Spain Reigns Again: C's Seize First Place
June 15, 2023 - Northwest League (NWL)
Hillsboro Hops News Release
If you only judged Garrett Spain by his performance against Hillsboro the past two seasons, you would think he was one of the Vancouver Canadians better prospects. Based on his play over the last two months, he may be in that discussion rather soon.
The unheralded outfielder from Austin Peay University hit a two-run homer with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Canadians a walk-off 5-4 win over the Hops Wednesday night at Nat Bailey Stadium.
The Hops were one out away from evening the six-game series at a game apiece when Vancouver leadoff batter Alan Roden drew a walk from Hillsboro reliever Zach Barnes (2-2), who was going for his first professional save. But Spain jumped all over an 0-1 fastball down the middle and sent a rocket out to right for his seventh home run of the season, his only hit of the night in five at bats.
After a slow start to the season that began with two weeks on the Development List, Spain entered play Wednesday night with a .395 batting average since May 1. All seven of his home runs this season have come since an .059 start in April.
Matt Svanson (3-1) pitched a 1-2-3 ninth with a strikeout to pick up the win as Vancouver took over sole possession of first place in the Northwest League standings following Spokane's 11-7 loss to Eugene. The C's (33-25) now lead the Indians by a game with a 2 1/2 game lead on third-place Tri-City following the Dust Devils 4-1 home loss to Everett.
Hillsboro broke a 3-3 tie in the eighth inning when Kevin Graham cracked his first home run of the season, a liner to right field off Justin Kelly.
In the bottom of the eighth, former Oregon Duck shortstop Josh Kasevich hit a two-out double off Eli Saul, but was gunned down at the plate when he tried to score on Dasan Brown's sharp single to right. Julio Carrion, making his Hillsboro debut in right field, threw a one-hop strike to J.J. D'Orazio at the plate to nail Kasevich and maintain the lead.
Hillsboro led 3-2 in the sixth inning when Listher Sosa walked cleanup hitter Alex De Jesus to lead off the frame. After De Jesus stole second with one out, Kasevich hit a chopper to first base that Shane Muntz snared with an extended stab, but Sosa failed to cover the bag and everybody was safe. With runners at the corners and one down, Dasan Brown hit a grounder to short that should have ended the inning, but instead De Jesus came plateward with the tying run.
The Hops chased Vancouver starter Adam Macko after two innings. Macko, a product of the Vauxhall Baseball Academy in Alberta, struggled with control, walking four with a hit batter. Hillsboro batted around in the second, scoring on a Gary Mattis, Jr. sacrifice fly, a Jonathan Guzman ground out to short and a Josh Day single, but left the bases loaded.
Vancouver answered with a pair of runs in the fourth, capitalizing on an Ivan Melendez throwing error to open the inning. De Jesus followed with a double to plate Cade Doughty, then scored on a Michael Turconi single. Both runs were charged to starting pitcher Billy Corcoran, who made his Hillsboro debut with 3 1/3 solid innings in his third professional start, striking out three with two walks and three hits allowed.
Day finished with two hits for the third consecutive game and Graham scored a pair of runs for the Hops. Carrion, in addition to his outfield assist, had a single and a base on balls in four plate appearances in his Advanced-A debut. De Jesus hit his fourth extra base hit of the series and scored two runs and Kasevich finished with a pair of hits. Batting ninth, Estiven Machado had two hits and a walk. For the series, Vancouver is 3-for-5 with four walks and a run scored from the nine-hole.
Game three of the series is at 7:05 p.m. Wednesday with pregame coverage starting at 6:50 p.m.. on Rip City Radio 620 AM.
Northwest League Stories from June 15, 2023
- VanScoter Continues Dominance, Frogs Win 4-1 - Everett AquaSox
- Spain Reigns Again: C's Seize First Place - Hillsboro Hops
- Everett Evens Series by Besting Tri-City - Tri-City Dust Devils
- Citizen Spain: Garrett's Blast Walks It Off - Vancouver Canadians
- Emeralds Score 7 Unanswered Runs to Win Game 2 - Eugene Emeralds
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