Stop Thief! Hops Win on Brown Out
June 16, 2023 - Northwest League (NWL)
Hillsboro Hops News Release
The Vancouver Canadians had run at will through the first three games of their series against the Hops. But Hillsboro catcher J.J. D'Orazio made sure they wouldn't steal their third win.
D'Orazio gunned down pinch runner Dasan Brown trying to swipe second base with two outs in the ninth inning to preserve a 4-2 Hops win Thursday night at Nat Bailey Stadium.
It was the culmination of a big night for the fourth-year catcher, who went 3-for-4 at the plate with a 2-run homer and a double from the clean-up spot.
The 21-year-old D''Orazio--Hillsboro's second-youngest player--did double clean-up duty in essence. Vancouver (33-26) had been a perfect 14-for-14 stealing bases in the series before that final out and the Hops (24-36) were 0-for-14 at the plate in the first two games from the numbers three and four spots in the batting order.
Jesus Valdez, who entered the game in the second inning as an injury replacement for Josh Day, homered off Vancouver starter Rafael Sanchez (5-4) to lead off the fourth inning. D'Orazio and Shane Muntz followed with back-to-back doubles to give Hillsboro a 2-0 lead.
In the fifth, Vancouver parlayed three singles into their first run, despite a double play. With the bases clear and two outs, Devonte Brown singled off Dylan Ray then stole second and third base. The gamble paid off when the number nine hitter Estiven Machado hit a soft liner up the middle that second baseman S.P. Chen fielded. Chen had no chance to throw out the speedy Machado as Brown scored to make it a 2-1 game.
The Hops expanded their lead to 4-1 in the sixth inning when Valdez singled off Vancouver reliever Eric Pardinho and D'Orazio followed with a two-run home run to right field. D'Orazio, a former Blue Jays farmhand in his second year in the Diamondbacks' system, spent the pandemic lockdown with the Brazilian right hander in Florida and the two have remained close.
Hillsboro starter Dylan Ray (2-4) had his sharpest outing in more than a month, limiting Vancouver to one run on six hits with four strikeouts and no walks over five innings. In the bottom of the sixth, Junior Mieses took over on the hill and promptly ran into trouble after surrendering a leadoff single to Josh Kasevich and a walk to Andres Sosa. A wild pitch moved the runners into scoring position with none out. But the Vancouver cleanup hitter Garrett Spain lined out to Shane Muntz at first and Sosa was caught off the bag at second for the Hops' third double play of the game. Kasevich later scored on another Mieses wild pitch, but the Hops avoided further damage.
Southpaw Will Mabrey stifled the C's, retiring all six to face him over the seventh and eighth innings, setting the stage for Peniel Otano in the ninth. The right handed Dominican, like Mieses and many other in the Hops' pen, has struggled with control this year.
Otano jumped ahead of Spain 0-2 before retiring him on fly out to shallow right center. But Cade Doughty walked on four pitches bringing Michael Turconi to the plate representing the tying run. The Canadians' first baseman flied out to left center. Gabriel Martinez was Vancouver's last hope. During his at bat, Doughty scampered to third base on an errant back-pick throw to first from D'Orazio. Martinez worked himself aboard with a walk, before giving way to the speedy Dasan Brown, who was fourth in the league with 17 steals in 18 attempts. With Devonte Brown at the plate and a 1-1 count, Dasan broke for second, but D'Orazio threw a one-hop strike to the corner of the bag and Chen tagged him out on a close play to end the game. It was Otano's first professional save.
D'Orazio went into the series with a .358 batting average since May 6, but was 0-for-9 with five strikeouts in the series before recording hits in his final three at bats Thursday. After D'Orazio and Ivan Melendez combined to go 0-for-14 Tuesday and Wednesday, D'Orazio and Valdez combined to go 5-for-7 with two homers, a double, four runs scored and three runs batted in. Batting in the leadoff spot, Jonathan Guzman had two hits and a walk and threw out a runner at second base from left field.
Devonte Brown continued to excel against the Hops. After reaching base four times in Tuesday's series opener, the undrafted outfielder out of North Carolina State went 2-for-3 with a run scored and three stolen bases. For the season, Brown is batting .409 (9-for-21) with four runs, seven runs batted in and four walks against Hillsboro.
The final three games of the series are all 1:05 p.m. starts. Tune in for pregame coverage at 12:50 p.m. on Rip City Radio 620 AM.
Northwest League Stories from June 16, 2023
- Rain of Spain Falls Mainly on Hops - Hillsboro Hops
- C's' Comeback Culminates with Walk-off Walk - Vancouver Canadians
- Big Fifth Inning Helps Frogs Dust Devils 4-3 - Everett AquaSox
- Two Firework Nights & Craig T. Nelson Highlight Fun-Filled Weekend - Spokane Indians
- AquaSox Cut Off Rooster Tails' Comeback - Tri-City Dust Devils
- Late C's Rally Comes up Short - Vancouver Canadians
- Stop Thief! Hops Win on Brown Out - Hillsboro Hops
- Emeralds Rally Again To Win Game 3 Against Spokane - Eugene Emeralds
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