Too Little Too Late for Elks Offense in Series Opener vs. Ridgefield

The Elks managed just five hits and one run in game one against the Raptors. (Andrew Green)

Bend, OR. - The Bend Elks sparked life with a two-out rally in the top of the ninth, but it was too little too late as the Elks fell to the red-hot Ridgefield Raptors 4-3 in the series opener at Vince Genna Stadium.

The Raptors, now winners of a franchise-record eight games, kept Bend off the board through the first eight innings allowing just two hits over that span. The Elks finally woke up offensively with its back against the wall, led by a leadoff hit by Beau Sylvester backed up by Luca Dipaolo, who delivered a double to the right field corner that Ridgefield's Britton Beeson lost in the night sky. The play was eerily similar to Justin Tsukada's mistake the night before.

Suddenly, the Elks found themselves with the tying run at the plate with two down and Steven Meier up to bat. Meier seized the moment with a one-run single poked through the right side and cut the deficit to two. Unfortunately for the Elks, Kody Watanabe would fly out to center on the next pitch to put Bend's comeback hopes to rest.

Although the Elks came up short in the end, they stayed neck and neck with the Raptors for the majority of the game, with it being a scoreless pitching duel between the two sides through the first six innings. However, it all changed in the seventh when Ridgefield rallied for three runs with two outs on a one-run single to center by Quincey Scott, which Andy Allanson piggybacked off of delivering a two-RBI double into the left-field corner, making it a three-run advantage. That proved to be all the insurance that Ridgefield would need.

Bend (10-10, 7-9), who managed to score just one run for the third time this season, will attempt to even the series and snap Ridgefield's (13-7, 12-6) win streak Saturday in game two at Vince Genna Stadium with first pitch set for 6:35 p.m.