Seventh Inning Splurge Comeback, Hillsboro Hops Shoot Past the Ems, 10-9
Seventh Inning Splurge brought ten men to the plate for the Hillsboro Hops. The first nine Hops batters reached base. With that, an 8-3 deficit turned into a 10-8 lead. The Hops held on for the win over the Eugene Emeralds in a 10-9 nailbiter at the end.
End of an Era, Beginning of New Era
The game was split between two eras: the Ems offense followed by the era of the Hops offense. Granted, the split between eras was hazy at best but there was a definite change.
The Emeralds launch their Era
The Ems bats couldn’t be stopped in the first five innings. Hops pitchers Justin Vernia and Josh McMinn did their best but hits were flying with power. Ismael Munguia (double), Tyler Fitzgerald (single) and Sean Roby (homer) teamed up for three runs in the first inning of the game. Then, Tyler Flores (double), Carter Aldrete (single) and Munguia (single) combined for two more runs in the second. Already, the 5-1 lead was starting to look like The Cascade Mountains on their way to becoming the Himalayas.
After two more innings of a double and two walks – but no score – The Ems bats woke up again. The first five batters for the Ems in the fifth reached base. Sean Roby (HP), Ricardo Genoves (walk), Franklin Labour (double), Tyler Flores (single) and Carter Aldrete (single) pushed the lead to 8-3. The Cascades were now the Rocky Mountains.

Seventh Inning Splurge Starts New Era
Then, the Hops era came to bat. The first nine batters of the top half of the seventh reached base for the Hops. Starting with the top of the order, Axel Andueza and Jorge Barrosa singled. Blaze Alexander hit into a fielder’s choice but moved Andueza over to third. Eduardo Diaz doubled them both home to cut the lead to 8-5. Reece Hampton singled home Diaz, 8-6. Cam Coursey’s RBI single scored Hampton, 8-7. On came Ems reliever Jasier Herrera (L, 1-1) after Bryce Tucker was chased from the mound. Dalesandro’s RBI single scored Coursey, 8-8 and the game was tied.
Seventh Inning Splurge Enough For Win
But, the Hops still had two more outs in the gas tank to spend. Leodany Perez’ RBI single scored Dalesandro, Hops leading 9-8. Roman Ruiz’ RBI single brought home Perez, 10-8 lead. Seven runs in nine batters and the Hops now had the lead. Rocky Emerald Mountains, meet the Himilayan Hops.
Defining the Win
Both eras of this game were defined by more than just the power of the bats. It was also defined by heat of the mound keeping batters pinned to the plate for the most part. The Ems starter Seth Corry lasted four innings on 84 pitches and walked away from the mound with a 5-3 lead. Solomon Bates added two innings of no run, no hit ball and walked away with an 8-3 lead.
Seventh Inning Splurge Gives Kai-Wei Lin, Hops Lead.

For the Hops, their era started the same inning as the Ems’ era ended. Kai-Wei Lin (W, 1-0) only pitched the sixth inning. Normally a closer, Lin managed to earn his first win of the season to go with his saves by stopping the Ems while his teammates did some mountain building of their own.
Ty Jones (H, 1) followed for two more innings, shutting the Ems down with no hits or runs. Finally, Yaramil Hiraldo (S, 5) closed out the ninth. But, not without some nail biting. Three outs away from a team win, Yaramil’s first batter sent his pitch sailing over the fence to cut the lead to one. Since the previous night had the Hops leading and then losing the lead in extra innings, some nervousness raised its head. However, Hiraldo managed to strike out two batters and get another to ground out to Blaze Alexander at short. Game over.
Standings
With the win, the fifth place Hillsboro Hops held ground with Everett who also won tonight. Good news on the near front, however. As a result of Spokane (W) rising into a tie with Vancouver (L), the Hops are now only one game behind both for third place. Consequently, the loss dropped the second place Eugene Emeralds to six and a half games behind Everett.
The Hops tied the series at 2-2 with game#5 Saturday night at 7:05 PM at PK Park. You can watch the game on MiLB.tv or listen to it on 620 AM radio.
Box Score
By
Greg Stoker
@GDStoker