It was a pitcher’s duel early, with neither team scoring through the first four innings. Sweets starter Jason Schuler worked four scoreless frames, allowing just two hits and a walk. On the other side, Ridgefield’s Austin Sheldon scattered five hits without surrendering a run until the bottom of the fifth.

That’s when Walla Walla struck first. Davis Grawey doubled to open the inning — his second hit of the season — and advanced to third on a flyout by Cole Rogers. A wild pitch during Billy Scaldeferri’s plate appearance allowed Grawey to race home for an unearned run and a 1-0 Sweets lead.

The advantage was short-lived. In the top of the sixth, Dawson Downs singled to left and moved to second when the ball was lost in the lights. Noah Karliner followed with an infield single, and Nolan Ganter tied the game with a sacrifice fly to left. Karliner advanced to second on a wild pitch and later scored on a third baseman’s error after Evan Jaquez reached safely. Ridgefield pushed across two runs on two hits and a pair of errors to take a 2-1 lead.

Walla Walla threatened in the bottom of the sixth, but a pair of walks were left stranded. The breakthrough came an inning later. After a groundout to open the seventh, Nigel Fahland was hit by a pitch. Then, with the wind pushing out to left-center, Billy Scaldeferri delivered the swing of the night — a high fly ball that carried just over the wall for a two-run homer, giving the Sweets a 3-2 advantage.

After a scoreless eighth, Walla Walla turned to veteran Kolby Solomon for the ninth. The fourth-year Sweet worked around a one-out walk, retiring the side on a pair of flyouts to left — including a full-extension catch by Trey Gudoy — to secure the win.

With the victory, Walla Walla earned its first home-opening series win since 2019. The Sweets will take Monday off before opening a road series against the first-place Portland Pickles on Tuesday. All home games stream live on the Walla Walla Sweets’ YouTube channel, with radio coverage available on Mixlr.