[Westheim]

For Portland, the second week of the season began by disabling another player they were counting on. Setup man Jonathan Snyder had suffered a sprained ankle on Friday and we were hopeful that he would only spend the minimum amount of time on the 15-day DL, plus maybe a day or two. The Raccoons tapped Nick Derks as replacement. The 25-year-old Derks had pitched to a 2.16 ERA in 8.1 innings with Portland last year.

Raccoons (4-2) @ Bayhawks (1-5) – April 13-15, 2026

The Bayhawks were probably not going to get very far this season, and they had already made a strong run for last place during Opening Week. After starting 1-1 they had now lost four in a row, and sat ninth in runs scored and tenth in runs allowed. Both their starters and relievers had an ERA over five after the first week. The Coons had won the season series three years in a row, taking six wins against the Baybirds in 2025.

Projected matchups:
Rico Gutierrez (0-0, 1.35 ERA) vs. Rodolfo Cervantes (0-0, 9.64 ERA)
Lance Legleiter (0-0, 3.00 ERA) vs. Jonathan Shook (0-1, 6.00 ERA)
Kyle Anderson (0-0, 7.20 ERA) vs. Allen Reed (0-0, 6.23 ERA)

The 30-year-old Reed was the only left-hander coming at us in this series. Reed had returned to the Continental League as a free agent after spending five years with the Capitals. He had originally started his major league career with the Indians.

Game 1
POR: SS Ramos – 2B Spencer – CF Mora – 1B Gonzalez – LF Gomez – RF Kopp – 3B Nunley – C O'Dell – P Gutierrez
SFB: C R. Anderson – SS Camacho – LF J. Correa – RF C. Martinez – 1B Caraballo – CF Hawthorne – 3B Hawkins – 2B Pick – P Cervantes

The Coons sunk two doubles past the reach of Jon Correa in the second inning, a frame that began with a four-pitch walk to Rafael Gomez and continued with said doubles by Terry Kopp, who had to dig out of a 2-for-17 hole, and Matt Nunley, who drove in both runners. Rico held the Baybirds to one hit the first time through the order, but then conceded a run in the fourth on a Cesar Martinez double and George Hawthorne's 2-out single that drove him in. Rico also failed to bunt with O'Dell aboard and nobody out in the top 5th, allowing Ryan Anderson to throw out O'Dell, who had walked to begin the inning, at second base. The Raccoons however proceeded to load the bases on a single by Jarod Spencer – who extended a hitting streak going back to '25 to 12 games – and another one by Abel Mora. Jon Gonzalez batted with the bags full and two outs, ran a full count, then laid off ball four to push home the Coons' third run. Rafael Gomez grounded out to Omar Camacho after that, stranding three.

Despite a low-scoring game, neither starter saw the eighth inning. Cervantes came out in the seventh, and Rico completed seven maintaining the 3-1 lead. After the additional run they had scored in the fifth the Raccoons stranded – of all people – Rico Gutierrez on third base in the top of the seventh when Mora lined out to Tomas Caraballo at first base. By the eighth, the Critters opposed right-hander Manny Sosa, who retired none of the 4-5-6 batters, walking Gonzalez and Kopp and surrendering a single to Rafael Gomez in between. Nunley grounded back to Sosa for an out at home, but Brett O'Dell came through, driving another ball into the leftfield corner for a 2-run double that seemed to put the game away, 5-1, even before Cookie Carmona batted for Gutierrez and dropped an RBI single into shallow left. That was all for Sosa, but he would be saddled with another run on the watch of Alex Cordova, who got Ramos to ground out, but O'Dell still scored from third base. With a 6-run lead, the Raccoons turned to Nick Derks, just called up, hoping for some low-key late innings. The qualifying threshold for success in this situation could surely vary – but Derks was excellent, struck out four and finished the game without allowing a run. 7-1 Raccoons! Spencer 2-5; Gonzalez 2-3, 2 BB, 2B, RBI; Kopp 2-4, BB, 2B; Carmona (PH) 1-1, RBI; Gutierrez 7.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, W (1-0) and 1-3; Derks 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K;

