Now, the Raptors (35-25 overall) welcome the Long Beach Coast to Lindquist Field for the first time, hosting the new club July 28 through Aug. 2.

Long Beach arrives in a season worth some heralding. The Coast went 37-11 to win the first half and clinch a playoff spot, holding a league-best overall record of 47-13.

The Coast, playing at what can be described as a pitcher-friendly park, leads the PBL in team ERA at 5.16. It’s a strength-versus-strength series, as the Raptors lead the league in team batting average at .353.

The new team is technically the same as the one that spent 2011-25 in Grand Junction, Colorado, and relocated to the historic Blair Field at Long Beach State University. The club traces back to the Butte (Montana) Copper Kings from 1978-2000 and the Casper (Wyoming) Rockies from 2001-11.

Ogden’s Kyler Stancato is second in the league with a .429 batting average. Chase Valentine is second with 34 stolen bases and seventh with 73 RBIs. Giuseppe Ferraro-Nahr is batting .412 and lead the team with 18 home runs.

Starting pitcher Nico Saltaformaggio continues to pace the league in pitching wins, now at eight.

1-2 AT GREAT FALLS

Ogden opened last week with losses of 9-7 and 13-10 at Great Falls before avoiding a sweep with a Thursday win by a 14-8 tally.

Chase Valentine hit two home runs and drove in five runs to lead the Raptors in that victory. Tyler Ganus went 3 for 5 with two doubles.

Nico Saltaformaggio got the win to improve to 8-1 on the mound, allowing five earned runs on 11 hits over six innings, striking out four and walking one.

2-1 AT GLACIER

Ogden rolled that win into a three-game win streak, starting with a 14-6 win Friday to begin a three-game set against the Range Riders, based in Kalispell, Montana.

The Raptors rapped 21 hits in the win, 19 of them singles, led by Chase Valentine’s 4-for-6 performance. Four other Raptors totaled three hits. Jose Ballista won on the mound, allowing three earned runs on five hits over six innings.

Saturday, playing as the Utah Fry Sauce, Ogden broke a 3-3 knot with a bases-loaded walk and a wild pitch in the eighth inning to win 5-4. The Fry Sauce won with nine singles, three more from Valentine.

Ogden couldn’t complete the short sweep Sunday, however, as Glacier answered with a 9-6 victory. Cole Jordan homered and Giuseppe Ferraro-Nahr batted 5 for 5, but the Range Riders broke a 6-6 tie with an RBI double in the sixth and a two-run homer in the seventh. Four Ogden pitchers combined to strike out 10 and walk just one, but seven of Glacier’s 13 hits went for extra bases, including two homers.