The seventh game of the season was more than just luck on the mound and at the plate for the Hillsboro Hops.  With a team of four pitchers blanking the visiting Eugene Emeralds and ten different batters contributing more than enough to back up the mound, the Hops beat the Emeralds, 4-0, ending a three game losing streak.

Matt Tabor started for the Hops lasting four innings, giving up four hits.  Kyler Stout (W, 1-0) stepped to the mound for the fifth and sixth innings allowing one hit with five strikeouts to earn the win.  Stout was followed by Trevor McKenna and Wesley Rodrigues who kept Eugene hitless the rest of the way.  Together, they amassed ten strike outs for the Emeralds keeping the pitches sizzling over the plate.  Of the five hits allowed, only one was for extra bases, a double by Ramsey Romano to left starting the third inning.

Eugene gave a valiant effort matching their Hops counterparts allowing five hits on the game with only a triple for an extra base hit.  The difference came in timing.  The Hops bunched three hits in the third inning when Jose Caballero followed Alex King’s and Ryan Dobson’s singles with a triple to clear the bases for two runs.   It was all they would need for the game.

The score in the fifth inning for the Hillsboro Hops came through with some help from the Emeralds’ mound.  Jorge Perez walked and moved to second when Jose Caballero was hit by a pitch.  A passed ball by catcher Jonathon Soto moved both runners into scoring position where Joey Rose brought home Perez on a sacrifice fly to center field.

The same could be said about the score in the seventh after some alert base running by Jorge Perez who scored his second run of the game.  Perez singled and stole second, moving to third on Ryan Dobson’s sacrifice bunt.  Jorge scored on a wild pitch by Stephen Ridings.

Faustino Carrera (L, 1-1) started for Eugene going four innings and allowed the two-run triple by Caballero for the loss.

The  win moved the Hillsboro Hops into a second place tie with the Eugene Emerald’s loss, one game behind the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes in the Southern Division.  The win also evened the three game series 1-1 with the rubber game coming Friday night at on Tonkin Stadium.  RHP Jeffrey Passantino (1-0) is scheduled to take the mound for the Eugene Emeralds.  The Hillsboro Hops have scheduled Franklyn Soriano (0-0) for the home team.  Soriano started Sunday, 6/17, striking out six batters in four innings for a no decision.

Hops notes: on Friday, the Hops received and lost a player to their roster.  The first, Zach Hoffpauir, came out of Stanford in the 22^nd round.  Zach played ten games for the Hops in 2015.  In ten games and 36 plate appearances, he managed six hits with a double and a home run.  In January of 2016, Zach retired from baseball and signed on as a free agent just nine days ago on 6/13.  After quick stints with the AZL-D-Backs and the Missoula Osprey, Zach was promoted to the Hops.  He plays outfield.

Also on Friday, the Hops saw second baseman Ryan Tufts promoted to the  Kane County Cougars.  This season, Ryan went 2 for 8 in three games for the Hops.  One of his hits was a home run.  Prior to the start of the Hops season, Ryan had started out with Kane County, appearing in eleven games.

Boxscore

By

Greg Stoker

@GDStoker