Game 2
POR: SS Ramos – 2B Spencer – CF Mora – 1B Gonzalez – RF Kopp – C Tovias – LF Carmona – 3B Nunley – P Legleiter
SFB: 3B Booker – CF Hawthorne – LF J. Correa – 1B Caraballo – RF C. Martinez – C Jai. Jackson – SS Hawkins – 2B Pick – P Shook

First inning, first RBI this year for Terry Kopp, driving another double into the Coons' favorite corner in his park, this one scoring Spencer with two outs. This was also the first starting assignment for Cookie Carmona this season, but before he got a defensive chance in the game he had to watch with his sad face as a Cesar Martinez drive broke the plane above the leftfield wall behind him in the second inning. That one was a solo shot, tying the score at one. Cookie would be the one to break that tie in the fourth inning. Terry Kopp was on second base after a leadoff single and a balk laid on Jonathan Shook, and easily scored when Cookie found the gap with a double between Jon Correa and George Hawthorne. The Bayhawks walked Nunley intentionally with two outs, but then ran into Lance Legleiter chipping a single through the right side. Cookie dashed home from second base, scoring the Coons' third run in the game. Ramos grounded out, ending the inning with two aboard.

For Legleiter this was enough of a lead, at least as long as he was in the game. He threw 83 pitches through six innings, holding the Baybirds to four hits along the way and maintaining the 3-1 lead. The only guy that had given him trouble had been Martinez, first with the homer, and then being robbed by Mora in deep center two innings later. Tim Stalker batted for Legleiter to begin the seventh, but grounded out. Ramos singled, stole second, and scored on Spencer's single, 4-1. Spencer stole second base as well, but the inning fizzled out before the Coons could get him around. The Coons scored another scratch run in the eighth, going up by four, then – in the interest of suspense! – sent Jason Butler into the game. Butler got bombed with a leadoff jack by Danny Morales, then allowed two more scorched base hits to Hawthorne and Correa. Suddenly we had a 5-3 game and scrambled for Jeff Kearney, who would get the Coons out of the inning against Caraballo and – all the ridiculous platoon splits aside – against Martinez as well, although the right-handed slugger was the tying run. Ah, the joys of bullpen management …! In turn, Kearney was still around to retire Jaiden Jackson on a grounder to Nunley to begin the ninth inning, and only then we went to Ricky Ohl with two outs left to collect, which he collected despite a 2-out walk to Pat Pick. PH Ryan Anderson struck out, and the Coons went up to four games over .500 at the Bay. 5-3 Furballs. Ramos 2-5; Spencer 2-5, RBI; Mora 2-5; Kopp 3-4, 2B, RBI; Gomez (PH) 1-1, RBI; Legleiter 6.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, W (1-0) and 1-2, RBI;

Jason Butler is not fooling anybody at all and his ERA is up to 13.50; there's somebody that has to be added to the list of endangered species already…

With the Coons in a long string of games already, we would go on to give out rest days and used the left-hander on the mound on Wednesday to switch out as many left-handed batters as possible.

Game 3
POR: 2B Spencer – SS Stalker – LF Gomez – 1B Gonzalez – RF Kopp – C O'Dell – CF Borg – 3B Bullock – P K. Anderson
SFB: 3B Booker – SS Camacho – LF J. Correa – 1B Caraballo – RF C. Martinez – C Jai. Jackson – CF Hawthorne – 2B Pick – P A. Reed

The early innings brought back-and-forth action and extra-base hits galore. The Bayhawks got the early start with a leadoff triple by Jaden Booker, who was easily brought in by Camacho with a groundout. Brett O'Dell's first Coons homer tied the game in the second, and the Critters took a 2-1 lead in the third with a Stalker triple and Gomez' infield single. However, Anderson was a bit of a launchpad; the Baybirds ripped him for three hits and as many runs in the bottom 3rd, with the last hit a 2-out, 2-run homer by Jon Correa. For Anderson, it would only get worse, with another homer flying out of the not very homer-friendly park at the Bay, then a solo homer by Jaiden Jackson in the bottom 4th, extending the Bayhawks' lead to 5-2. That was all for Anderson, who was hit for in the fifth inning, but the Coons wouldn't stage a comeback at this point.

