Volcanoes Fend off Furious Hops Rally
June 23, 2017 - Northwest League (NWL1)
Salem-Keizer Volcanoes News Release
KEIZER, Ore. - Following last night's 13-inning marathon, the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes completed the team's first series victory by triumphing over the Hillsboro Hops 8-6 in the afternoon rubber match at Ron Tonkin Field. Although the final score was a nail biter, the game appeared to be a laugher for the Volcanoes through the first seven innings of play.
Salem-Keizer opened up the scoring in the top-half of the second inning. First baseman Ryan Kirby led off the inning with a liner to center field for a base hit off of Hops starting pitcher Mitchell Aker . Two batters later, third baseman Junior Amion placed a perfect bunt along the third base line to reach first base. On a double steal, Kirby and Amion moved up 90 feet to set up a prime scoring opportunity for the Volcanoes with one out.
With one out, catcher Jeffry Parra cashed in by grounding an infield knock to the left side, which scored Kirby from third and gave the Volcanoes and early 1-0 advantage.
On the other side of the ball, Salem-Keizer starting hurler Jose Marte kept Hillsboro's bats at bay through his three innings of work. In those innings, Marte did not surrender a run and only allowed one hit while walking and striking out two apiece.
The Volcanoes extended their lead to 2-0 in the top of the fourth frame. With runners on the corners and no outs, Amion grounded into a force out at second base, allowing the runner at third to score.
Aside from the two runs in the second and fourth innings, Aker also mitigated the Volcanoes offense for the most part. However, that storyline would change once the top-half of the sixth inning rolled in.
With two outs already recorded in the inning, Kirby and shortstop Manuel Geraldo hit back-to-back singles, calling upon Hops right-handed reliever Rafael Pujols to relieve Aker, who took the loss for Hillsboro, and halt the scoring threat.
Nonetheless, the Volcanoes prevailed when Amion reached on an infield single, plating Kirby from third and augmenting Salem-Keizer's lead to 3-0. Bono would later come around to score on a wild pitch to make it 4-0 Volcanoes in that inning.
Amion and Kirby were two of the top offensive performers for Salem-Keizer on the afternoon. Both went 2-for-4 with a pair of singles. Amion drove in two runs while Kirby scored four runs and walked once.
Meanwhile, the Volcanoes pitchers continued to mow down Hops hitters. Right-handed reliever Heath Slatton, a recent addition to the Salem-Keizer roster, took over for Marte and tossed three more innings himself, blanking the Hops while striking out three batsmen and only permitting two base runners. Slatton earned the victory for the Volcanoes.
The floodgates opened up for the Volcanoes in the top of the seventh thanks to some good fortune. With two gone, the bases juiced and a 3-2 count, Kirby hit a sky-high pop-up to the left side of the infield. Sanchez, who had already lost a pop-up in the sun earlier in the ballgame, once again fell victim to the sun's blinding rays and lost the ball, which ended up falling in play.
With two outs in the inning and a full count, all three runners were already running on contact and were able to score on the play, increasing Salem-Keizer's lead to 7-0. Following the error, Geraldo padded the lead with a double and his third hit of the game that scored Kirby making it 8-0.
With an eight-run lead and six shutout innings out of their pitching staff, it seemed as if the Volcanoes had this game under wraps.
Yet, Hillsboro was not ready to wave the white flag. The Hops had a rally brewing in the bottom-half of the seventh when they loaded the bases with no outs against Volcanoes righty relief man Cesar Yanez .
A wild pitch off of the fingertips of Yanez scored a run for the Hops. Hillsboro catcher Gavin Stupienski slashed a single to right field that drove in two more and cut the Volcanoes lead to 8-3. Yanez walked a batter and gave up another base hit to reload the bases before manager Jolbert Cabrera pulled him.
With still no outs in the inning, righty reliever Luis Pino took the hill to attempt to stop the bleeding, but was unsuccessful. Hops third baseman Eudy Ramos pulled an RBI-single to left field to pull the Hillsboro within four runs of the lead. Sanchez grounded into a force out, which scored a run, and a wild pitch by Pino tacked on another for the Hops. When all was said and done, Hillsboro had put up a six-spot in the frame and Salem-Keizer only lead 8-6.
That score held up until the last licks for the Hops in the bottom of the ninth. Volcanoes reliever Kendry Melo entered the ballgame to shut the door on the Hops. After striking out the first batter and walking the second, Ramos came up to the dish representing the tying run for Hillsboro.
Melo ran the count to 0-2 before getting Ramos to line out to Amion who swiftly threw the ball over to first base to double off the runner and seal the victory and the save for the Volcanoes.
Salem-Keizer will conclude its road trip and travel to Eugene to take on the Emeralds in a three-game set before returning to Volcano Stadium to continue the series against Eugene. First pitch is tomorrow at 7:05 p.m
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Northwest League Stories from June 23, 2017
- Volcanoes Fend off Furious Hops Rally - Salem-Keizer Volcanoes
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