Ridgefield Raptors top Springfield 4-2 behind Royle’s strong start

Charlie Royle pitched five shutout innings as the Ridgefield Raptors beat Springfield 4-2 on the road Saturday for their 12th win in 13 games.

Ridgefield (18-7) holds a two-game lead over Portland and Corvallis in the race for the West Coast League South Division’s first-half playoff spot. The Raptors finish their first-half Sunday while Portland (13-6) and Corvallis (15-8) will reach that point later in the week.

Key plays

Jack Salmon tripled, then scored on Julian Nunez’s sacrifice fly to give Ridgefield a 1-0 lead in the third inning.

Ridgefield extended its lead to 4-0 in the fifth inning. Nunez doubled to drive in Trent Prokes. Jake Tsukade followed with a two-RBI single.

Springfield scored its two runs in the bottom of the eighth on two hit batters, an RBI groundout and an RBI single.

Raptors pitching

Royle allowed just four hits and no walks over five shutout innings, striking out four. The Cal Poly Pomona rising sophomore has yet to allow an earned run in 10 innings this summer.

Pressley Monteforte pitched scoreless sixth and seventh innings before being relieved with two outs in the eighth. He struck out four, allowing two hits and two earned runs.

Michael Miller and Cale Mathison closed out the win by each pitching two-thirds of an inning in relief. Mathison earned his second save of the season.

Up next

Ridgefield looks to sweep the three-game series at Springfield on Sunday. The first pitch is scheduled for 1:05 p.m.

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