Ryne Nelson struck out ten batters in almost six innings on the mound.  It took 100 pitches for Ryne to make it that far but relievers Julio Frias and Joe Jones added seven strikeouts of their own to give the Hops pitching staff a total of 17 K’s for the game.  At the end, the Hillsboro Hops defeated the Everett Aquasox 6-2.

Bats Wake Up

It took a while for Hillsboro to draw blood on the scoreboard but it eventually happened after several close calls.  In nine innings, at least one Hops batter reached base in every inning.  The aggressiveness at the plate paid off.  The fifth inning proved to be the breakthrough for the visitors.

Six Hops batters went to the plate in the fifth and brought their first runner home with the aid of three singles.  Andy Yerzy’s single brought Cam Coursey home from second.  The seventh inning sent seven batters to the plate and brought home two runs.  Buddy Kennedy and Spencer Brickhouse led off with singles and scored on Tra Holmes’ single.

The tap water kept flowing from the faucet as the Aquasox couldn’t turn it off.  Leodany Perez and Tra Holmes led off the eighth with singles.  Perez scored on Ricky Martinez’ sacrifice fly and Holmes came home on Eduardo Diaz’ RBI single.  Finally, Tristin English started the ninth with a lead-off double and scored on Perez’ RBI single.

Aquasox Draw First Blood

The scoring started in the second.  Shortstop Patrick Frick got on base for the Aquasox with a one-out walk and then scored on David Shaeffer’s RBI single.  The fifth inning saw David knock home Everett’s other run when his double brought home Joseph Rosa after his lead-off triple.

All in all, the Aquasox looked good with a 1-0 and then a 2-1 lead behind starting pitcher Levi Stoudt’s control over the visiting Hops.  In five innings, Levi spread out five hits and allowed only one run.  But, it took him 82 pitches to last that long and when the relieving corps came to the mound and took over, the wheels started coming loose.

Tyler Driver (L, 2-2) allowed two runs on three hits in one inning to earn the loss.  Davis Ellingson and Fred Villareal did well in holding the Hops down to one run on four hits over two innings.  Kyle Hill let the Hops increase their lead with one inning of two run/three hit ball.

Ryne Nelson Mows Down Ten More

Ryne Nelson continued to pad his strikeout totals.  The ten K’s from tonight took Ryne (38) to one strikeout behind the league leader Brandon Williamson (39) from Everett.  Seth Corry (38) from Eugene helps tighten the race this early in the season.

But, his presence on the mound is from more than his strikeout totals.  His pitch total is commonly in the single digits per inning.  Tonight, the first inning took seven pitches.  Ryne completed the third in nine pitches.  Another seven took care of the fifth.  However, the second inning did make him work for 23 pitches which helped add to his totals.  When he left the mound with two outs in the sixth, Ryne already accumulated 100 pitches.

Julio Frias and Joe Jones did fine taking over after Ryne reached his limit.  For over three innings, the pair of relievers kept the home team scoreless and nearly hitless allowing only two hits under their watch.  And, while they were on the mound, managed to strike out seven of their 14 batters.

Standings

The win kept the Hillsboro Hops (11-15) six games behind Eugene at the top.  The loss dropped the Everett Aquasox (16-10) out of a first place tie with Eugene and are now one game back from the top.  Both teams will meet Thursday evening for game three of the series.  The series is currently tied at 1-1.

In the meantime, you can get the big picture by looking at my weekly look backs, starting with the first week where things looked like a “mixed bag“.  Since then, we have lost star Corbin Carroll for the season due to injury, star Luis Frias to the AA Amarillo Sodpoodles via promotion and temporaily los star Dominic Canzone due to injury.  However, the good news is we now have Dom back and in the regular lineup.

Note: this game took place on June 2nd, Wednesday night.

Box Score

By

Greg Stoker

@GDStoker