It was more of the Bayhawks in the middle innings. Derks, only called up on Monday morning, was in for another 2-inning outing, but this time allowed another homer to Martinez, another solo job, in the bottom 6th. At this point it didn't look very likely that the Coons would make anything out of this contest anymore, but Allen Reed was tiring by the eighth and with one out all of a sudden put on the entire middle of the order, giving O'Dell three on and making himself the tying run. However, O'Dell struck out this time around, and the Bayhawks finally found a reliever, too, sending right-hander Ying-hua Ou to face Greg Borg. Portland sent Elias Tovias to pinch-hit, but his grounder was contained by Caraballo to end the inning. In turn, the Bayhawks took Jeff Mudge apart for three hits, a walk, and three runs in the bottom 8th… 9-2 Bayhawks. Gomez 3-4, RBI; Mora (PH) 1-1;

Raccoons (6-3) @ Canadiens (5-3) – April 16-19, 2026

The Raccoons were tied with Boston and New York for first place heading into this series, but the Elks were only half a game behind and had their own ambitions after not making the playoffs for a decade and change. They were batting a measly .219 as a team in the early going, second-lowest mark of the CL, but had still scored the sixth-most runs and had conceded only the third-fewest. Both marks had the Raccoons beat at this point; the Elks' run differential was +8, while the Raccoons were even with a porous pen despite a league-leading .288 batting average. The Raccoons were defending holders of this rivalry's crown, having won ten games from Vancouver in '25.

Projected matchups:
Dan Delgadillo (1-0, 3.00 ERA) vs. Frank Kelly (0-1, 18.00 ERA)
Mark Roberts (1-0, 1.13 ERA) vs. Fernando Estrada (0-0, 6.75 ERA)
Rico Gutierrez (1-0, 1.32 ERA) vs. Andrew Gudeman (1-0, 1.13 ERA)
Lance Legleiter (1-0, 2.25 ERA) vs. Antonio Muniz (0-2, 7.07 ERA)

Muniz, confusingly nicknamed "Furball" when he was ANYTHING BUT, was their only left-handed starter and was up for the Sunday game of this 4-game set.

Game 1
POR: SS Ramos – 2B Spencer – CF Mora – 1B Gonzalez – RF Kopp – LF Gomez – C Tovias – 3B Nunley – P Delgadillo
VAN: 2B Gura – RF Wojnarowski – CF Coca – LF A. Torres – SS Calfee – 1B Myles – 3B Anton – C Tanzillo – P Kelly

Jarod Spencer stretched a hitting streak to 15 games with a first-inning double off Kelly, who had been battered for six runs in three innings in his first outing of the year, but was nevertheless left stranded as the game got underway. The Elks were considerably less picky after Ted Gura's leadoff bloop single to shallow center, moving him around bit by bit until he scored on Alex Torres' 2-out single to left-center for the first run of the game in the bottom 1st. The Coons were however quick to turn things around; Frank Kelly was a real mess at this point, and after Tovias hit a 2-out single in the top 2nd he issued walks to Nunley and Delgadillo, bringing up Ramos with the bags full and gave up a pair on a sharp single to the outfield.

