Written by the Raptors Broadcaster Patrick McColl
After a Sunday win against the Bend Elks, the Ridgefield Raptors start a three-game series on Tuesday. The Raps welcome back the Marion Berries to the Ridgefield Outdoor Recreation Complex (RORC) for the second time this year.
Ridgefield beat Bend 6-1 on Sunday. Power hitter Noah Karliner hit his third home run of the year and Nevada’s Jackson Waller added two hits in the win. Owen Harper pitched four innings and earned eight strikeouts, a new season high. Lower Columbia transfer Ryan McClaskey earned a save with three scoreless innings of work to finish the game.
Starters Land Hood (14.1) and Austin Sheldon (14.0) are in the top nine on the West Coast League (WCL) leaderboard for innings pitched. As a team, Ridgefield has hit .237 at the plate and it ranks third in the league in doubles (23).
The Berries (7-6) come back to Ridgefield (5-10) after beating the Raptors in two of their three games against the squad in early June. The Marion-Ridgefield game on June 3 represented the first (WCL) game the Berries played in their existence. Marion split a four-game series in Corvallis this past weekend.
Marion shortstop Will Stickney, a USC Trojan in the spring, leads the Berries with 14 hits. Stickney had a hit in every game of the series against Ridgefield in early June. First baseman Jake Dodge has one of the two Marion home runs this season and leads the team with eight RBI.
Willamette senior Steven Verespey has thrown 17 complete innings this season, allowing just four runs and three earned runs in that span. Verespey has 12 strikeouts for the Berries, which leads the team. Loyola Marymount’s Alexander Chavez has not allowed a run in six innings and appearances.
All three games against the Berries (on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday) will start at 6:35 p.m.
Tickets to the series against Marion at the RORC are available on ridgefieldraptors.com. The live stream to watch or listen to the games against Marion will be available on ridgefieldraptors.com/stream. #GoRaps