Emeralds Drop Series Finale to Hillsboro
NWL Eugene Emeralds

Emeralds Drop Series Finale to Hillsboro

Published on April 26, 2026 under Northwest League (NWL)
Eugene Emeralds News Release


HILLSBORO, OR - The Emeralds dropped the series finale against the Hops by a final score of 3-1. Eugene had defeated the Hops 8 consecutive times this season including winning the first 5 games of the series to secure the series victory but they fell just short tonight. The Ems are now 16-5 on the season and will take either a 4 or 5 game lead in the standings pending the results of other games.

It was the Ems who struck first in today's contest against the Hops in the 2nd inning. Zane Zielinski was able to reach on a throwing error to put some good speed on. Zander Darby chopped the ball to 1st base but was able to reach on the fielder's choice. The next batter, Walker Martin, hit a groundball to the pitcher who airmailed the throw to 1st base which allowed Darby to advance into 3rd base. Onil Perez hit into a fielder's choice as well but that gave Darby plenty of time to score from 3rd base to give the Ems the 1-0 advantage.

Jacob Bresnahan made his Emeralds debut on the mound today and retired the first nine Hops batters he faced to start the game. The Hops were able to get to him however in the bottom of the 4th. Slade Caldwell drew a 1-out walk and Kenny Castillo singled to put runners at the corners. Yassel Soler sent a screamer to Zane Zielinski at shorts, and he couldn't get the throw off cleanly so the run came home to score on the error. The next hitter, Alberto Barriga, ripped a single to left field and the Hops manager waved Kenny Castillo home to try to take the lead. Carlos Gutierrez threw a laser beam in from left and Onil Perez applied the tag at the plate to keep the game tied. Unfortunately for the Ems, the Hops still found a way to take the lead as Yerald Nin drew a walk to load up the bases. Ryan Vanderhei took over on the mound with 2-outs and on a 1-2 count to Brady Counsell a breaking ball got away from him and plunked Counsell to bring home the run and give the Hops the 2-1 lead after 4 innings.

The Hops were able to manufacture an insurance run in the bottom of the 8th inning to extend their lead. Slade Caldwell got hit by a pitch to start the inning before stealing 2nd base to get into scoring position. A few batters later Yassel Soler hit him home on an RBI base knock to left field to give the Hops the 3-1 lead heading into the 9th.

Eugene got a base runner in the 9th but they weren't able to complete the comeback as they fell to the Hops by the final of 3-1. Jacob Bresnahan made his Ems debut today on the mound. He retired the first 9 batters of the game before getting himself into some trouble in the 4th. His final stat line was 3.2 innings, 2 hits, 2 runs, 2 walks and 4 strikeouts. Ryan Vanderhei pitched the next inning and a third and allowed just 1 hit while not allowing an earned run. Cade Vernon pitched the final 3 frames and surrendered just 1 run and 1 hit while striking out a batter.

The Ems will now head south a couple of hours down I-5 and get ready to open up a 6-game series next week at PK Park against the Spokane Indians. The series will start on Wednesday, with first pitch at 11:05 AM. There are no listed starters yet for either team for the series opener.

The Eugene Emeralds are the High-A affiliate of Major League Baseball's San Francisco Giants. The Eugene Emeralds are dedicated to providing the best in family entertainment and creating a fun, safe environment for everyone to enjoy watching a baseball game. For more information, please visit our website at www.EmeraldsBaseball.com or call the Emeralds front office at 541-342-5367.

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Northwest League Stories from April 26, 2026


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