Neither starter was rock solid, truth be told. Delgadillo had Brian Wojnarowski and Alex Torres aboard with two outs in the bottom 3rd when he surrendered a rocket to deep left to John Calfee. Rafael Gomez went after that one and snared it, just barely. Kelly was walking them left and right, but stuck around long enough to hit a leadoff single between Nunley and Ramos in the bottom 5th. Delgadillo went on to walk Wojnarowski with one out and was in a pickle again, but this time Tony Coca would pop out and Torres struck himself out with a few mighty swings to get the inning over with. Delgadillo fought off another two base runners in the bottom 6th and was mostly washed up after six tense innings without a breather in between, but he held on to a 2-1 lead while the Coons had failed to exploit lots and lots of free base runners issued by Kelly, who had walked five in his six innings of work. No win was in the offering for him though, with Kevin Surginer being overturned in the bottom 7th, putting Ted Gura on with a leadoff single, then watched Coca wrap a ball around the right side of the left foul pole for a score-flipping 2-run homer.

That was not all to this game, though. The Elks went through four relievers in the eighth inning, and it helped them nothing. Their cacophony of bullpen arms loaded the bases, bit by bit, until Nick Van Fossen, a southpaw, faced Tim Stalker with the bags full and two outs in the inning and lost him to a walk on the ninth pitch of a full-count at-bat. The Elks had only two relievers left and considered Van Fossen adequate for the job to get out of the jam, even in a 3-3 tie. Yet, he wasn't. Ramos cracked a 1-1 pitch to right, past a diving Gura and to Wojnarowski's feet for an RBI single. Jarod Spencer dropped a first-pitch bloop into shallow left center, and that one scored two. The Elks relented, sent right-hander Ivan Morales to face Mora (so, still the platoon advantage on the Coons' side), and Mora grounded out to Gura to leave it at 6-3 for now.

In that situation, the Raccoons had to make do with some patchwork. Tim Stalker ended up playing third base (O'Dell had batted for Nunley against Van Fossen), and Billy Brotman had to get rid of right-handers, because we had our own bullpen problems. Matt Anton would draw a walk in the bottom 8th, but that was it for the Elks against Billy, and after that they saw a backupless Ivan Morales getting shredded for four more runs in the ninth inning, including a 2-run double by Tim Stalker in the #9 hole. 10-3 Coons! Ramos 4-6, 4 RBI; Spencer 2-6, 2B, 2 RBI; Kopp 2-4, BB, 2B; Carmona (PH) 1-1; Tovias 1-1, 3 BB, 2 RBI; O'Dell (PH) 1-1; Borg (PH) 1-1; Stalker (PH) 1-1, BB, 2B, 3 RBI; Delgadillo 6.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 7 K;

Boston and New York both had off days, so the Raccoons took back sole possession of first place with their late outburst, now at 7-3.

Also, 10 runs in a game where your 3-4 punch goes 0-for-10 is remarkable!

Game 2
POR: SS Ramos – 2B Spencer – CF Mora – RF Gomez – 1B Kopp – C Tovias – LF Carmona – 3B Nunley – P Roberts
VAN: 3B Jon. Morales – RF Wojnarowski – CF Coca – LF A. Torres – SS Calfee – 1B Myles – 2B Gura – C Holliman – P F. Estrada

Little offense early in the Friday game; Estrada was perfect the first time through, while Roberts allowed a leadoff single to Jonathan Morales to start his night, but Tony Coca would hit into a textbook 6-4-3. Ryan Holliman, who was 35 these days but looked not a day younger than 53, hit a single in the third, but was forced out on a poor bunt and the Elks didn't get to Roberts again. Young Alberto Ramos would be the first Coon aboard, hitting a double through Adan Myles in the fourth inning, but was left aboard when Spencer grounded out and both Mora and Gomez went down on strikes, tallying up five victims for Estrada through four innings. The Elks also got a double in the fourth, Torres hitting that with two outs up the rightfield line. Then they also got a homer, John Calfee clocking a fastball out of centerfield.

