Walla Walla —— The Sweets won their fourth game in a row Tuesday night, beating the Ridgefield Raptors 7-5. It was a back-and-forth game between Walla Walla and Ridgefield with multiple ties and lead changes.

Ridgefield opened the scoring early with a two-run homer in the top of the first. 

The Sweets responded with two runs of their own in the bottom of the second. It was two RBI singles from Joel Esparza and David Mysza to bring home Kolby Felix and Mason Millar respectively.

Ridgefield retook the lead with a run in the third, but again the Sweets responded and tied it up. This time it was an RBI single from JJ Moran to bring home Felix.

Walla Walla got their first lead of the night in the fourth inning with Stevie Hom bringing home Esparza.

In the fifth, Ridgefield scored their final two runs of the night to take a 5-4 lead. The Raptors still had two runners on after taking the lead, but Bridger Clontz came out of the bullpen and got a huge strikeout to end the inning and keep the deficit at one for the Sweets.

Walla Walla tied it again in the bottom of the fifth off an RBI groundout from Millar to bring home Moran.

The Sweets got their final two runs in the sixth inning. The first three batters of the frame all got aboard to load the bases with nobody out. A sacrifice fly from Felix scored Mysza, and another RBI single from Moran scored Hom.

Starting in the second inning, the Sweets scored in five consecutive frames, which is tied for the longest such streak this season. The last time Walla Walla scored in five straight innings was just three days prior, August 3, in the fourth through eighth innings against the Cowlitz Black Bears.

In the final three innings, it was great defensive stops from the Sweets that won the game. Ridgefield loaded the bases in eighth inning, but Esparza made a foul pop grab on his knees right in front of the Sweets’ dugout for the third out and left the bases loaded.

In the ninth, the Raptors got another runner on base, but agian couldn’t bring him home as back-to-back strikeouts from Nate Naccarato ended the game in favor of the Sweets.

Clontz got the win out of the bullpen for the Sweets improving his record to 3-1. Naccarato got his third save of the season.

At the plate, four guys had multi-hit games, with Hom and Moran each getting a season-high three hits.

With the win, the Sweets improve to 20-32 overall and 11-15 in the second half. Twenty wins match Walla Walla’s record in 2023. They now have a chance to do better than they did last season in the final two games of the season.

The win is also the fourth in a row for the Sweets. The last time the Sweets won four games in a row was July 16-20, 2022, with two wins against Kelowna and two wins against Springfield. 

Walla Walla looks to keep the streak going and win their final series of the season. Game two of the three game set with the Raptors is Wednesday with first pitch set for 6:35. Sweets’ coverage of the game can be found on their YouTube channel.