This weekend is going to be a great weekend for Baseball in Washington State, with the Mariners being sold out on Friday, and the Cowlitz Black Bears taking on the Ridgefield Raptors at home, in Longview. Baseball has hit its stride in July.
The Cowlitz Black Bears brought the trophy home to Longview last season, but with three games left in the season series, both teams will be gunning for the Columbia River Cup… with the Raptors currently holding a 3-1 lead in the series. While neither team has clinched a playoff spot yet, the Black Bears and Raptors are in the race with strong second halves.
“This weekend’s series is always interesting and fun that we have this Columbia River cup challenge and that we can put our two teams front and center against each other. Not only is it fun but it also creates a competition that allows our fans to feel like they have an up or down river rivalry that is not only competitive but friendly. Cowlitz won the first Columbia cup and now Ridgefield has a nice lead in 2022 but you never know what could happen this weekend. We hope that just like the Cowlitz fans came to root for their team, the Ridgefield fans will come to Cowlitz to cheer on the Raptors this weekend.”
Gus Farah, Executive Vice President of Operations, Cowlitz and Ridgefield
Whether it be to the I-5 closures near Seattle on Friday or you can’t find tickets to the Mariners game this weekend. The rivalry between the Cowlitz Black Bears and Ridgefield is an exciting, and cheaper alternative.
Draft Choices
Even though the Black Bears and Raptors don’t make the playoffs every year, they always have some exciting players on their respective rosters. While no Black Bears were selected in the draft or signed by major league teams this season, the Black Bears have some good history with drafts in the past. This year, the Raptors had three draft picks, one in the first round.
“The draft is really an important marker for the league to continie to show that they are developing these young men into great college players or potential draft picks that are the next major leaguers. The legue prides itself in the quality of play and development of these players. It also gives confidence to these colleges that they will be better off by spending the summer developing with us (West Coast League).”
Gus Farah
The WCL as a whole had 30 Alumni selected in the 2022 MLB Draft.
Northwest Sports Desk 