More than 1,000 fans are expected to attend opening game against Cowlitz

Paul Valencia
ClarkCountyToday.com

The crowds are getting bigger and bigger every year, and the Ridgefield Raptors are looking to improve the crowd experience, every year.

You see, it is more than just a baseball game when the Ridgefield Raptors play a home game at the Ridgefield Outdoor Recreation Complex.

It’s a baseball atmosphere.

“We’re excited. We have a more experienced staff that has been with us for a while,” said Gus Farah, the team’s general manager. “We practiced and planned a lot more and a lot better from our past experiences. We’re in good shape. We’re ready to go.”

Ready to welcome more than 1,000 fans for Opening Night. Farah said early indications say that as many as 1,400 fans could show up to The RORC on Thursday, May 30. The Raptors open the 2024 season with a home game against the Cowlitz Black Bears. First pitch is 6:35 p.m.

The Raptors first took flight in Ridgefield in 2019, and it was a great success for a new franchise in the West Coast League. That momentum was shut down by the pandemic, but since the Raptors returned in 2021, it has all been about growth. More and more people attend games every year.

The team consists of college-eligible players, competing in a wood bat league. This gives the athletes a chance to experience a little bit of what minor league baseball is like, with sometimes six games a week, and playing baseball with wood bats, just like in professional baseball.

The Raptors enjoy giving their fans the minor league feel, too, with in-game contests and in-between-innings activities. They bring in more food choices every year, too. This year, a large tent has been put up beyond the left-field fence to block out the sun – or other weather – for large groups. 

Thursday’s opener is a non-league game against a league opponent. Ridgefield and Cowlitz play six league games against each other every year. The two teams open the season against one another, giving them seven games per season. That way one team is assured of winning four. The team that wins the season series wins the Columbia River Cup.

Unlike previous years, though, the Raptors are not back home this opening weekend. Instead, Ridgefield will open league play on the road Friday at the Portland Pickles. They will play a three-game series over the weekend.

The Raptors will return to the RORC for their first home league series on Monday, the first of three games against Edmonton. All games in that series start at 6:35 p.m.

Including Thursday’s opening night, the Raptors have 31 home games on the regular-season schedule.

“I’m excited for the season. I can feel the community is bubbling. I can see it through our first presale that people are excited to get back here,” Farah said.

For ticket and schedule information, go to: https://ridgefieldraptors.com/