By Cody Schmidt

It looked promising for the Edmonton Riverhawks tonight, they struck early with a 1st inning run, and retaliated immediately when the Ridgefield Raptors scored in the 6th to reclaim their one-run lead. But another 8th inning rally from the home team left the Hawks grasping at their sixth straight loss to open the season.

The action started with #15 Daniel Calabrese knocking a single on the very first pitch of the game. A passed ball moved him to second, then sacrifices from #1 Kelly Corl and #2 Jack Wheatley brought Calabrese around to score. After the Raptors tied the game in the 6th, the Hawks struck back again with a two-out single from #28 Mark Ossanna then another passed ball and a #36 Jakob Poturnak base hit brought Ossanna home

The Riverhawks threatened again in the 9th with #10 Jonny McGill and #14 Tommy Takayoshi earning back-to-back walks. Pinch hitter #4 Carson Friesen had a two-out chance, smacking a high RBI double to centre right, but with only one runner scoring, it wasn’t enough for the full comeback.

The loss is by no means on starter #18 Riley Barrett. The righty made his second appearance and first start of the year, covering 6.0 innings. Barrett struck out a pair, only walked one batter, and held the Raptors to just 4 hits and a single earned run. It was an efficient start, with Riley tossing a six pitch 5th inning, and retiring 10 straight Raptors batters between the 2nd and 6th.

The breakdown happened again in the 8th inning tonight. After #16 Tylor Jans came in for a breezy 7th inning, he was replaced by #44 Brendan Wabick. Seeing game action last night, Wabick had cleaned up a mess in the 8th, but tonight he walked a pair, gave up a double, and single off the outfield wall that put the Raptor up by a run. After subbing in #27 Brendan Loeppky a double play and a ground out got the Hawks out of the nightmare inning, only allowing one more run.

The Riverhawks will head to Cowlitz for the start of another 3 game set, this time facing the 2-3 Black Bears. For all game action, keep an eye on gohawks.ca, @RiverhawksGames on twitter, and @EdmRiverhawks on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok.

Tickets are on sale at tickets.gohawks.ca now for every single home game at RE/MAX Field. Check out the brand new promotional calendar and come down for a fun night of ball. Maybe we’ll see you at the park for out June 13 home opener against the Kamloops NorthPaws?