week at Vince Genna Stadium. All three games are scheduled to begin at 6:35 p.m. PT.
Fans can visit ridgefieldraptors.com to purchase tickets for the upcoming home series against the Springfield Drifters, June 26-28 at the RORC. Livestreams of all games can be found at ridgefieldraptors.com/stream.