
Ninth Inning Hops' Rally Secures 2-1 Win in Pitcher's Duel
Published on August 25, 2025 under Northwest League (NWL)
Hillsboro Hops News Release
Eugene, OR - The Hops and Emeralds met for the 27th and final time in 2025 at PK Park on Sunday. The final game of the season series saw a pitchers' duel between Junior Sanchez and Charlie McDaniel that ended in a ninth inning Hops rally, as Hillsboro won 2-1. Slade Caldwell reached base three times and Junior Franco had the go-ahead hit in the ninth to secure the win.
Both Junior Sanchez and Charlie McDaniel were dominant on Sunday. Each pitcher breezed through four innings, with neither team getting more than one base runner in an inning. Eugene had two runners on base and just one out in the fifth inning after a single, stolen base and walk, but Sanchez got Damian Bravo to ground into an inning-ending double play. Torin-to-Rodriguez-to-Marte ended the inning and kept the scoreless tie intact.
Sanchez exited after five scoreless innings and McDaniel would complete six scoreless innings. Each pitcher allowed exactly two hits and just one walk in their outing.
Grayson Hitt made his High-A and Hops debut out of the bullpen and he immediately got into trouble in the sixth inning. Hitt hit a batter and walked two to load the bases with just one out. Hitt then settled in and struck out Jakob Christian and got Jean Carlos Sio to groundout and end the inning. Hitt then got an easy one-two-three inning in the seventh, allowing him to come back out for the eighth.
Meanwhile, Hillsboro didn't threaten against Manuel Mercedes who retired all six batters he faced. Hitt allowed a leadoff double to Nate Furman on the first pitch of the eighth inning, setting up Eugene to take the lead in a scoreless game. Dawson Brown came in relief to face Jonah Cox. After a wild pitch, Cox hit a sacrifice fly to centerfield that allowed Furman to score and give the Ems a 1-0 lead. Brown retired the next two batters to keep the Emeralds lead at 1-0.
Austin Strickland came on in the ninth inning looking for the save. The Hops weren't done yet, as back-to-back doubles by Slade Caldwell and Cristofer Torin with one out in the ninth tied the game at 1-1. For the second straight night, Junior Franco came up with a big two-out hit, this time a single back up the middle that scored Torin and gave the Hops a 2-1 lead.
Hillsboro turned to Edgar Isea to get the save in the bottom of the ninth and although allowing a double to Onil Perez, Isea got two straight flyouts to end the game. He is now 5/5 in save opportunities with the Hops this season. Strickland got the loss and blown save for Eugene.
The Hops will head back home to host the Vancouver Canadians for the final series in Hillsboro Ballpark history starting on Tuesday at 6:35 on Rip City Radio 620 AM and Bally Live. The final game at Hillsboro Ballpark will be on Sunday at 1:05, tickets for all remaining home games remain at Hillsborohops.com.
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