Written by Raptors Broadcaster Hunter Shumake
For the first time this year, the Ridgefield Raptors will go on the road and face the Walla
Walla Sweets. The Raptors will be on the road for two series before coming back home on
June 16th to face the Cowlitz Black Bears.
Before leaving for Walla Walla, Ridgefield obtained their first WCL win of the year and their
first WCL series win of the year. The Raptors secured game one against Edmonton in
dramatic fashion when Ridgefield trailed the Riverhawks by a run heading into the bottom
of the ninth inning. With the bases loaded, that brought up Jake Tsukada who leads the
team with eight hits and eight walks. Tsukada worked a walk to tie the game. The next man
up was newly activated Julian Nunez. Nunez ended the game for Ridgefield with a walk-off
walk. Game two was a stout showing by Ridgefield as the Raptors laid down ten hits along
with a pair of triples. Off the ten hits, Ridgefield bested Edmonton 6-0 to take the series.
Notably, game two versus Edmonton was also the first errorless game for Ridgefield.
Looking to Walla Walla, the Sweets will be coming off a Thursday rest day before taking on
Ridgefield on Friday June 9th. Walla Walla is led by their former pitcher, Jarrod Molnaa, who
was brought in by the organization as the new head coach. Molnaa pitched for Walla Walla
in the 2017 WCL season and now finds himself the skipper for the Sweets. To start the year,
Walla Walla was swept by Nanaimo and Victoria—and currently sit at 0-6 in the WCL. Even
though the Sweets have been swept twice, in the past three games, Walla Walla has
produced ten hits. Further, the offense for Walla Walla has a handful of hitters hitting above
.350 early in the season. Of that group, Logan Meyer will head into the Ridgefield series on a
six game hit streak.
The road trip to Walla Walla will be the third WCL series of the year for the Raptors. The
first pitch in Walla Walla is scheduled for 6:35 PM on June 9th. For more information, visit
ridgefieldraptors.com. #GoRaps