Kaden Polcovich delivered enough offense for the game but his teammates turned it into a rout.  It didn’t matter who stepped up to the plate, the Hops faced a night of trouble everywhere they looked.  The 13-2 score told two different stories.  The bats talked of 13 runs.  The mound spoke of only two runs and the Everett Aquasox routed the Hillsboro Hops 13-2.

Mound Of Silence

It took the Hops six innings to reach the scoreboard.  By the time they did, the Aquasox already scored eleven runs and they had more to come.  But, it didn’t matter because the Hops scored only twice on the night.  This was one of those nights where Everett needed more than one winning pitcher award for the game.

George Kirby started for Everett and, with reliever Julio Dilone, kept the Hops scoreless and hitless.  But, it was reliever Isaiah Campbell (W, 3-1) who took the mound for the fifth inning to be the winning pitcher of record.  During his tenure, the Hops managed to score their first run on an Eduardo Diaz’ lead-off home run.  Nick Dalesandro followed in the next inning with his single and scoring on a Ricky Martinez ground out.

But the mound story belonged to the five Aquasox pitchers who threw fire most of the night.  Out of 145 pitches for the night, Everett threw 95 strikes.  Igor Janario and Jarod Bayless followed Campbell to complete the domination of the Hops’ bats by keeping the Hops down to one more run scored (Dalesandro) on just two hits the rest of the way.

Kaden Polcovich Leads Plate of Deafening Thunder

The pitching turned out to be only half of the story.  But, when the Aquasox pitchers’ told of a silence over the plate, the Aquasox bats spoke loudly and often.  None more so than Kaden Polcovich’s lumber.  Going 3 for 5 at the plate only speaks of his batting average.  Also needing mentioning are the two home runs he smacked over the fence.  His first one came in the third inning when Everett sent 13 men to the plate.  The sound of his solo shot going yard spoke loudly enough but his fellow Aquasox issued a deafening roar before Polcovich came to the plate.

Kaden Polcovich Part of Kaden Polcovich

Third Inning Magic

First, Austin Shelton led off with his solo shot.  Then, with one out, Carter Bins, Jack Larsen, Patrick Frick and David Shaffer followed with back-to-back-to-back-to-back singles, loading the bases and sending another run across home plate.  Normally, two runs and five hits are enough for any one inning.  But, this inning had more to come.

Miguel Perez added his double.  A moment break for a pitching change as starter Slade Cicconi (L, 0-1) for the Hops gave way to reliever Justin Vernia.  Then, Cody Grosse sandwiched his single in between Perez and Zach DeLoach’s double.  That made it seven consecutive hits in a row and still only one out.  After the second out of the inning came and went, Kaden Polcovich stepped to the plate for his first of two home runs on the night.  Carter Bins finished off the offense with his second single of the inning.

The Aquasox scoring of the night ended with Kaden Polcovish’s second solo homer in the seventh inning.   Polcovich currently leads the league with seven homers and 24 RBIs.  In between, Carter Bins reached base on a Hops’ shortstop Ricky Martinez fielding error in the sixth and scored on a David Shaffer RBI single.  Before the explosive third, the scoring started when Zach DeLoach and Austin Shenton led off the first with back-to-back walks.  DeLoach scored on a passed ball by Hops’ catcher Nick Dalesandro.  Shenton scored on Jack Larsen’s ground out to second.

Kaden Polcovich, Entire Lineup Score in Third Inning

Kaden Polcovich had company when it came to offensive stars.  Patrick Frick went 4 for 5 with three singles and a double.  Zach DeLoack, Austin Shelton, Polcovich and Carter Bins scored twice in the game.  DeLoach, Carter and David Shaffer smacked two hits each.  While Kaden Polcovich led the way with three RBIs in the game, DeLoach and Miguel Perez came close behind with two RBIs each.

The most amazing stat of the game has to go back to the magical third inning, however.  The Everett Aquasox scored nine runs by nine different players!  In my 60 years of watching baseball, this may have been the only time where everyone in the lineup scored a run in the same inning.

Standings

The loss dropped the Hillsboro Hops (12-18) to six games back of league leader Eugene.  The win helped the Everett Aquasox (17-11) remain one game behind the leaders.  Both teams return Saturday night for game four of the series.  The series stands at a tie 2-2.  The game starts at 7:05 PM and you can catch it on 620 AM to listen.

Steals

On a rare night, The Hillsboro Hops did not get a steal leaving them at their league-leading total of 81 stolen bases.  The second place Wisconsin Timber Rattlers gained another and now stand at 63 stolen bases.

You can catch my other game recaps of the season so far (and more) here at Minor League Sports Report.

Box Score

By

Greg Stoker

@GDStoker