Super Manny Cant Save Hops
Published on August 7, 2016 under Northwest League (NWL1)
Hillsboro Hops News Release
Manny Jefferson went airborne like the Man Of Steel to rob Bryson Brigman of a base hit in the third inning, then put the Hillsboro Hops on the board with a three-run homer in the seventh. But the Everett AquaSox got a pair of web gems from former Oregon Duck center fielder Austin Grebeck and held on to defeat the Hops 4-3 Saturday night in a wild game at Everett Memorial Stadium.
Down 4-0 heading into the seventh, Jefferson's third home run of the season changed the game. After overcoming a 5-0 deficit the night before, the Hops (6-3 second half, 25-22 overall) were on the verge of a second straight comeback when Grebeck dashed their hopes in the eighth. The Hops had loaded the bases with one out on a dropped infield pop-up, an infield hit and a walk. WIth Thursday night's hero Ramon Hernandez at the plate and the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position, Grebeck caught Hernandez's 0-2 liner to center field and fired a strike to the plate, where AquaSox catcher Yojhan Quevedo tagged out Jason Morozowski for an inning-ending double play.
It was a game full of superb defensive plays, but Everett (6-3, 24-23) overcame three errors, including a bizarre play to start the eighth. With righthander Joselito Cano taking over on the mound for southpaw Danny Garcia (3-2), Morozowski led off the inning by lifting a sky-high pop-up left of the mound on a 3-2 pitch. Cano began walking toward home plate, but made no indication he would attempt to catch the ball. As third baseman Johmbeyker Morales and first baseman Kristian Brito converged on either side of the mound, the ball ended up on Morales' side, but he lost his footing as he reached back for the ball and it popped out of his glove for an error. As Morozowski raced to second, Cano went down in a heap after colliding with the 6-5, 240-pound Brito. Cano stayed down and eventually would limp off the field as lefty Lane Ratliff took his place.
Josh Anderson hit a chopper deep in the hole at short for an infield hit as Morozowski raced to third. After Luke Lowery struck out, Smith drew a four-pitch walk to load the bases. Hernandez, who went 5-for-5 with two homers and a team-record six RBI in the opening game of the series, hit a fly ball to medium center field, where Grebeck made the catch and threw a one-hopper to Quevedo. Morozowski did not slide as Quevedo put the tag on to end the inning.
Jefferson reached on a one-out error in the ninth to give the Hops another opportunity. But Justin Chigbogu, pinch-hitting for Adam Walton, drove a 3-0 Ratliff pitch to the warning track in left and Ben DeLuzio drove Eric Filia to the wall in deep right for the final out of the game, allowing the crowd of 3.378 to finally exhale as the AquaSox ended a three-game losing streak.
Garcia surrendered the Jefferson homer, but was credited with the win, tossing three innings of relief behind starter Tim Viehoff, who fanned seven Hops and allowed one hit and no runs over four innings. Ratliff, a starting pticher for Everett in 2015, recorded his first professional save.
Hops 19-year-old lefthander Mack Lemieux fell to 0-2 with the Hops after giving up six hits and two runs over three innings. Lemieux pitched out of a second and third, none out jam in the first inning, getting three straight strikeouts after a Brigman leadoff single and a double by David Greer.
Greer, a 1st-team All Pac-12 first baseman at Arizona State this spring, hit a solo home run to left in the third inning to put Everett on the board. It was his first game back in the lineup after taking a ball to the face during pre-game warm-ups at Spokane back on June 30. Greer suffered a concussion and fracture of the orbital bone below his left eye and had a mild seizure on the field.
After Greer's homer, Eric Filia singled, Kristian Brito doubled and Donnie Walton drove in the second run of the inning ona sacrifice fly to center. The AquaSox added single runs in the fifth and sixth innings off Hops' reliever Trevor Simms to take a 4-0 lead into the seventh.
Grebeck replaced Greer in the fourth inning and made a leaping catch at the center field fence to rob Stephen Smith of an extra-base hit. Prior to Jefferson's homer in the seventh, Josh Anderson doubled with two outs in the sixth inning, but Luke Lowery's deep drive to right ended up in Filia's glove at the fence.
Jefferson went 1-for-3 with a walk. In addition to his sensational leaping, full-extension catch in the third inning, the Hops' second sacker gunned down Brito at third with an accurate relay throw to Anderson after Brito tried to turn an RBI double into a triple in the fifth inning. Earlier in the inning, shortstop Adam Walton made an excellent backhand play deep in the shortstop hole and threw out Brigman, saving at least one run. The Hops also got great defensive plays from DeLuzio in center field and Simms, who snared a Filia rocket up the middle to start an inning-ending double play in the seventh inning, the Hops' second of the game and fifth twin-killing of the series.
Greer, Brito, Walton and Leal each had two hits as the AquaSox outhit the Hops 11-5. Filia scored a pair of runs. Anderson went 2-for-4 for the Hops, his third consecutive two-hit game of the series.
The Hops still lead the series two games to one heading into game four Sunday afternoon. First pitch is at 4:05 p.m. with the pregame airtime at 3:35 p.m. on Rip City Radio 620 AM This story was not subject to the approval of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues or its clubs.
Northwest League Stories from August 7, 2016
- Luke Is a Force - Hillsboro Hops
- Emeralds Shine Too Bright For Vancouver On Sunday - Vancouver Canadians
- Super Manny Cant Save Hops - Hillsboro Hops
- Defensive Struggles Cost Dust Devils - Tri-City Dust Devils
- Volcanoes Get First Win of Series over Spokane - Salem-Keizer Volcanoes
- Canadians Comeback Falls Short In Eugene - Vancouver Canadians
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