The Everett Aquasox gave the Hillsboro Hops a taste of their own medicine Tuesday night with a late inning rally to take the game 7-4. The decisive inning came in the eighth after the Hops scored two runs to tie the game.

PJ Jones, Jr. singled to right field to start the Aquasox half of the inning. Braden Bishop then came in to pinch run for Jones, Jr.  Jordan Cowen tried to sacrifice on a bunt that bounced back to the pitcher Lawrence Pardo. Pardo elected to get the lead runner Bishop at second and nailed him. Rafael Fernandez then singled Cowen over to second. This brought on a pitching change.

Will Landsheft relieved Lawrence Pardo. Logan Taylor singled to center field to load the bases.  After Corey Simpson came to the plate, Landsheft threw a wild pitch allowing Cowen to score from third. The other runners advanced a base leaving first open. Simpson grounded out to shortstop Sergio Alcantara but Fernandez scored on the throw to first and Taylor went to third. To finish the scoring, Alex Jackson singled to center field bringing in Taylor for the third run of the inning.

Matt Clancy (1-0) pitched the last 1.1 innings for the Aquasox to earn the win. Clancy allowed two hits, two walks and struck out two batters without allowing a run.

Lawrence Pardo (1-1) pitched the seventh and one third of the eighth for the loss. He allowed two runs on two hits.

The scoring started on the second pitch of the game when Zach Nehrir homered over the center field fence for the Hops to take an early 1-0 lead.

It lasted until the bottom of the fourth when the Aquasox would take the lead. With one out, Logan Taylor walked.  Corey Simpson followed with a home run of his own to right center for the 2-1 lead.

Hillsboro would never retake the lead but they would tie it twice. The first time came in the fifth. Fernery Ozuna rapped an infield single to third. Sergio Alcantara grounded to first base.  Ozuna moved to second. Jeff Smith hit a sharp grounder to shortstop Jordan Cowen. Cowen attempted to tag Ozuna but missed. Ozuna continued on to third and Smith was safe at first. Zach Nehrir came to the plate and both runners attempted the double steal.  Smith took off for second beating the throw from catcher Adam Martin. On a delay, Ozuna swiftly came home.

In the bottom of the seventh, the Aquasox took another two run lead. Corey Simpson walked to start the inning.  Alex Jackson singled to third for an infield hit.  Ryan Uhl singled to left field.  Simpson speedily came in from second base to score.  A, Jackson moved to third.  Connor Hale came in to pinch run for Uhl. Then, the Hops decided for a pitching change, bringing in Lawrence Pardo to relieve Carlos Hernandez, the starting pitcher.  Yordi Calderon grounded into a double play. Alex Jackson scored on the throw.

The Hops would tie it one last time with two runs of their own in the top of the eighth. Jeff Smith singled to right field. With Zach Hoffpauir batting, Smith moved to second on a balk. Hoffpauir grounded out to short while Smith moved to third on the throw to first. Dane McFarland walked to put runners on the corners.

Another pitching change brought in Matt Clancy to relieve Lance Thonvold. Trevor Mitsui walked to load the bases. Josh Anderson came to the plate and another balk was called, scoring Smith and advancing Mcfarland to third and Mitsui to second.  Nate Robertson came in to pinch run for Mitsui. Anderson singled to left field.  McFarland scored the tying run and Robertson was thrown out at the plate trying to score the go ahead run to end the inning.

The Aquasox followed with the three runs at the bottom of the inning to take their final and game winning lead.

Alex Jackson continued to shine for the Aquasox going 2 for 3, scoring a run and earning an RBI.  Rafael Fernandez, Corey Simpson and Logan Taylor proved to be a tough heart of the order as all three went 1 for 3.  Taylor and Simpson would score twice. Fernandez scored once and Simpson notched three RBIs.

For the Hops, Jeff Smith went 1 for 3 and scored a run.  Fernery Ozuna went 2 for 4 and scored a run. Josh Anderson went 2 for 4 and had an RBI. Zach Nehrir led the game off with a home run.

The Everett Aquasox (12-8) maintained their one game lead over the Spokane Indians for first place in the North Division.  The Hillsboro Hops (11-9) fell to one game behind the Eugene Emeralds for the South Division lead.

Both teams meet again Wednesday (11:05am PDT) for the final game in the five game series.  Hillsboro leads 3-1.

Boxscore provided by MiLB.com

By Greg Stoker