Late Ridgefield rally evens up series 1-1

Wednesday, July 29, Corvallis, Ore. – Ridgefield evened the South Division series with the Knights with a 9-6 victory before a Goss Stadium crowd of 1,386.

The Raptors broke loose for five runs in their final two at-bats to erase a 6-4 deficit. They tied the game 6-6 with two in the eighth, then finished the job with a three-spot in the ninth.

The loss snapped a three-game winning streak for the Knights (29-22, 25-22 WCL, 12-8 second half). They remained in third place and in South Division playoff contention with seven games remaining.

Outfielder Joey Marasco (George Fox, pictured above) was 3-for-5 with two doubles and two runs, earning him Washington Park Advisors Player of the Game laurels. Catcher Dakota Chun (Portland) had a two-run single that gave the Knights a short-lived 6-4 lead in the sixth.

First baseman Ethan Porter (Oregon State) tripled, singled and scored. Kellen Segel (Cal Poly) walked three times, stole two bases and scored.

Starter Matt Sherwood (PLU) and reliever Jinky Tomita (Feather River) each allowed two runs in three innings. Tomita had five strikeouts.

The series concludes at 6:35 p.m. July30. Nebraska’s Colin Nowaczyk (2-2, 4.37) is the probable for the finale.

The Knights then close the home portion of the regular season vs. Yakima Valley on July 31-Aug. 2. All games start at 6:35 p.m. except the 5:05 p.m. home finale.

Incoming Stanford freshman Bryce Hill (1-1, 3.57), Cal Poly’s Arlo Pendleton (2-2, 4.91) and newcomer Levi Hodges of Douglas College (0-0, 0.00) are the projected starters for Corvallis.

The Knights conclude the regular season at Ridgefield on Aug. 3-5. The postseason playoffs, involving the top four teams from the North and South divisions, begin on Aug. 7 with the best-of-3 divisional round.

The crowd of 1,386 raised the season attendance to 42,525 in 2 dates. That’s an average of 1,519 per opening.

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