Thus, the Coons trailed again, and still didn't know how to get to Estrada, who wrapped up seven Critters through six innings. Roberts was not on top of his game; he had only three strikeouts through the sixth, an inning in which he put on a batter in every common way with a hit, a walk, and a pitch in the ribs before surrendering a third run to Calfee on a sac fly when the bags were full. At this point, three runs seemed plenty for Estrada, who had yet to put a Raccoon not named Alberto on base. Ramos had walked in the top 6th, but nothing had come out of Spencer – on a 15-game hitting streak! – once more. The seventh saw the middle of the order go down without as much of a squeal. Nevertheless, the Elks batted for Estrada in the bottom 7th, opening up their pen to new adventures. The first guy out there was righty J.R. Hreha, and the first Coon up to face a reliever was Elias Tovias, instantly singling into rightfield. HERE WE GO. I hope. The bullpen carrousel immediately went into the highest gear as Vancouver sent left-hander Greg Becker (formerly a starter), but he allowed a single to Cookie, and then one to the terribly struggling Nunley on an 0-2 pitch. Bases loaded, Jon Gonzalez batting for Roberts, which drew out right-hander Dusty Kulp, who helped his team little by hitting Gonzalez in the bum, thus pushing in the Coons' first run in the game, and cutting the gap to 3-1. Open flung the bullpen door again – here came right-hander Sean Carlsen. That was fun! Keep the line moving! Ramos grounded up the middle, past Calfee, and had an RBI single. Still three on, still nobody out! And then Spencer, Mora, and Gomez ALL popped out over the infield. And in order. I froze in spot on the couch at home and wouldn't defrost until the next morning. The same was true for the Coons, who went down in order in the ninth inning against Luis Vasquez. 3-2 Canadiens. Ramos 2-3, BB, 2B, RBI; Gonzalez (PH) 0-0, RBI;

…and gone was the division lead again. Also, Spencer's hitting streak.

Game 3
POR: SS Ramos – CF Mora – LF Gomez – 1B Gonzalez – RF Kopp – C Tovias – 2B Stalker – 3B Nunley – P Gutierrez
VAN: 3B Jon. Morales – RF Wojnarowski – CF Coca – LF A. Torres – SS Calfee – 1B Myles – 2B Gura – C Holliman – P Gudeman

The Coons jumped out for two runs in the first inning, hitting liners all over the place. Ramos and Mora hit singles, then scored on Gomez' sac fly and Gonzalez' double to right, respectively. Early support, just what Rico needed! He faced the minimum the first time through the order, notwithstanding a leadoff single by Morales, who got washed up on Wojnarowski's grounder to Tim Stalker, who gave Spencer a day off. The Elks didn't get another base runner until the bottom 5th, when Alex Torres singled, but Torres got himself caught stealing by Tovias, and the Elks remained off the board. The same was true for Portland though as well, as the Coons amounted to only two hits in four innings after the early scoring. The sixth saw two quick outs for Gudeman before Stalker singled, Nunley walked, and then he knicked Gutierrez, provoking loud hissing from the visitors' dugout and from my couch, too. Nothing came of it – no brawl, and no runs either, with Ramos grounding out to end the inning.

The Elks continued to tickle Gutierrez as the innings wore on. Norman Day had a pinch-hit single in the bottom 6th, but was stranded, and Wojnarowski hit a leadoff single in the seventh, but here came another double play, wonderfully started by Nunley and going round the horn. Rico remained unscored upon through eight innings, but slid over 100 pitches in the process and with no run support coming forth wasn't getting a shot at the shutout. Spencer hit in his spot in the top 9th, tripled, then came in on Ramos' sac fly to center, the Coons' first run since the first inning and giving Ricky Ohl the max allowance for a save in the bottom 9th. After Holliman grounded out to Ramos, Ohl disemboweled Anton and Morales on strikes to make Rico the first Coon with two wins this season. 3-0 Critters! Nunley 2-3, BB; Spencer (PH) 1-1, 3B; Gutierrez 8.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 7 K, W (2-0);

