Ridgefield Spudders head coach Nick Allen said his squad didn’t play clean enough baseball in the series with the Columbia River Rapids with two losses last week.
The reigning 2A state champion Rapids beat the Spudders on a “walkoff” from an error that scored the winning run in the 3-2 result on Monday, April 14. The Rapids then took full advantage of mistakes in a 9-3 beatdown of Ridgefield as the Spudders amounted to four errors, leading to five unearned runs.
“We just have to find a way to piece it together, and we’ve played a really tough schedule,” Allen said. “We’ve seen pitching like that all season long, so if we can just keep learning, keep getting better each day, as soon as we start playing defense, we’ll be fine.”
Ridgefield’s Wyatt Hemmelman threw six innings in the April 16 loss with six strikeouts, three walks, six hits and four earned runs. The Spudders accumulated nine total hits, outhitting the Rapids by two, but could not stack it together for runs on the board.
After the first inning, Columbia River held a 3-1 lead over the Spuds. Then, after 5, the Spudders clawed back to be down 5-3, but their sails were flattened after giving up four unearned runs in the seventh inning.
“Hopefully, it clicks before May,” Allen said of his team’s defense and offense. “If it doesn’t click by May, then we’re in trouble. … We’re dealing with some things and team stuff and injuries, things of that nature, so we’ve got some guys that are playing catch up, so we have to try a little bit to fill in the gaps.”
After the loss, Allen said he was only looking towards Friday.
The Spudders followed up with an 7-2 win on Friday, April 18, against Washougal High School and on Monday, April 21, versus the Washougal Panthers, but results were unavailable as of press time.
Ridgefield next battles Mark Morris High School at the Ridgefield Outdoor Recreation Complex on Wednesday, April 23 at 4:30 p.m. and at Mark Morris High School on Friday, April 25 at 4:30 p.m.
