Bend’s Bats Come Up Short as Raptors Complete Road Sweep

Bend, OR. - Despite taking its first lead of the series, the Bend Elks couldn't keep up with the Ridgefield Raptors, who outscored the Elks 8-3 Sunday to complete the sweep and extend its franchise-record win streak to 10 games.

The Elks took a 1-0 advantage on an RBI single by Bennett Thompson in the opening frame but couldn't keep pace with the Raptors, who would rack up runs in five of the final six innings to secure its fourth sweep of the Elks since the Ridgefield franchise was established in 2019. Between the second and sixth inning, Ridgefield retired 14 out of the 15 Elks batters they faced. Thompson served as the Elks only hit until the 8th inning when Braeden Terry finally snapped the lineup's skid.

The turning point came in the third inning when Bend starter Robert Orloski (0-1) gave up three runs on three hits with two outs. The Raptors continued to play small ball, slowly but surely putting the Elks away, scoring runs off two Justin Stransky sac-flies, an RBI groundout from Trent Prokes, and an error by Bend Shortstop Elijah Jackson that allowed the eighth and final run to come across.

Jake Tsukada, Jackson Nicklaus, and Tristan Gomes all finished with five or more hits over the weekend, with Tsukada leading the way with eight. Tsukada and Gomez had two games with three hits, while Nicklaus worked an impressive five walks in game two.

Despite the pitching and hitting both struggling for the Elks this weekend, the lone bright spot came from the infield, who converted eight double plays over the series. Jake Hoskins and Tyler Peterson have been an especially stellar duo with chemistry on another level.

Bend (10-12, 7-11) gets the day off Monday before traveling up to Ridgefield to face the red-hot Raptors (15-7, 14-6) on the road for the second part of this six-game series. All games can be viewed on the Raptors YouTube Channel and listened to on Bend Elks Mixlr.