THE FRONT ROW with MARK NELKE: Pronto pups, grilled cheese sandwiches, ocean beaches and burgers

Ever heard of Ridgefield, Wash.?

Me neither.

Until earlier this summer, when we were plotting our vacation, looking for minor league and/or college wood-bat baseball games to supplement our journey to Keizer, Ore., and ultimately the Oregon Coast.

But there it was, just 16 miles north of Vancouver and home, in the summer, of the Ridgefield Raptors, a college wood-bat team in the West Coast League.

They play in a place called the Ridgefield Outdoor Recreation Complex, which offers six multi-purpose artificial turf fields to accommodate several sports.

They share the baseball field with the Ridgefield High Spudders, who had better be awfully thankful they get to play on one of the nicest high school baseball fields in the Northwest, with nice new (and spacious) seating, etc.

We get a taste of that around here, with The Fields at Real Life Ministries in Post Falls, the recent updating of War Memorial Field in Sandpoint, and soon, the new artificial turf field at Coeur d’Alene High.

OTHER THOUGHTS from a couple weeks away …

• Burritos for one dollar at Borleske Stadium in Walla Walla, where the Sweets of the West Coast League were playing the Bend Elks, seemed like a good idea at the time — until you realize the principle of diminishing returns.

But at least we could see first base from our seats this year.

I wonder how long it would take to drink a baseball bat full of beer?

• David Story Field in Longview, Wash., is a, well, storied ballpark — home of Lower Columbia College of the Northwest Athletic Conference, as well as the Cowlitz Bears of the West Coast League.

The main bleacher seating consists of the old wooden bleachers from Sicks Stadium, where the Seattle Pilots played their only season in 1969. That’s nice, but we’ll take the spacious plastic seats in Ridgefield — maybe for the next remodel.

Other than that, it’s a cool little park — nestled among the trees on the Lower Columbia campus. The batter’s eye in center field is a wooden shed which doubles as the center field fence. Anything off the side of the shed is in play; anything on or over the roof is a home run.

A sign just left of the shed honors legendary Lower Columbia coaches of the past, including Ed Cheff (Lewis-Clark State) and Steve Farrington (Washington State). And a sign on the shed honors two past star players at LCC — Buddy Black and Rick Sweet.

• There is a difference between a pronto pup and a corn dog. If you don’t think so, try a pronto pup at the Otis Pizzeria in Otis, Ore., just 6 miles from Lincoln City.

That is, unless they happen to be seal-coating the parking lot on that day.

It was a long five years to wait, but it was worth it.

• We watched a Nicklaus play baseball. Could it be? …

Jackson Nicklaus played second base and batted left-handed for the Ridgefield Raptors. We saw him play at Cowlitz, then five days later at home vs. Walla Walla.

But alas, there was no sighting of Grandpa Jack in the crowd on either night.

And as it turns out, Jackson Nicklaus, who plays college ball at Oklahoma and played in the College World Series in 2022, appears to be no relation to Jack Nicklaus.

And if he is in some way, he’s not saying.

• On “Wienie Wednesday” at Gesa Field in Pasco, we noticed the manager/third base coach of the Hillsboro Hops sported a long ponytail as we watched the Hops play the Tri-City Dust Devils.

Then we remembered reading months ago about Ronnie Gajownik, who became the first woman to lead a High-A baseball team.

• We were saddened to learn of the recent death of Randy Meisner, the second of the four original Eagles to pass away.

“Take it … to the limit … one more time … “

On a somewhat related note, the PA announcer at the Ridgefield-Cowlitz game mentioned that one of the batboys was Jackson Brown(e).

No, not that one …

• You gotta love college summer-league baseball. The players and umpires often use the same bathroom you do, eat from the same concession stand, park in the same parking lot.

After the game, it’s not uncommon to walk by a concession stand on the way out of the park and see a pile of hamburgers, waiting to be eaten.

Hey, free food for the fans on their way out of the park, you might think at first.

But no, that is the postgame meal for the players.

• There’s a new place in Keizer called Dave’s Hot Chicken. The hottest coating is called Reaper, and they encourage you to try it by invoking the Blue Oyster Cult song, “Don’t Fear The Reaper.”

How hot is it? Well, they make you sign a waiver if you order it. I didn’t order it — my oldest brother did — and one bite was more than enough for me.

• Fortunately, Dave’s does not offer hot grilled cheese sandwiches. The ones we had at the Tillamook Creamery were just fine — after touring the facility where they make and package the blocks of cheese.

I don’t know about you, but you wonder how the employees enjoy people watching them work all day. If nothing else, it helps employees avoid the temptation …

“One block to be packaged, one for a snack … ”

• We were saddened to see that the Sears at the mall in Union Gap — the closest Sears to here — has closed within the last year.

Another part of our lifetime, gone.

If we’d known that, we might have stopped in Tukwila, Wash., on the way home.

As of May 2023, there are a total of 11 Sears stores remaining — 10 in the mainland U.S., and one in Puerto Rico.

• We chuckle about this in Idaho (and Washington), but folks now being able to pump their own gas in Oregon is a big deal there.

We’re used to it here, but once we were in Oregon, many years ago, and routinely jumped out of the car at the gas station and grabbed the pump — and promptly got scolded over the loudspeaker by the store attendant.

In preparation for this landmark event, one of the news stations in Oregon posted 10 things to know about pumping your own gas.

Number 1 …

“Park your car with the gas cap facing the pump.”

You laugh, but …

• It was well worth the wait — not the four years since we ate at the location in suburban Salt Lake City, but the few minutes for our sister-in-law to go through the drive-through lane — for another In-N-Out burger, this time from Keizer Station.

So every now and then, when we drive around our home area and see land looking like it’s going to be developed into something — like all that land next to the cemetery on north Government Way, butting up against U.S. 95 just north of Wilbur Ave., we can’t help but wonder … is that enough room for an In-N-Out? Or a Chick-fil-A? Or a combination of both?

• And yes, there’s still something about walking along the beach, waves rushing over your feet …

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 208-664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via email at mnelke@cdapress.com. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @CdAPressSports.