Peck’s home run, solid pitching help Raptors complete sweep of Lefties

RIDGEFIELD — The Ridgefield Raptors kept their hot second half to the West Coast League season going Thursday, but they just did it in a different way.

After outscoring the Port Angeles Lefties 19-5 in the first two games, the Raptors had to depend on their pitching, defense and clutch hitting to win 4-2 on Thursday and complete a three-game sweep.

The biggest hit of the night came from shortstop John Peck, whose two-run home run off Lefties starter Corey Sanchez in the sixth tied the game.

“He was crafty with a lot of different pitches,” Peck said. “And he was hitting his corners. It was really effective … in the beginning.”

Sanchez was sailing until Tanner Jacques singled to open the sixth. Three batters later, Peck tied the game up with a line drive into the Lefties bullpen in right.

“In the at-bat with the home run, I saw a lot of fastballs,” Peck said. “He fell behind so I just had to jump on the fastball. But other than that, he was throwing curveballs, changeups, mixing it up well.”

Unlike his no-doubter two-run home to left-center on Wednesday night, Peck wasn’t sure if he got enough on his homer on Thursday.

“No, but the wind helped me out,” he said.

The Raptors would add single runs in the seventh and eighth to complete the win and improve the Raptors to 5-1 in the second half.

Ridgefield will get Friday off before hosting two non-WCL games over the weekend. They’ll return to league on Tuesday when they open a series at Port Angeles.

“We are just going to try to stay consistent,” Peck said. “Our pitching has been doing well, and we’ve been swinging it well. We just got to keep that up.”

Three moments

The Lefties threatened to tie the game in the top of the eighth after putting runners on the corners with one out. Columbia River graduate Nick Nygard was called in from the bullpen, and one pitch got Jack Holman to line into an inning-ending double play.

The Raptors scored their go-ahead run in the seventh without the benefit of a hit. After a dropped third strike, a hit batsman and an error, Caden Connor’s sacrifice fly to right scored Brady Kasper from third.

In the top of the fifth, the Lefties threatened to add to their 2-0 lead after putting runners on second and third with no outs. But Raptors pitcher Ryan Harvey got out of the jam by retiring the next three batters.

Three players

Will Chambers – Playing first base, Chambers went 2 for 4, including his seventh home run of the season in the eighth to pad the Raptors lead.

Nick Nygard – The lefthanded pitcher continued his strong campaign by getting the final five outs for the save.

Carson Walters – The lefthanded pitcher from Gonzaga pitched 2.1 innings of scoreless relief to notch the victory.

Three numbers

12 – The number Raptors retired in order by Sanchez before Jacques’ single to open the sixth.

Four – The number of consecutive wins by the Raptors.

Eight – Strikeouts recorded by Raptors pitchers Harvey (4), Walters (3) and Nygard (1).

RIDGEFIELD 4, PORT ANGELES 2

P. Angeles 100 100 000—2 7 1

Ridgefield 000 002 11x—4 6 1

Port Angeles

Pitching — Corey Sanchez 6 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 4 K; Joseph Sinclair 0.1 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1K, loss; Zach Ediger 0.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K; Zach Thomas 1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 0 K. Highlights — Nick Oakley 0-3, BB, run; Javy Espinoza 2-5; Trevor Tishenkel 2-5, 2B, RBI; Bryce Matthews 0-3, run, SB, BB; Coleman Schmidt 1-4; Jack Holman 1-3, BB; Carson Crawford 1-2, 2B, RBI, SB, 2 BB.

Ridgefield

Pitching — Ryan Harvey 5 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K; Carson Walters 2.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 K, win; Nick Nygard 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K, save. Highlights — Caden Connor 0-3, run, RBI; Reece Hernandez 1-4; John Peck 1-4, HR, 2 RBI; Coby Morales 1-4; Will Chambers 2-4, HR, RBI; Brady Kasper 0-4, run; Tanner Jacques 1-3.