RIDGEFIELD — To break a drought against the Corvallis Knights, the Ridgefield Raptors knew they would need to play a great game.
The Raptors did — for two innings.
But that’s not nearly enough. Not in the playoffs. Not against this team.
The Raptors were shut out over the final seven innings, allowing the Knights to rally for a 5-3 win Saturday in the first game of the best-of-3 divisional series in the West Coast League playoffs.
Game 2 will be played at 6:35 p.m. Sunday at Goss Stadium in Corvallis, Ore.
The win was the Knights’ seventh in seven meetings this season against Ridgefield.
The game got off to a promising start for the Raptors as Taylor Takata and Dasan Harris both reached on walks.
Justin Stransky then dropped a perfect bunt to load the bases with no outs.
After a Colby Wallace strikeout, Luke Iverson hit a high chopper back to the mound and the resulting fielder’s choice gave Ridgefield an early 1-0 lead. But the Raptors left feeling they should have score more.
The Raptors got the big hit they were looking for in the second inning when Harris lined a two-run triple to put the Raptors up 3-0.
But the inning quickly ended when Harris got stuck in no man’s land on a grounder to third, leading to an inning-ending double play.
It would be a harbinger of things to come.
As the Raptors would struggle with missed opportunities, the Knights scored single runs in the fourth and fifth innings.
Ridgefield looked like it might escape a jam in the sixth inning with the lead when Colter McAnelly hit a soft pop into shallow center with two out. But the ball fell between three Raptors fielders, allowing the Knights to score the tying run.
Two batters later, Ty Yukumoto’s lined a two-run single to center for the winning margin for Corvallis.
Three moments
Dive and DP — Corvallis looked to get a rally going in the second inning by drawing two walks. But Luke Iverson came up with a diving catch in right field, then the Raptors turned an inning-ending double play.
Strange first run — Ridgefield’s Joseph Jasso came out of the bullpen with two outs and the bases loaded in the fourth inning. Jasso threw a pitch behind Luke Lavin, which struck Lavin’s bat for a foul ball. Yet Kevin Takeuchi was allowed to score, which confused most of the 1,750 fans at the RORC. It was later announced that Jasso was called for a balk.
Drama in the ninth — Harris hit what looked like a routine infield pop-up in the ninth inning when third baseman Thomas Ferroggiaro dropped the ball. But Harris found himself running between first and second base when the drop happened, and Harris raced to get to second before Ferroggiaro could regroup. The throw to second beat Harris, but the Raptors center fielder did a swim move as he slid into second and was called safe, much to the dismay of the Corvallis players. But Gabe Hernandez was able to pitch out of the jam to close out the win.
Three players
Gabe Hernandez — The Corvallis pitcher tossed three scoreless innings to close out the win. He came into the game with no outs and two on in the seventh and held Ridgefield scoreless.
Dasan Harris — The Ridgefield center fielder went 2 for 4 with two RBI and a walk.
Thomas Yukumoto — The Corvallis shortstop was 2 for 3 with two RBI and a walk.
Three numbers
1 for 10 — The Raptors’ hitting performance with a runner on third base.
8 — The number of walks drawn by Corvallis. The Raptors actually outhit the Knights (9-8), but the walks tipped the scale for Corvallis.
7 — Consecutive losses by the Raptors to Corvallis.
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