Game 4
POR: SS Ramos – LF Spencer – RF Gomez – 1B Gonzalez – CF Mora – C O'Dell – 2B Stalker – 3B Bullock – P Legleiter
VAN: 3B Jon. Morales – RF Wojnarowski – CF Coca – LF A. Torres – SS Calfee – 1B Myles – 2B Gura – C Tanzillo – P A. Muniz

Fortunes reversed again on Sunday, with the Coons' only batter to reach the first time through being Legleiter, while at the same time Legleiter got bludgeoned early. Alex Torres hit a 2-out, 2-run homer in the first inning, and Tony Coca hit an RBI triple in the third as the Elks had no trouble to make hard contact and hit screaming liners off Legleiter. The Raccoons got on the board in the fourth, which saw Spencer getting nailed to begin the inning, advance on Gomez' groundout and scoring on Jon Gonzalez' single to right. That one gave Gonzalez 10 RBI, the first Raccoon to reach the mark in the 2026 season.

Overall, the offense wasn't enough, though, and usually ended with Tim Stalker in this game. Stalker stranded a pair in the sixth, then was no defensive help in the bottom of that inning, missing Gura's grounder with two outs for a single. Nick Derks replaced Legleiter at that point, but when Gura stole second base, Chris Tanzillo was walked intentionally. That one would not work out; both Muniz and Morales would crack singles up the middle to extend the score to 4-1. The RBI was Muniz', but on Morales' single the Elks sent Tanzillo around third base and he got thrown out by Abel Mora at home plate. Muniz was the hero for now, but the seventh inning saw him issue leadoff walks to Bullock and Borg, so things remained interesting with the tying run at the plate and nobody out. Ramos got rung up in a full count, denying the Coons to have the bags full with nobody out (which was not a guarantee for this team to score and that had been a constant for five decades…), but Jarod Spencer hit an RBI single to left center, and now the big guns came up – ignoring the fact that nobody on this team had even TWO homers at this point. Rafael Gomez was no help, bouncing to Morales for an easy force at third base. That brought up Gonzalez with two down, and he hit the first pitch to right, but more or less right into Wojnarowski's mitten. The only run the Coons had gotten was immediately negated by Tony Coca taking the beleaguered Jason Butler deep in the bottom 7th, restoring a 3-run lead to the Elks they wouldn't relinquish. 5-2 Canadiens. Ramos 2-5, 3B; O'Dell 2-4;

In other news

April 18 – The Buffaloes' SP Jose Lerma (2-1, 0.36 ERA) spins a 2-hit shutout against the Capitals, whiffing an impressive 13 batters.

Complaints and stuff

Tony Coca was Player of the Week, leaving me with seriously gnashed teeth and Maud probably has to make a dentist appointment for me, but apart from that… Okay. It is early. But Alberto Ramos is pushing .400 and I reserve myself the right to feel extremely good about myself right now. He is the only batter in the CL to hit over .400 right now, and there is only one guy in the FL beating him, Ricardo Rangel on the Cyclones with a .438 mark.

But, really, does anybody here know where the fence is? Seriously, what happened to power!

In things nobody saw coming, the Warriors are the first team to double digit wins this year.

Fun Fact: 47 years ago this Saturday, Sioux Falls' Chris Lynch dished out six hits in a 4-3 win over the Pacifics.

"Missing" Lynch was a fairly amazing batter in the early years of the ABL, leading the league in home runs three times in 1980 (with the Warriors), 1982, and 1983 (both with the Aces). He batted .266 with 21 homers in '84 before tearing up his knee in August, and never fully recovered from that. He amounted to a .954 OPS in that abbreviated 1984 season (in 99 games). The following year, in his age 31 season, he batted .191/.296/.334 and was just gone, retiring in 1987 after spending all of '86 on the sidelines. For his career he was a .250/.361/.449 batter with 197 HR and 739 RBI.

Well, kids, this is true. Today we can 3D print new ears, arms, and hearts, but back in the 1970s a bee sting or a torn meniscus could round you up forever!