Joey Rose Scores, Hops over A’Sox 1-0.

Greg Stoker August 25, 2018

Joey Rose, in a game devoid of runs, stuck his head up like a lone island in the stream and scored the sole run of the game. In the bottom of the sixth, Rose sent a line drive single to left field with two outs. Francis Martinez followed with a single of his own with a grounder up the middle. Taking advantage of the opportunity, Rose hustled over the third base. The first time a Hops’ batter had made it that far. Finally, a third single in row and another grounder up the middle, this time by Ryan Tufts, opened up home plate wide for Joey Rose to cruise home for the eventual game winner putting the Hillsboro Hops over the Everett Aquasox 1-0.

Ryan Miller Leads Strong Effort

Joey Rose Scores, Hops over A’Sox 1-0. — Ryan Miller, winning pitcher

The real star was the pitching mound. However, with five different pitchers working the innings, it is near impossible to have just one stand out for the win. All five pitchers for the Hops shared in blanking the visiting Aquasox. But, you can only have one winner and the pitcher of record for this game was Ryan Miller who did an outstanding job allowing just one hit and striking out two over one inning. It was his time on the mound when Joey Rose crossed the plate.

Ryan Miller deservedly received the win but this is a case where one man represents the whole team. All five did equally well. Matt Mercer started and went two innings of scoreless ball. Kai-Wei Lin went three innings striking out three with only one hit. Justin Garcia (H, 1) added two more innings with four strikes and two hits. Finally, Josh Green (S, 11) came in the ninth for his eleventh save. Together, all five combined for a shut out and a four hitter with 13 strike outs.

Joey Rose Helps Teamwork Along

The Hops batters fared a bit better than their opponents by contributing six hits of their own. As in their pitching, the batters evenly distributed their hits amongst themselves with no one having more than one hit. What made the sixth inning a miracle of magic for the game was the back to back to back singles of three men: Joey Rose, Francis Martinez and Ryan Tufts. The game winning effort was not a single act of a hero sending a solo home run over the fence. It was the teamwork of three teammates working together and helping each other.

The Hops came close in the first inning when Jorge Perez and LT Tolbert had their back to back singles. In contrast, the Aquasox never managed more than one hit in an inning. The Hops pitching staff would not let them.

Standings

The win extended the Hillsboro Hops (21-8) winning streak to eight games, a season high. Also, their Southern Division lead over the Eugene Emeralds (13-16) and Salem-Keizer Volcanoes (13-16) grew to eight games with nine games left to play. The Boise Hawks (10-19) were eliminated from the Southern Division second half championship. The Everett Aquasox dropped to 4.5 games behind the division leading Vancouver Canadians.

Both teams return to Ron Tonkin Field Saturday night for game#3 of the five game series. The Hops also have a chance to clinch the series with a win. Jackson Goddard (0-3) will take the mound for the home team. On 8/20, Goddard faced the Eugene Emeralds at home for four innings. The Kansas Jayhawk allowed one earned run on three hits and struck out three for a no decision. Cody Brown (1-3) will start opposite Goddard. On 8/20, Brown went less than five innings giving up three runs on five hits while walking two and striking out five for a no decision.