Cam Coursey hit twice tonight but the team only needed the first one as he knocked in the game’s only runs.  Hillsboro held on to the 2-0 lead against the Spokane Indians to win.

Slade Cecconi With First Win

Despite the low score, the offense filled the innings with hits.  The only problem?  They were too scattered and too few.  And the pitching is the reason why.  Slade Cecconi (W, 1-2) started the game for the Hops and had his finest outing of his career.  Slade went six innings on 91 pitches and held the Indians scoreless.  But, Spokane kept trying by hitting and getting on base on all innings except the first.

Spokane started off with two singles in the second inning.  Before Niko Decolati got his turn at the plate, Michael Toglia singled and got rubbed out by a double play.  In the third, Isaac Collins hit a two out single and caught trying to steal second.  The fourth saw Aaron Schunk with a lead off single, then tagged trying to steal second.  Cade Harris hit a two out double and left at second in the fifth.  In the sixth, Willie MacIver tripled with two outs and remained at third.

Up Stepped Cam Coursey

While the Indians couldn’t keep their runners on the base paths, the Hops had trouble getting their batters on base to begin with.  Spencer Brickhouse walked in the first but it was in the second where the Hops did their damage.  Nick Dalesandro and Reece Hampton started off the inning with a walk.  A double steal put them both in scoring position.  Up stepped Cam Coursey whose single scored them both.  The Hops didn’t have another base runner until Blaze Alexander’s lead-off double in the sixth.

Cam Coursey Only Player With TWO  Hits for Either Team

The Hops kept trying after that with Coursey’s and Roman Ruiz back-to-back singles in the seventh or Tristin English’s eighth inning single.  But, for the most part, the pitching and the gloves ruled the field.  Even the Indians went silent after the sixth with only two walks the rest of the game.

After Cecconi retired after the sixth, Denson Hull (H, 1) and Julio Frias (S, 1) both came on for a combined three innings to shut down the Indians with no score.  The only base runners allowed were two walks.

Helcris Olivarez started and lasted for six innings as well.  In that time, Olivarez struck out seven but his downfall were the four walks.  During his tenure on the mound, he only allowed one hit, by Coursey, but that single followed two walks and a double steal.  Otherwise, Helcris would have had a shutout as well.  Alex Moore and Jared Bibby combined for three innings afterwards and kept the Hops scoreless on three hits.

Standings

The win gave the Hillsboro Hops a three game winning streak.  Coupled with losses by Eugene and the Spokane Indians, the Hops did nothing but gain on key teams.  Hillsboro is now only eight and a half games behind the league-leading Eugene Emeralds.  More immediately, the Hops are now tied with Spokane, with the Indians three percentage points above the Hops.

Both teams meet again for game five tomorrow night, Saturday.  Game starts at 7:05 PM.  On a scheduling note, game six on Sunday normally starts at 1:05 PM.  It has been moved up by two hours and will start at 11:05 PM.  The change is due to high heat concerns.  Temperatures are expected in the triple digits.  You can catch either game live on MiLB.tv, listen to it on 620 AM radio or follow me on Twitter for half inning updates.  My Twitter handle is below.

You can always cool down by sipping an ice cold drink while catching up on my game recaps or the weekly look back on the Hops games from the previous week.  Either way, stay cool and stay safe in the record setting heat.

Box Score

By

Greg Stoker

@GDStoker