Elks eighth inning eruption leaves Ridgefield in smoke

Bend bats went from freezing cold to scorching hot. (Sage Young)

Ridgefield, WA - In a game where both teams went scoreless through the first seven frames, the Bend Elks' dormant offense suddenly erupted, spewing out runs like they were coming out of the volcano, scoring 10 runs in one inning to melt away Ridgefield 10-4 Tuesday at the Ridgefield Outdoor Recreation Complex.

Bend (13-9, 13-9), who had gone scoreless in 13 straight innings dating back to Sunday's loss to the Raptors at home, snapped its empty frames skid with one big boom in the eighth.

The Elks had 11 straight base runners reach and brought around nine runs in a row before the Raptors could even record an out. 

The insane inning began with three straight walks to fill bases for Cole Calnon, who poked a two-RBI single through the six-hole. It was only the Elks' fifth hit up to that point.

Bend continued to capitalize on Ridgefield's lack of command through Easton Talt scoring on a wild pitch and Ryan Christiansen's RBI hit by pitch.

But the lava really began to spill over in the back half of the rally as the Elks rattled off four straight RBI hits from Vinny Salvione, Tyler Johnson, Tyler Peterson and Josh Wakefield to push the lead to nine.

Keep in mind there are still no outs.

Even when Ridgefield finally did get the first one down, it still came with a run on an Easton Talt RBI fielder's choice that capped off the 10 run heater.

The Raptors would respond with four runs in the bottom of the frame, but the aftermath ash was too much to recover from.

The Elks remained in the scoreless duel with the Raptors through the first 21 outs due to Reid Madariaga's (3-0) phenomenal pitching.

The third-year Elk retired the first 16 batters he faced and tossed six total innings of no-hit baseball with four strikeouts to two walks.

Bend has now won three of its last four games and five of its seven road games this season.

The Elks will attempt to win their third straight away series Wednesday at 6:35 p.m. at the RORC.

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