The Hops’ bid for a series split with the AquaSox ended before it could really get started when rain wiped-out the last of the two teams’ six-game set in Everett, WA.
Hillsboro (11-15) took the series opener 6-3 but dropped three of the next four in the second of consecutive road trips after splitting with rival Eugene the week prior.
The losing week left the Hops in fourth place in the Northwest League, seven games behind first place Eugene and six games behind this week’s opponent, Spokane.
Hillsboro hit just .240 against the Sox, but while still relatively low, was a step up from their .210 average for the season. But while their bats heated up, their arms cooled, pitching to a 4.29 ERA with an opposing batting average of .278 in the series’ five games.
Who’s Hot...Jack Hurley batted .350 with two home runs and six RBI in five games at Everett…Manuel Pena went 6-for-14 with a home run and two RBI in four games at Everett…Neyfy Castillo has 13 RBI in his last 10 games…Andrew Pintar is batting .311 with four home runs, 10 RBI and five stolen bases in his last 11 games…Spencer Giesting has an ERA of 1.29 in 21 innings pitched this season…Billy Corcoran has 28 strikeouts and just five walks in 21.1 innings pitched this season
Organizational News & Notes...18-year-old shortstop Cristofer Torin is leading Short Season-A Visalia in batting average (.313), hits (25) and RBI (15) in 22 games this season…Visalia’s Roman Angelo has struck out 30 in 20 innings pitched thus far…DeyvisonDe Los Santos is batting .375 with 10 home runs and 22 RBI in 26 games at Double-A Amarillo…West Linn’s Tim Tawa is batting .256 with four home runs in 21 games in Amarillo…Yilber Diaz has 42 strike outs in 25 innings pitched in Amarillo…
Here’s how the team did in select games last week:
April 30 — Hillsboro 6, Everett 3
Behind a quick start and relatively solid pitching, Hillsboro defeated Everett 6-3 in their series opener on Tuesday, April 30, at Funko Field in Everett, Washington.
The Hops got two runs in the opening inning, three more in the fifth, and a final run in the seventh before Hillsboro relievers closed things out over the game’s final three innings.
Billy Corcoran started the game for Hillsboro (10-12), going 5.2 innings, allowing three earned runs on 10 hits while striking out seven.
Relief pitchers Carlos Meza and Jhosmer Alvarez took over from there, allowing just a single hit in their 3.1 innings of work.
Hillsboro’s first inning runs came as the result of a Neyfy Castillo RBI double, followed by a Jack Hurley RBI single to right field. Everett responded with a single run in the fourth, but the Hops opened things up when they parlayed a Manuel Pena solo home run, Gavin Conticello fielder’s choice, and Castillo RBI double into three runs and a 5-1 lead.
Castillo finished the night 2-for-4 with three RBI and a run-scored.
In all, the AquaSox (7-15) outhit the Hops 11-7, and were led by Jared Sundstrom, Bill Knight and RJ Schreck who all had multiple hits in the game.May 1—Everett 7, Hillsboro 1
A slow Hops start coupled with an equally fast AquaSox finish equaled doom for Hillsboro by way of a 7-1 defeat to Everett on May 1, at Funko Field.
With that said, the visiting Hops took a 1-0 lead in the third inning on an Andrew Pintar solo home run, and kept that advantage until the sixth inning before the Sox scored all of their seven runs over the game’s ensuing three innings.
Hillsboro starting pitcher Spencer Giesting had allowed just a single hit through five shutout innings before allowing back-to-back base knocks to start the bottom half of the sixth, then watched as his shutout disintegrated by way of an RJ Schreck three-run homer.
Everett another run that same inning, then tacked on three more in the eighth for the final margin.
AquaSox pitchers held the Hops to just five hits in the game, while allowing just a single base-on-balls.
Three Everett hitters managed multiple hits, while Pintar led Hillsboro, going 2-for-4 with a long ball, RBI and run-scored.
May 2—Hillsboro 6, Everett 5
Neyfy Castillo continued to swing a hot bat, collecting his fifth extra base hit in eight games. But none were bigger than his seventh inning homer which led Hillsboro to a 6-5 win.
Castillo’s home run came with the bases loaded and two outs, with the Hops trailing 4-2.
Hillsboro took a two-run lead to the ninth, but reliever Kyle Amendt allowed two hits and a run on a Jared Sundstrom sacrifice fly, but got Ben Williamson swinging to end the game with the tying run just 90 feet away.
The Hops got two runs in the fourth inning off of a Jose Fernandez RBI-single coupled with a fielder’s choice on a groundball off the bat of Manuel Pena.
Everett got single runs in both the third and fourth innings before taking a 4-2 lead in the sixth on a Axel Sanchez two-RBI single, leading up to Castillo’s game-winning grand slam an inning later.
Avery Short got the start for the Hops and allowed three runs on five hits, while striking out four in 5.1 innings of work.
Brandyn Garcia started on the mound for the Sox, lasting five innings, allowing two earned runs on three hits while striking out six.
Castillo finished 1-for-3 with four RBI and two runs-scored, while Jack Hurley and Manuel Pena each tallied two hits apiece for Hillsboro.
Ben Williamson and Brock Rodden had two hits apiece for Everett who outhit the Hops in the game 8-7.
May 3 — Everett 8, Hillsboro 5
Despite 13 hits and three home runs, the Hops were on the wrong end of Game 4 of their six-game series with the AquaSox, falling 8-5 on Friday afternoon, May 3, at Funko Field in Everett.
Everett (9-16) scored two runs in the third inning, one in the fourth, four more in the fifth, then capped things with a single one in the seventh.
Victor Labrada went 2-for-3 with two RBI and a run-scored, while his Sox teammate, RJ Schreck, homered and drove in two runs.
The Hops (11-14) were led by Andrew Pintar and Jack Hurley who combined to go 4-for-8 with three home runs, five RBI and three runs-scored.
Hurley had two of those round-trippers, his first and second of the season.
The Hops managed just one run off of Everett starting pitcher Ty Cummings who allowed just four hits in five innings of work.
Hillsboro starter Ricardo Yan pitched sufficiently, allowing three earned runs on seven hits in 4.1 innings, but was done-in by a pair of Hops errors which led to three additional runs.
May 4 — Everett 7, Hillsboro 1
Miscues in the field and on the bases plagued Hillsboro (11-15) throughout the night as the AquaSox (10-16) prevailed 7-1 to take a three-game-to-two lead in their six game series on Saturday, May 4, in Everett.
The Hops committed three errors and stranded six on base, and despite tallying eight hits, were able to push just one across.
Everett scored three in the fourth inning, two of which came after consecutive Hillsboro errors, then closed out the game with four runs in the eighth.
The visiting Hops got there only run an inning later when Jack Hurley tripled home Jean Walters but got nothing off of Sox relievers Holden Laws and Nick Davila over the final four innings, notching nary a hit while striking out four times.
Everett starting pitcher Ryan Hawks allowed eight hits, but battled out of a handful of innings to allow just that single run while striking out three and walking two.
Hillsboro starter Wyatt Wendell allowed three earned runs on five hits over 3.2 innings.
Eight Hops recorded hits in the game.
The Sox were led by Brock Rodden and Gabriel Moncada who combined to go 5-for-6 with three RBI and two runs-scored.
May 5 — Hillsboro at Everett (Postponed due to rain)
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