RIDGEFIELD — Only Mother Nature could prematurely end Eli Shubert’s best pitching performance of the season for the Ridgefield Raptors.
Shubert, a Lower Columbia College product, surpassed his season-high for strikeouts and longest outing in a 11-2 West Coast League victory over Bend marred by a 30-minute lightning delay.
But if it wasn’t for a delay to start the seventh, Shubert likely would’ve added to his totals.
The delay occurred as Shubert took the mound for his warm-up pitches to begin the seventh inning with Ridgefield’s lead at 11-2. Through six, he had 13 strikeouts, zero walks and allowed just two earned runs on five hits. He retired eight straight batters entering the seventh.
Game and front-office officials elected to resume play following the delay.
Nate Markantonatos (Clark College) replaced Shubert in relief to earn the save.
This weekend’s series at the Ridgefield Outdoor Recreation Complex is the club’s final games of its inaugural season. At 24-27 overall, it can inch closer to .500 should it sweep the Elks over the final two games.
Ridgefield was eliminated from West Coast League postseason contention earlier this week.
Wenatchee and Walla Walla each clinched the final two playoff berths Wednesday, joining Victoria (North) and Corvallis (South) as the first-half division champions. The WCL’s four-team postseason gets underway next week.
3 key moments
Pour it on in the fourth — Ridgefield sent 12 batters to the plate in the fourth inning, scoring seven runs on six hits and extended its lead from 4-2 to 11-2. Four of the runs came with zero outs.
Shubert on a roll — Shubert, a native of Eagle, Idaho, had at least one strikeout in each of his six innings, and retired eight straight batters. Every Bend batter struck out at least once. Shubert began the season as a reliever, and before Friday, went longer than four innings once and previous season-high for strikeouts was five.
Hittin’ Raptors — Every Raptors in the lineup registered a hit. The top of the order — Jonny Weaver (Grand Canyon), Dusty Garcia (Arizona State) and Hicks — went a combined 4 for 12 with six runs scored and five RBI. Garcia, Willie Cano (Cal Poly), Michael Yourg (San Diego) and Hoffman (Pacific) had multi-hit games.
3 key players
Michael Hicks, Ridgefield — The Boise State senior notched his eighth home run of the summer, and first since Aug. 1, in the third inning. That ranks Hicks, a WCL All-Star, tied for second most in the league.
Wyatt Hoffman, Ridgefield — The University of the Pacific infielder extended his hitting streak to four games going 2 for 4 and also had two stolen bases. His RBI double in the fourth was part of a seven-run inning for Ridgefield.
Ryan Kaser, Bend — The Lewis-Clark State product notched a double to the wall in his first at-bat of the season and finished 2 for 4. A pitcher for Bend, he’s 4-3 with a 4.80 ERA.
3 key numbers
2 — The number of sons of ex-MLB pitchers who made appearances in Friday’s game: Ridgefield’s Wyatt Hoffman, the son of 2018 Hall of Fame inductee Trevor Hoffman, and Bend’s Ace Embree, the son of Prairie High graduate and 2004 World Series champion Alan Embree.
5 — The number of stolen bases by Ridgefield the first two innings, including two on consecutive batters by Hoffman.
2 — The number of games remaining in the Raptors’ season. The inaugural season wraps up with a 3:05 p.m. first pitch Sunday, but not before Saturday’s 6:35 p.m. start. Both games are against Bend.
