Elks Drop Non-League Series to Ridgefield
The Elks celebrate after Matt Dallas (15) hits a home run on Thursday, July 8 in Ridgefield, Wash. The Elks lost the contest, 6-3. (Brooks Juhasz)
Noah Wolf, director of media relations
noahwolf51 (at) gmail (dot) com
RIDGEFIELD, Wash. - The Bend Elks, in their first non-league series of the year, dropped three games to the Ridgefield Raptors. The Elks had previously played two non-league contests in early June, winning both.
July 6, 2021 Ridgefield Has Bend's Number; Raptors Defeat Elks Again Ridgefield 8, Bend 5
BEND, Ore. - It's hard to beat a team three times in a row, it's been said.
But ten in a row? Seems easy enough for the Ridgefield Raptors.
The Bend Elks were defeated Tuesday by the Raptors in the opening game of a three-game non-league series, 8-5 at Vince Genna Stadium.
The Elks lost the final three games of the 2019 West Coast League season in Ridgefield, and the two teams squared off six times in the first ten days of this year's WCL season, with the Raptors victorious in every game, bringing Bend's losing streak against the newest WCL team to ten straight games.
Elks starter Turner Thompson (Tulane) threw well for five innings, with the third, fourth and fifth inning all completed without a baserunner allowed. He walked two men to start the sixth and was subsequently pulled, and the two baserunners he left on scored on a three-run Ridgefield homer. His final line was five innings of three-hit baseball, with three walks, six strikeouts and four earned runs allowed.
The Elks trailed 2-0 early on, but got a run back in the second inning after Austin Hauck (Hofstra) and Mason Guerra (Oregon St.) both recorded hits. Omar Veloz (CSU Fullerton) drove in the run in that frame with a fielder's choice. Bend then took advantage of two Ridgefield errors in the fifth to take a 4-2 lead, scoring three unearned runs in the inning, before the aforementioned home run gave Ridgefield the lead right back in the next inning. Bryce Tweedt (U. Nevada) and Chase Matheny (S.C. Upstate) both registered RBIs in the fifth frame for Bend.
Bend tied the game at 5 in the top of the eighth, with Matheny leading off the inning with a single and Guerra knocking him home with two outs. The Elks surrendered the lead in the top of the ninth and couldn't recover in the bottom of the frame.
July 7, 2021 Elks Again on Wrong Side of Nailbiter Ridgefield 6, Bend 5
For the second night in a row, the Ridgefield Raptors always had an answer for whatever the Elks threw at them.
With the game tied headed to the bottom of the seventh inning, the Raptors loaded the bases with two outs and drove in the winning run to defeat Bend, 6-5, in a non-league contest Wednesday at the Ridgefield Outdoor Recreation Complex.
The Elks drew first blood, scoring twice in the first inning on just two hits. Julian Kodama (Seattle U.) and Gavin Logan (Oregon St.) drove in runs in the frame to give the Elks a 2-0 lead.
They would extend that lead in the third inning, with Logan notching another RBI and the Elks scoring twice again, leading at that point 4-0.
It would all unravel in the fourth. Jacob Kmatz, an incoming freshman at Oregon St. making his Elks debut, had only given up one hit and two walks in the first three innings. In the fourth, he gave up five hits and as many runs (three earned), with the crucial blow a bases-clearing double by Patrick Stark (Loyola Marymount). Ridgefield at that point led the Elks 5-4.
After two outs in the top of the seventh inning, the Elks would load the baes, and Daniel Garcia (Grand Canyon) notched an RBI infield single to tie the game at 5. But the Elks couldn't capitalize for any more runs, and gave up the lead in the bottom of the inning.
July 8, 2021 Elks Walk Their Way to Ridgefield Sweep Ridgefield 6, Bend 3
The Bend Elks couldn't seem to get out of their own way Thursday.
The Elks allowed eight runners on free passes - six on walks, two hit batsmen - as they outhit the Raptors for the second night in a row, but lost to Ridgefield, 6-3 at the Ridgefield Outdoor Recreation Complex.
The Raptors completed the sweep over the Elks in the non-league series, and have now won 12 games in a row over Bend in league and non-league play combined, dating back to 2019. The Elks have played eight games at the RORC and lost all of them.
Bend, for the second night in a row, scored first in the game, leading 1-0 after the first inning. After Sam Linscott (Lewis-Clark St.) reached on an error and stole second base, Chase Matheny (S.C. Upstate) doubled him home to give the Elks the lead.
Ridgefield again had the answer almost immediately, scoring a run in each of the second and third innings to take a 2-1 lead. Those two runs scored on a total of one hit to that point.
The Elks tied the game in the top of the fifth inning on the solo home run by Matt Dallas (U. Oregon), but Ridgefield responded right away, scoring in the bottom half of the frame to give the Raptors a lead they would never relinquish. The Elks scored a run in the eighth inning on three hits, but it was too little, too late, as they trailed by four entering the inning.
Performance of the series: Ben Ferrer (S.C. Upstate) threw 2.1 scoreless innings in relief on Wednesday, not allowing a hit and keeping the Elks in the contest.
Player of the series: Chase Matheny (S.C. Upstate) registered five hits in the series, including two multi-hit games. Matheny notched a double, two RBIs and two runs scored.
Play of the series: In the first inning of the third game, Peter Mendazona (U. Nevada) made a slick sliding, backhanded stop on a hard-hit grounder in the hole between third and short. He popped up and threw out the batter to end the inning.
Up next: The Elks return to Vince Genna Stadium in Bend to host non-league opponent NW Star Academy, the farm team of the Ridgefield Raptors, for a two-game series starting Friday night. First pitch at 6:35 p.m