For tonight, the Hillsboro Hops were known as the “Sonadores de Hillsboro”.  The Sonadores are a part of the Copa de la Diversion. It is an appreciation of the Hispanic community, players and fans that are a big part of baseball.  Sonadores translates as “dreamers”. To read more about it, check out my article from last year.

The Sonadores de Hillsboro opened their homestand with the Eugene Emeralds with a 6-2 victory.  Sonadores bats struck fast and hard. Before the Ems knew it, they were behind 5-0 and still struggling for their first hit of the game.

Sonadores Pitching Closed Down the Plate

Meanwhile, the Sonadores’ pitching did their best to keep the visitors off balance.  Deyni Olivero (W, 2-0) started for the Sonadores and earned the win with almost six innings of near complete control.  It wasn’t until the sixth that Oliveros started showing his human side when he allowed two runners on base in the same inning.

Justin Garcia came on the mound.  An inherited runner did make it home but Garcia otherwise shut down the Ems by inducing Jake Slaughter into a third out ground out to third baseman Eddie Hernandez.  Bryan Menendez followed with a perfect inning, striking out the side. Jake Polancic ran into trouble loading the bases in the final inning.

But, Jose Cuas (S, 2)  closed out starting with getting Jonathan Soto to hit into a double play.  Finally, Luis Vasquez grounded out to second and the game was over. Cuas earned the save.  Yunior Perez (L, 0-2) started for the Ems and was given the loss.

When Players Collide

But, the ninth inning did take a strange turn.  On the double play, Caleb Knight slid into second and collided with Sonadores shortstop Steven Leyton.  They both laid on the ground for several minutes. Knight was eventually taken from the game as he needed help walking to the dugout.  Leyton shook it off and remained in the game.

Meanwhile, Yonathan Perlaza scored from third and Jake Slaughter scooted over from second.  But, it never made it to the scoreboard. When play resumed, Perlaza was back at third and Slaughter on second.  The umps ruled runner interference on Knight and negated the gain on the bases. The two outs from the double play stood.  Five pitches later, the game was over.

Everybody Gets a Swing

The Sonadores bats went around the order in the first inning.  The three runs scored were enough for the win but the home team added three more throughout the game.  Five different players crossed the plate including Jesus Marriaga who did it twice. Eddie Hernandez, Jorge Barrosa and Lyle Lin had multi-hit games.  Barrosa and Lin also knocked in two runs apiece.

The win drew the Sonadores de Hillsboro into a first place tie with the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes who lost to the Boise Hawks.  The Eugene Emeralds fell down into a third place tie with those Hawks, two games out of first. Both teams will face each other for the second game in the series at Ron Tonkin Field tomorrow night at 7:05.

The other three games of the Sonadores de Hillsboro will take place on July 20th, July 30th and August 18th

Box Score

By

Greg Stoker