It’s been a long time in the making for Ridgefield baseball. The wait made it that much sweeter when the Spudders finally raised that 2A district championship trophy Friday at Propstra Stadium.
The Spudders’ 4-2 win over Columbia River made Ridgefield district champion for the first time since 2006.
“I’ve always thought with (Art Osmundsen)’s legacy in this town that Ridgefield has always been, at heart, a baseball town,” Ridgefield coach Nick Allen said. Osmundsen was a longtime and well-respected baseball coach at the school. “To be able to bring a championship of this magnitude home, it’s sweet.”
The Spudders (17-6) again had to take an unorthodox path to beating their opponent. Following a 1-0 win over W.F. West in the semifinals, Ridgefield scored three of its runs on an error and two balks Friday.
Jimmy Wallace’s RBI single to follow up Brock Harrison’s two-out double in the fifth inning gave Ridgefield its first earned-run RBI since Tuesday’s district opener. He stole third and scored on a balk to give the Spudders a 4-0 lead.
“I just saw it wide open,” Wallace said. “Why not take bases when you can?”
Kellen Bringhurst provided a strong outing on the hill. He went 5.2 innings, striking out six and allowing four hits and three walks.
“I was able to command my offspeed and I mixed it up pretty well,” he said. “I felt like I kept them on their toes pretty well.”
He got into trouble in the sixth inning with two outs. He walked Derek Mettler, allowed a single to Nick Alder and back-to-back RBI hits to Sawyer Parkin and Xavier Ulrich, who also doubled in the fourth inning.
Josh Mansur, who also made two key defensive plays at shortstop early, came on in relief and got out of the sixth-inning jam with a 4-2 cushion. He struck out the side in between loading the bases in the seventh to seal the four-out save.
“If there’s a kid in a gold uniform today, he knows how to play this game. So you have to bring it,” Allen said of the 2A Greater St. Helens League champions. “And our guys did.”
The Spudders will enter state as the top seed out of the Southwest District and play at Wheeler Field in Centralia for regionals May 18. The opponent will be District 3’s No. 5 seed.
“This has been a goal of ours for a long time and we’re looking forward to it,” Bringhurst said.
Ridgefield is confident, even if the Spudders feel like they haven’t played their best ball yet.
“They’re playing as a group right now, which is something we’ve really battled the past six years,” Allen said. “I feel good with where we’re at. If we can get hot with the barrels, look out.”
River (18-5) will travel to Auburn and play the winner between East Valley (Yakima) and West Valley (Spokane).
