The West Coast League’s Commissioner Rob Neyer unveiled the 2024 league Most Valuable Player to be Raptors’ outfielder Hunter Katschke of Utah Tech. The Raptors earned the league’s Team Sportsmanship Award, as well.
The West Coast League, a collegiate wood bat summer league across the Pacific Northwest, announced its season awards on Tuesday, Aug. 20, and Thursday, Aug. 22.
Katschke led the West Coast League with nine home runs, nearly leading the league in RBIs while finishing strong with an 11-game hitting streak and a .367 batting average.
As a team, the Raptors earned the Jim Dietz Team Sportsmanship Award for the second time in franchise history under head coach Chris Cota. They previously won the award in 2019 in their inaugural season.
Raptors catcher Justin Stransky, of Fresno State, and second baseman Taylor Takata, of the University of Hawaii, also received All-West Coast League First Team honors. The Raptors also added two honorable mentions with Carson Revay, of Fresno State, and Camden Oram, of Linfield College.
The Ridgefield Raptors finished the second half of the season in second place in the league’s South Division with a record of 21-7 and finished fourth overall in the division at 31-23, good enough to land a wildcard playoff spot. Their playoff matchup against the Corvallis Knights ended the season with two losses in a best-of-three series, Aug. 10 and Aug. 11.
