RIDGEFIELD — Sometimes the best strategy is to just listen to the advice of your father.
That appears to be working for Hunter Katschke of the Ridgefield Raptors.
Katschke went 2 for 4, including a big three-run home run in the first inning, to power the Raptors to an 8-3 win Saturday over the Springfield Drifters.
“The swing has been feeling really good lately,” Katschke said. “I’ve been talking to my Pops back home off and on. He’s been pointing out a few things here and there.”
Katschke’s parents, William and Alma, watch the Raptors game every night via livestream from their home in Las Vegas.
And Katschke followed his dad’s advice in the first inning when he came up with two on and one out.
“It’s all been mainly my approach this summer,” Katschke said. “I got to the count that I wanted to be in. I kind of figured what pitch was coming and got a good swing off.”
Katschke sent the ball sailing over the wall in left-center for his seventh home run of the season. It gave the Raptors an early lead they would never surrender.
Katschke raised his team-leading average to .371. Things have been going so well this summer that Katschke has been getting breaks even when things don’t go so well.
That was the case in the fifth inning when he opened with a ground-rule double. But he got caught wandering too far off the base by a spin move by Drifters pitcher Kaden Starr.
Yet Katschke was able to stay in a rundown long enough to scramble back into second before the tag.
“I was just trying to time up the pitcher, trying to steal third and get into a better scoring position,” he said. “I guess they read it, but the play’s not over until it’s over. I found a way to get back to second base.”
It kept the inning alive long enough for Julian Nunez to drive him home with a two-out single.
The victory helped the Raptors stay ahead of the Portland Pickles in the tight race for the second-half title in the South Division of the West Coast League.
“One of the big things that (Raptors manager Chris) Cota said to us after we clinched the playoff spot was to not be like everyone else when they know they’re going to the playoffs,” Katschke said. “They kind of shut down and take it easy. Every game means a lot for us. We want to get that second seed so we can play the Pickles.”
Three moments
Memarian’s glove — After the Drifters scored twice in the top of the second to cut their deficit 3-2, Kyle Memarian kept the Raptors in the lead with a diving grab of a line drive at third base to end the inning.
Nunez’s magic foul — Just prior to driving home Katschke from second base in the fifth inning, Julian Nunez hit a foul ball off one of the light poles at the Ridgefield Outdoor Recreation Center. Just as the ball clanked off the pole, the stadium lights turned on.
Memarian’s feet — Memarian also contributed to a run in the sixth. After his leadoff single, Memarian stole second, went to third on Taylor Takata’s groundout and scored on Dasan Harris’ infield single.
Three players
JJ Fontana — Newly arrived for the series vs. the Drifters, the catcher from Colorado State Pueblo made an instant impact. He walked, stole second and scored a run in the second. He singled, stole second and scored in the eighth. And he threw out a pair of Drifters trying to steal second.
Taylor Takata — The leadoff batter went 3 for 4 with a double and two RBI.
Tito Santos — The relief pitcher struck out the side in the ninth to seal the win.
Three numbers
3 — The number of hits the Drifters managed off Raptors starter Carson Revay in six innings. It was also the number of Drifters hitters Revay hit with a pitch in six innings.
0.5 — The lead the Raptors hold over the Pickles in the second-half standings after Portland beat Yakima Valley 5-1 on Saturday.
1 — The Raptors’ deficit behind the Bend Elks in the South Division overall standings. If Ridgefield (29-21) can pass Bend in the overall standings, they will be assured of securing no worse than the No. 3 seed for the playoffs, avoiding a first-round matchup with the Corvallis Knights. But Ridgefield needs to pass Bend, as the Elks hold the season tiebreaker.
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