Hops Capitalize on Vancouver Mistakes to Win in 10th
Published on May 1, 2026 under Northwest League (NWL)
Hillsboro Hops News Release
VANCOUVER, B.C. -- Trent Youngblood was supposed to have the day off Thursday, but ended up scoring not one, but two go-ahead runs for the suddenly hot Hillsboro Hops.
The Hops (10-14) plated two runs without the benefit of a base hit in the tenth inning to defeat the Vancouver Canadians 4-2 Thursday night to extend their current winning streak to four games. Vancouver (9-15) has dropped six straight., also a season-long streak.
It was a scoreless tie until Hillsboro scored two in the eighth, then plated two more in the tenth after Vancouver evened the score. Youngblood was a key catalyst in both scoring rallies.
After Modeifi Marte opened the eighth with a leadoff single, Youngblood pinch hit for the struggling Ruben Santana. His bunt between the mound and the third base line eluded the charging third baseman Dub Gleed for a base hit. Adrian Rodriguez followed with a sacrifice bunt to put both runners in scoring position. Slade Caldwell fanned on a high fastball from reliever Holden Wilkerson, but Yassel Soler followed with a ground ball that ate up Dub Gleed at third, skipping off his glove into shallow left as both Marte and Youngblood raced home to put the Hops up 2-0.
The Canadians took advantage of wildness from Hops lefty reliever Sandro Santana to even the score in the bottom of the frame. After back-to-back walks to start the inning, Santana, who hit 101 miles per hour on the Nat Bailey Stadium scoreboard with one of his fastballs on this night, fired in a heater that obliterated the bat of J.R. Freethy, with a large chunk of wood hurtling in his direction. Undeterred, Santana snared his one-hop grounder and started a rundown that led to Tucker Toman being tagged out between home and third.
Freethy hustled into second base on the play and with Alexis Hernandez at third, Jacob Sharp hit a fly ball to right. Avery Owusu-Asiedu's throw home was slightly up the first base line as Hernandez raced home and Freethy scampered to third. Matt Scannell followed with the third base on balls of the inning. With runners at the corners and Manny Beltre at the plate with a 2-2 count, Scannell broke for second looking to engage the Hops in a rundown. He got exactly what he wanted as Santana stepped off the rubber and took off in pursuit of Scannell. forgetting about Freethy at third, who raced home ahead of the tag to score the tying run before the out was recorded.
Vancouver threatened again in the ninth, but another base running miscue proved extremely costly after Beltre was picked off following a leadoff walk. Gleed followed with a double and went to third on a Peyton Williams ground out. With one of the Blue Jays' top young prospects, Arjun Nimmala due up, the Hops opted to put him aboard and take their chances with the cleanup hitter Toman, bringing lefty Rocco Reid (1-0) out of the pen. The move paid off as Reid fanned the former 2nd-round pick to end the inning.
In the tenth, the Hops opened the inning with Owusu-Asiedu on second base. After Marte flied out to deep left, a Jonathan Todd wild pitch moved Owusu-Asiedu to third. Youngblood came back around and worked his way aboard with a five pitch walk. Youngblood stole second base, with Owusu-Asiedu holding steady at third on the fhrow down from catcher Jacob Sharp. With the Vancouver infield drawn-in, Rodriguez hit a slow grounder toward short, but Nimmala charged and made an accurate throw to the plate as the 5-10, 170 pound Sharp tagged out the charging 6-4, 245 pound Owusu-Asiedu who attempted a headfirst slide.
With runners at first and third and now two outs, Rodriguez broke for second, but failed to attract the interest of Sharp. Facing Caldwell with two outs, Todd (2-2) uncorked his second wild pitch of the inning. Sharp chased the ball down up the first base line and attempted to throw home to the pitcher, but was errant, allowing Rodriguez to race home with the second run of the inning.
Turns out, the Hops didn't need that insurance run. Reid retired the side in the bottom of the inning to close out the win.
Reid was Hillsboro's fifth pitcher of the night. Starter Brian Curley battled command issues, walking three batters over 3 2/3 innings, his first bases on balls of the season. But Vancouver could not capitalize on two first innings walks, nor could they advance after getting the first two batters aboard in the second inning on a single and walk. Curley retired eight straight before giving way to Sam Knowlton, who got the final out in the fourth after a walk to Scannell and a Beltre single.
Adonys Perez took over from there and kept Vancouver at bay for three innings, allowing just two base runners on a Beltre double and a hit batsman. Perez struck out two over his three innings.
The Hops had little success against Vancouver's 19-year-old starting pitcher Johnny King. The Blue Jays' number 5 rated prospect by MLB Pipeline, the 6-3 lefty gave up just one hit and one walk over four scoreless innings with three strikeouts.
Each team finished with five hits. Hillsboro's four runs were all unearned as the Hops went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position. Kenny Castillo went 2-for-4 with a double. The Hops two leading hitters this season are both catchers, with Alberto Barriga hitting .298 and Castillo .286.
Vancouver's number eight and nine hitters combined to reach base six times with Beltre going 2-for-3 with a double and a walk and Scannell walking three times. The C's were 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position and left 12 runners on base.
It's day baseball for the final three games of the series, starting at 1:05 p.m. Friday. Pregame coverage begins at 12:50 p.m. on Rip City Radio 620.
Northwest League Stories from May 1, 2026
- Gilliland Rescues C's, Hops Fall in 10th - Hillsboro Hops
- Miller Set to Continue Rehab with AquaSox - Everett AquaSox
- Scannell Plays Hero in Walk-Off Win - Vancouver Canadians
- AquaSox Homestand Highlights: May 5 - 10 - Everett AquaSox
- Hops Capitalize on Vancouver Mistakes to Win in 10th - Hillsboro Hops
- Nate Snead Day: Tri-City Grabs First Win of Week - Tri-City Dust Devils
- Brandon Eike Hits Fifth Homer in Frogs Loss - Everett AquaSox
- Losing Streak Stretches to Six with Extra Innings Defeat - Vancouver Canadians
- Emeralds Draw 12 Walks in Comeback Victory against Spokane - Eugene Emeralds
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