RIDGEFIELD — After Ridgefield clinched win number 11 by way of an 11th-inning, walk-off balk over the Bend Elks, Raptors head coach Chris Cota could only shake his head.
“We had many chances and we weren’t delivering,” Cota said following Ridgefield’s 2-1 win Tuesday at Ridgefield Outdoor Recreation Complex.
Ridgefield and Bend were locked in a 1-1 stalemate after the Elks put their only run on the board on Zach Toglia’s sacrifice fly in the eighth.
Four innings later, the Raptors led off the 11th with a Jackson Nicklaus walk, representing the winning run. Nicklaus eventually reached third base following a Jake Tsukada sacrifice bunt and Reiss Calvin ground out, bringing up slugger Jacob Sharp for a potential walk-off base hit.
Sharp never got the chance.
Instead, Bend relief pitcher Brynner Waiolama was called for a balk by field umpire Billy Yeager, allowing Nicklaus to jog into home plate for a Ridgefield walk-off win, despite being out-hit 10-5 by Bend and only bringing across one run prior to the costly balk.
“Now, that is unconventional. You don’t see that too often,” Cota said. “I heard the (balk) warning a couple times. The umpire tried to warn him a couple times, and we caught a break there. So, we’ll take it and move on.”
The win will likely go down as one of more bizarre results of the season, but the Raptors surely don’t mind.
Eleven straight wins is no small feat in the West Coast League, as the Raptors’ skipper knows, especially considering the last six of those wins prior to Tuesday came on a long road trip with stops in Yakima and Bend.
Both ended in series sweeps, including the latter against the Elks (7-12).
“It’s tough. In this league, it’s real hard to do,” Cota said of the streak.
“We’ve got a good ball club and we’ve got real good players. They keep grinding out (wins).”
Combined with a Corvallis Knights win over the Springfield Drifters on Tuesday, Ridgefield (15-6) leads the West Coast League South Division by two games with five left to play in the first half of the season. The first-half division winner clinches an automatic berth for the WCL playoffs in August.
Three moments
Breakthrough extra-base hit – Making his season debut at the RORC, Jacob Sharp gave the Raptors a 1-0 lead in the fifth with an RBI double.
Stout defense from short – The Elks threatened to score in the seventh when Hammond hit two Bend batters and walked another to load the bases. Then, a high chopper found shortstop Julian Nunez, who made a stellar throw on the run to get the third out and keep Bend off the board.
Krupp strikes out the side – With a chance to walk off the game in the ninth, Ridgefield was instead shut down by Bend relief pitcher Ethan Krupp, who fanned three Raptors batters to send the game to extra innings.
Three players
Jacob Sharp – Since joining the Raptors ahead of last week’s six-game road trip, the UNLV product has picked up right where he left off last summer. Sharp went 2-for-5 with an RBI double and also made a highlight-reel sliding catch in right field.
Blake Hammond – The right-handed pitcher from Northwest Nazarene was called on early out of the bullpen to begin the third inning in place of starter Dylan Rush. Hammond delivered four scoreless innings with three strikeouts and two hits allowed.
Kellan Oakes – Bend’s starting pitcher from Linn-Benton Community College struck out seven Ridgefield batters in 4 2/3 innings while giving up three walks, four hits and one earned run.
Three numbers
11 – Wins in the Raptors’ current streak, which is the longest in team history.
14 – Runners left on base for Bend. The Elks out-hit Ridgefield 10-5.
1,998 – Fans in attendance Tuesday, the most this season at a Raptors home game.
BOXSCORE: RIDGEFIELD 2, BEND 1
