Home run to the left of me.  Home run to the right.  Everywhere is a home run.  The Everett Aquasox sent only six long bombs but it must have felt like more as they downed the Hillsboro Hops 16-2.  With an incredible night at the plate and an incredible night on the mound, the Hops had no chance except to enjoy the ride.

Plethora of Choices

Where can you start?  Kaden Polcovich with his 3 for 5 night consisting of two home runs, three scores and four RBIs?  How about Austin Shenton with his 4 for 5 night including one home run and three doubles?  Or Carter Bins who went 4 for 5 with two homers and two singles creating three runs and three RBIs?

Think those are the only choices?  We’re just getting started.  Jack Larsen went 3 for 5 with a home run, two runs scored and two RBIs.  Patrick Frick smacked two doubles.  One of Joseph Rosa’s hits doubled him to second.  He also scored twice and knocked in two more runs.

In all, Aquasox batters smashed 20 hits off of Hops’ pitching.  Those hits included six home runs, six doubles and eight singles.  Many of those hits were back-to-back.  In the first inning, Shenton’s home run followed by Zach DeLoach’s single followed by Bins home run is just one example of the three times that Everett strung three hits together.

Home Run Multitude- Don’t Forget the Mound

While the Hops sent five pitchers to the mound, including starter Conner Grammes (L, 0-2), the Aquasox needed only three.  Starter Matt Brash (W, 1-1) and reliever Tim Elliott (S, 1) pitched all but one third of an inning.  Middle reliever Dayeison Arias came on in the end of the sixth to help Brash out of an inning.  After giving up a single as he reached 82 pitches, Brash took a well-deserved rest.  Arias ended the inning quickly with a four pitch fly ball to left.  Elliott took over in the next inning.

Brash gave up only one run (in the fifth) on four hits while striking out seven.  He faced close to the minimum batters allowing only Dom Canzone’s walk and Blaze Alexander’s single in the first four innings.  Nick Dalesandro also reached base with a single but tried to steal second and got caught.  The fifth inning proved to be a bit tougher.  There, he faced five batters and gave up the Hops’ first run when he walked Axel Andueza who later scored on Dalesandro’s RBI single.

Tim Elliott proved to be Brash’s equal on the mound.  During the last three innings of the game, Elliott faced eleven batters – two over the minimum.  In addition, Spencer Brickhouse’s solo shot in the final inning with one out was the only blip on Tim’s radar.

Standings

The Everett Aquasox (16-9) took the first game of the series.  As a result, their win kept them tied with Eugene atop the standings.  On the other hand, the Hillsboro Hops’ (10-15) loss dropped them back to five games down from the top.  However, both teams will meet again Wednesday night for game two of the series.

Note: this game was played on June 1st, Tuesday night and does not reflect the current league standings.

Meanwhile, check out my weekly look-backs to see how the Hops did.

Box Score

By

Greg Stoker

@GDStoker