The Black Bears advance to the All-Star Break, with their two days off being sandwiched in the middle of a couple of games at the RORC against the Ridgefield Raptors. Cowlitz won their first matchup back on May 29 in the first game of the season. The second game was suspended in the 5th inning, which will be finished during this series.
Cowlitz just came off of an eight-game homestand, in which they went an impressive 5-1 in regular season play and 2-0 in non-league. They most recently swept the NW Star Nighthawks in an exhibition series.
Game one was smooth sailing for Cowlitz, with six runs scoring in the first three offensive frames. NW Star managed three runs of their own in the fourth, with Trey Williams driving in two on a single. The Bears kept scoring and ended up winning 11-3. Matt Priest went 3-6, while Braeden Lundberg, Jarett Sabol and Gavin Poffenroth all got two hits each.
Game two was much closer, as one inning almost did the job for the Nighthawks. Down 2-0, they would score seven runs in the fifth inning and take a five-run lead. The Bears would score six unanswered in the next four innings, including three in the eighth, with a Will Jesske pinch-hit single giving Cowlitz the lead. Kieran Markusen would throw a perfect ninth to get the save.
In the middle of this series, Gavin Poffenroth will head north to Bellingham to participate in the WCL All-Star Game on July 16. He is hitting .336 with 30 hits, 8 doubles, 9 RBI and 15 walks in the regular season. Dylan Henson and Matt Sherwood lead the pitching staff in IP. Sherwood has a 4.50 ERA in 26 IP with 16 strikeouts. Henson has a 2.55 ERA after five hitless innings against Walla Walla, along with 17 strikeouts, which leads the squad.
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Ridgefield is off to a rough start in the second half, starting 2-9 while also having one of the toughest schedules in the WCL, playing Portland six times, Corvallis and Walla Walla. They are in the middle of their first of two second-half series against the Pickles, losing both of the first two games.
They allowed six runs in both games, but have been limited on the offensive side to three runs in game one and four in game two. They will try to take a game in the Sunday finale, a Sunday in which every team in the WCL plays except for Cowlitz. Both the Bears and Raptors have a limited All-Star Break with this series, only having two off-days, while the other WCL teams have four.
The Raptors have two all-stars on the offensive side, Noah Karliner and Andrew Estrella. Karliner leads the team in AVG (.346), runs (32), hits (47), doubles (9), HR (13) and RBI (40). Estrella has a .333 AVG in 23 games with 27 hits, 6 HR and 21 RBI. Michael Hoefgen is the lone Raptors all-star on the pitching staff. He has a 3.28 ERA in 24.2 IP with 27 strikeouts and 3 saves.
After this series, the Black Bears head to Bend to take on the Elks. This will be the first of three series against Bend in the last four weeks of the season. The Raptors will stay home and play two exhibition games against the NW Star Nighthawks. Both of these teams will play each other next week at David Story Field in the last three games of the Columbia River Cup this season.
The Black Bears-Raptors series begins on Monday at 4:30 p.m. at the RORC. Game one will be a continuation of the suspended June 30 game, so it will start in the 5th inning with Cowlitz up 4-0. Game two will start 30 minutes after game one has finished. Game three is after the All-Star Break on Thursday, July 17 at 6:35 p.m. For more information about upcoming games, stats, or tickets, follow us on social media: X (Twitter) (@CowlitzBBears), Facebook, and Instagram (@cowlitzblackbears). To watch, listen live, or view the 2025 promotional schedule, go to our website, cowlitzblackbears.com.