RIDGEFIELD — There’s been a number of big baseball moments over the years for Aaron Zavala, an incoming sophomore catcher at Oregon, but he’s pretty certain it’s never involved one that came with an ice-cooler shower.
“I think that’s my first one,” said Zavala, a native of Keizer, Ore.
Zavala made quite the Ridgefield Raptors debut Saturday with an 11th-inning walk-off RBI single in a 4-3 extra-inning West Coast League win over the Port Angeles Lefties.
Zavala went 0 for 4 before his game-winning RBI single to right field that drew a celebration mob by teammates and cold water and ice.
He also caught all 11 innings, and kept the same, simple approach in his fifth at-bat as he did the previous four. He drove a fastball off Lefties reliever Jonathan Fortner to right field, scoring Vancouver native Brody Barnum from second base, who reached base on a throwing error with one out.
“Every at-bat is a new at-bat,” Zavala said. “I was going in there with a fresh mind. I knew I had to come though for the team.”
Zavala hit .273 with 38 hits (including nine doubles) and 17 runs for the Ducks this spring. He finished up spring classes at Oregon this week, and joined the Raptors on Friday. He did not play in the 12-10 loss.
Saturday, Port Angeles tied the game 3-3 in the eighth on a sacrifice fly. Ridgefield led twice in the game, 1-0 and 3-2.
A day after falling 12-10 by scoring a season-high in runs, the Raptors (7-5) mustered just three hits through nine innings Saturday. Grayson Sterling’s (Gonzaga) ninth-inning single ended 10 straight Raptors retired.
3 key moments
Bases-loaded 10th — The Raptors’ loaded the bases in the 10th inning, but stranded all three runners. Dusty Garcia was called out on a head-first slide following a chopper in-between first and second to keep the game tied 3-3.
One streak continues, another ends — As Michael Hicks’ hit streak extended to four games (2 for 4), another four came to an end Saturday. Grand Canyon’s Jonny Weaver’s four-game hit streak ended by going 0 for 4.
Scoring first — Barnum’s RBI single scored Hicks from second base in the first inning, a run that gave Ridgefield its 1-0 lead. It’s the fourth game this season Ridgefield scored in the first inning.
3 key players
Michael Hicks — The Boise State redshirt senior added two more doubles to his season total of four. His sixth-inning double scored two runs that gave Ridgefield its 3-2 lead.
Peter Allegro — The University of Portland sophomore retired the first six batters he faced with four strikeouts before allowing his first hit. He lasted seven innings and gave up one earned run and struck out six.
Tyler Tan — The Port Angeles starting pitcher nearly equaled Allegro’s performance, allowing one earned run on three hits and struck out six over seven innings.
3 key numbers
11 — The Raptors’ win in 11 innings is the first extra-inning game of the season. The game lasted 2:28.
2 — After an errorless game Friday, the Raptors committed two errors on one play in the third inning when Port Angeles scored twice. Ridgefield committed three total errors.
10 — Children 10 years and younger get free admission to Sunday’s 3:05 p.m. series finale with a paid adult ticket. The promotion runs for Raptors Sunday home games all season.
