NWL1 Hillsboro Hops

Red, White and Blew: Hops Drop Opener at Salem-Keizer

Published on July 5, 2014 under Northwest League (NWL1)
Hillsboro Hops News Release


Walks, wild pitches and hit batsmen by pitchers whose command is usually impeccable. An error by a normally solid infielder. And missed opportunities from the middle of the batting order.

It all equals a 5-1 loss for the Hillsboro Hops to Salem-Keizer in the series opener in front of a sold-out July 4th crowd at Volcanoes Stadium.

Hops starting pitcher Ryan Doran-who came in with a 2.25 ERA-suffered a shaky first inning, hitting a batter, allowing two hits, and forcing home a run with a walk. Yet, he might have escaped unscathed had Hillsboro's normally sure-handed shortstop, Justin Gonzalez, not bobbled a tailor-made double-play ball.

With runners at first and second and none out, Volcanoes shortstop Christian Arroyo hit a routine ground ball to short. The runner at second, Johneshwy Fargas, cut in front of Gonzalez, perhaps distracting him. Gonzalez dropped it, and instead of two out with a runner at third, the bases were loaded with no one out. Doran, who had walked only five hitters in 24 innings, forced home a run by issuing a base on balls to cleanup hitter Will Callaway. Travious Relaford followed with a sacrifice fly, and Fernando Pujadas doubled home a run to make it 3-0.

Doran then retired 19 of the final 23 batters to face him, though he threw a wild pitch that allowed another run to score in the sixth. Reliever Dustin Loggins, who had not allowed a run in his previous five outings, walked two and threw a wild pitch as Salem-Keizer tacked on their fifth run in the bottom of the eighth.

Meanwhile, the Hops' offense, which had produced 15 runs on 20 hits in the previous two games, couldn't do much against Salem-Keizer starter Jose Reyes. Hillsboro scored an unearned run in the second, and didn't record their first hit until the sixth inning, when the Hops had their first of two opportunities to further close the gap.

Trailing 3-1, Hillsboro right fielder Jordan Parr drew a one-out walk. First baseman Bennie Robinson then collected the Hops' first hit, a single to right-center, sending Parr to second and setting the table for the heart of the order. But third baseman George Roberts struck out and left fielder Grant Heyman grounded out to second.

A similar chance went awry in the eighth inning with the Hops trailing 4-1, as Roberts grounded out to first base to leave two men on base.

Reyes allowed just one hit in seven strong innings, delighting the crowd of 5,613-the second-largest crowd in the 18-year history of Volcanoes Stadium.

The loss leaves the Hops (14-8) with a three-game South Division lead over second-place Eugene, with Salem-Keizer (10-12) and Boise each four games out. There are 16 games remaining in the first half-after the games of July 21st, each division's first-half champion will earn a postseason berth, and all won-loss records will revert to 0-0 for the start of the second half.

Eleven of the Hops' final 16 games in the first half are against South Division rivals, with nine of those 11 coming on the road.

The series in Keizer continues at 7:05 PM (Pacific) on Saturday. The radio pregame show begins at 6:35 PM on Rip City Radio 620 AM, and on the internet at www.foxsportsradio620.com. Mobile listeners should download the iHeartRadio app.

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Northwest League Stories from July 5, 2014


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