Hops Fall in Extras 8-7
August 1, 2021 - Northwest League (NWL)
Hillsboro Hops News Release
On Saturday night, the Hillsboro Hops fell in extra innings to the Tri-City Dust Devils 8-7. The Hops trailed 5-1 entering the bottom of the fifth before beginning their path on a comeback. Down to their final out, Eduardo Diaz homered to send the game into extra innings. However, Tri-City responded with two runs in the tenth to knot the series 3-3.
Blake Walston got the start for the Hops and was scoreless over the first three innings. Hillsboro got on the board first in the bottom of the third on an RBI single by Axel Andueza . Nick Dalesandro led off with a single and was moved into scoring position on a ground ball by Cam Coursey . Hitting out of the lead-off spot, Andueza grounded a single to give the Hops a 1-0 lead.
Walston began to struggle in the middle innings, allowing two runs in the fourth and another three in the fifth. The left hander's night was over after back-to-back doubles by Francisco Del Valle and Zach Humphreys. Walston lasted 4.2 innings, allowing ten hits and five earned runs. Replacing Walston was Mailon Arroyo who retired the side without conceding further damage.
The Hops got back a run in their half of the fifth on a nice bit of two-out hitting Diaz. Jorge Barrosa doubled with two outs and Diaz brought him home on a ground ball base-hit to left field.
Down 5-2, Hillsboro kept fighting back in the bottom of the sixth. Blaze Alexander doubled to lead off the inning, but Tri-City's reliever Jack Dashwood responded by forcing Tristin English and Danny Oriente to pop out. With two outs, Dalesandro delivered his second base hit of the game to bring in Alexander. After Dalesandro stole second base (25), Coursey grounded a single to left field to close the gap to 5-4.
With Arroyo still in the game, the Dust Devils extended their lead in the top of the seventh on a monster solo-blast by Gareth Morgan . However, the Hops continued to claw back, adding a run in the bottom of the eighth. Alexander and English singled to start the inning to put runners on the corners with no outs. After the rocky start to the inning, Tri-City elected to replace Dashwood with Luis Ramirez . After forcing Oriente to pop out, Dalesandro continued his hitting clinic with his third single of the game as Alexander came into score. Hillsboro's rally was stunted by and inning-ending double play by Coursey.
The Hops entered the bottom of the ninth trailing 6-5 and were quickly down to their last out. With the game on the line, Diaz belted a two-out game-tying homer on a long drive to left field. The drama continued as Andy Yerzy and Alexander drew walks to put runners at first and second. That prompted another pitching change for the Dust Devils, calling Tyler Smith out of the pen. With a chance for the walk-off win, English hit a hard ground ball to second basemen Kyle Kasser to send the game into extra innings.
In the tenth, Hops' new pitcher Wesley Rodriguez appeared like he was going to get through the inning with ease. Rodriguez punched out Del Valle and forced Humphreys to ground into a fielder's choice choice where Alexander was able to throw out the lead runner Morgan at third base -- per MiLB rules, a runner starts on second base in extra innings. With Humphreys on first and two outs, Kyle Kasser bunted a base-hit to keep the inning the alive. Things began to unravel after a wild pitch from Rodriguez that Dalesandro lost sight of that allowed Humphreys to come all the way around from second base to score. Tri-City added another run on an RBI line drive single Livan Soto .
Trailing 8-6 in their half of the tenth, English started on second base and was sacrificed to third by Oriente. Yet again, Dalesandro brought the Hops within a run on a sacrifice fly for his third RBI of the contest. With the game on the line, Hillsboro's manager Vince Harrison called on Spencer Brickhouse to pinch hit, but Hops' slugger flied to left field to end the game.
Hillsboro (34-42) will face off against Tri-City (31-46) for the final game of the seven-game series tomorrow at 1:05 p.m. Catch all the action on Rip City Radio 620AM and www.RipCityRadio.com with the pregame coverage beginning at 6:50.
Northwest League Stories from August 1, 2021
- All Smiles as Hops Take Series against Tri-City - Hillsboro Hops
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- Ems Leave Tying Run on Third in Narrow Loss - Eugene Emeralds
- Hops Fall in Extras 8-7 - Hillsboro Hops
- Indians Blank Canadians Saturday Night - Vancouver Canadians
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