On Saturday night, the Ridgefield Raptors jumped out to an early three-run lead on the Corvallis Knights, only to watch the Knights rally to win.
So the Raptors did one better on Sunday night, jumping out to an early four-run lead.
But again, it wasn’t enough.
The Knights used a four-run fourth inning to take the lead, then pulled away from the Raptors to win 12-5 Sunday night in Corvallis, Ore., completing a two-game sweep of their best-of-3 West Coast League playoff series.
For the second straight game, things looked good for the Raptors early when Taylor Takata led off the game with a walk, Justin Stransky later added a single before Luke Iverson belted a three-run home run to put Ridgefield up 3-0.
The Raptors added another run in the third when Dasan Harris led off with his second triple of the series, and Stransky brought him home with a sacrifice fly.
The Knights cut Ridgefield’s advantage in half in the bottom of the third on an RBI double by Blake Wilson and a sacrifice fly from Kevin Takeuchi.
But the game really swung on fourth when the Knights loaded the bases with one out on a single by Skyview graduate Tyler Howard , followed by a Raptors error and hit batsman.
Thomas Ferroggiaro singled to score one run. Wilson’s RBI single tied the game at 4-4. Then Takeuchi made it a four-run rally with a two-run single.
From there, the Knights never trailed. They added two runs in the fifth, one in the sixth and three more in the seventh to put it out of reach.
Ridgefield could only counter with a solo home run from Colby Wallace in the sixth inning.
Stransky finished 2 for 3 with a run and RBI for the Raptors, and Safea Mauai was 2 for 4.
Wilson went 4 for 6 with four RBI for Corvallis. Ferroggiaro, Takeuchi and Howard each went 2 for 4 for the Knights, with Takeuchi driving in four runs.
Corvallis, the first-half champion in the WCL’s South Division, now advances to the South Division championship game, where they will host the Portland Pickles on Wednesday. The Pickles completed a two-game sweep of Bend with a 16-6 win on Sunday.
The Raptors, which lost all eight games against Corvallis this season, finished the year with an overall record of 31-25.
