Ridgefield, Washington – The NorthPaws entered the seventh inning down 11-3. When the Raptors came to bat in the bottom of the eighth, they led 12-11. Unfortunately for Kamloops, back-to-back home runs in the inning put the Raptors in front for good, 14-12. Another terrific offensive performance with only one win to show for it.
“It’s cool to see the guys come back from down 11-3,” said NorthPaws head coach Riley Jepson. “It’s easy to roll over, but we stuck with it the whole way, that’s all I can ask of guys.”
Ridgefield came to the plate in the bottom of the fourth with the game tied at two. NorthPaws starter Taylor Pearce was done for the night, leaving the game up to the bullpen. That’s when the Raptors bats came to life.
Three runs on three hits in the fourth, followed by four more runs on three hits in the fifth, and two runs on one hit in the sixth, blew the game open. The fifth inning got partially messy with two balks being called against the NorthPaws. The Raptors took full advantage of the small Kamloops mistakes.
While the Ridgefield bats were flying high, the NorthPaws left two runners on base to end both the fifth and sixth innings. The Paws had quietly racked up 8 hits but couldn’t string them together for one big inning, until the top of the seventh.
With one out, Brock Grainger got hit by a pitch, Elijah Olaybal walked, and Tanner Mitchell singled to load the bases. Logan Booth came through with a sacrifice fly, scoring Grainger. With two on and two outs, the NorthPaws couldn’t afford to strand more runners on base.
The inning continued when Keegan Drinkle dropped a bloop single down the left field line, scoring Olaybal. Anthony Setticassi was up next and drew a four-pitch walk to reload the bases for Ian Huang. Facing a 1-2 count, Huang snuck a bases-clearing double down the right field line, bringing the NorthPaws back to within striking distance down 11-8.
The order turned back to the top for Kade Crawford, who took the first pitch he saw down the left field line for an RBI double. Evan Dugdale was up next for Kamloops. The NorthPaws left fielder began the inning with a groundout and had a chance for retribution. Three pitches later, he got it. Dugdale drilled his second home run in as many days to left center field, tying the game.
Heading into the top of the eighth tied, righty Jayson Tamayo was on to pitch for the NorthPaws. Tamayo struck out a pair of batters on route to a scoreless frame, giving the NorthPaws a massive momentum builder.
In the top of the eighth, a hit by pitch, a walk and an intentional walk brought up Anthony Setticassi with the bases loaded. Setticassi chopped one on the ground to second but was able to beat out the double play, allowing the go-ahead run to score for the Paws.
Tamayo went back out for the eighth and surrendered a leadoff single. A past ball moved the runner into scoring position, but he was able to get a pair of flyouts. The Raptors elected for a pinch hitter off their bench in this situation, but Tamayo was working a two-strike count. A chest-high fastball was dealt towards the plate and got hit well to deep right field, eventually clearing the wall for a go-ahead two-run homer. The bad news didn’t end there. Tamayo’s very next pitch was also a homerun, adding salt to the wound.
Kamloops couldn’t rally, and Ridgefield tied the series and handed the NorthPaws yet another tough loss.
“I think we’ve been pretty good so far,” Jepson said. “We’d obviously like to be on the other side of these games, but we’re playing goof baseball, and that’s all I can ask,”
The NorthPaws and Raptors will play the rubber match tomorrow night at 6:35. Kyu Lumsdon will take the mound for the NorthPaws as they look to take their first series of the year. You can watch the game on the West Coast League website or the Ridgefield Raptors YouTube channel.
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