City officials participate in pregame ceremony, and then the Ridgefield Raptors opened their 2026 baseball season at the Ridgefield Outdoor Recreation Complex on Thursday

Paul Valencia
Clark County Today

The scheduled meeting for the Ridgefield City Council was 6:30 p.m. Thursday.

The scheduled “meeting” for the Ridgefield Raptors’ first game of the season was 6:35 p.m. Thursday.

They figured out a way to make it work.

The pregame festivities, featuring the ceremonial first pitch, took place around 6 p.m. Ridgefield Mayor Matt Cole threw out that first pitch, with city councilors also in attendance.

It was the city and the baseball team working together … a relationship that started last decade and continues today.

The Raptors opened up their 2026 season Thursday night with a 9-0 non-league win over Northwest Star Academy.

Also open was the concession stand, drinks, the ice cream, and the Rally Wagon. Coming soon will be a new scoreboard for the group gatherings beyond left field.

Rally the Raptor walked around the park, giving high fives and taking pictures. Children could test their arm strength and see how fast they could throw a baseball. And families were seen at the picnic tables or along the grass.

Pretty much, Ridgefield and the Ridgefield Outdoor Recreation Complex are ready for another summer of baseball.

Chris Cota is back, as well. He is the only head coach in team history, with the franchise opening play in 2019. Cota is also the head coach of the College of the Canyons in Santa Clarita, Calif.

“Our season ends down there, and then it’s just a countdown to come up here,” Cota said. “We play 40 games down there, and then I come up here and it’s 60 games. It’s such a joy.”

He said he has met so many great friends in his years in the Northwest, and he appreciates the organization.

“It’s a treat. I look forward to it every year,” he said of coaching in the West Coast League, a wood-bat league for college eligible players to compete in a pro-like setting, with six games a week scheduled throughout the summer.

Here he was with another season opener with the Raptors.

“It’s great to see the fans, the old fans, the new fans … it never gets old,” Cota said.

Gus Farah, the general manager of the Raptors, said he expected more than 1,300 fans at the opener.

“For a Thursday night, with school still in, that’s a good start,” he said.

He also understands that the fans wait for this night all offseason.

“It’s great to be back. You can just feel the community ready to gather and to get outside to come to a Raptor game,” Farah said. “I keep saying, they know why they come here. They just love being outside in this community gathering. They just know why they love it here. You can just feel it again tonight.”

The city understands it, too. The Raptors are a team for all of Southwest Washington, but Ridgefield city leaders are proud that Ridgefield is the home of that team. That is why the city leaders participate in opening night ceremonies every year.

“We have a partnership with them. They took a chance when they built this park,” Farah said. “They love what it does for the community and how it feels to have this amenity in their backyard.”

The Raptors are scheduled for 31 more homes this season, and that includes three this weekend as they open up WCL play. Ridgefield hosts the Nanaimo Nightowls out of British Columbia on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

For more information and tickets, go to: RidgefieldRaptors.com