By: Jacob Archer
Hillsboro, OR — The Emeralds defeated the Hillsboro Hops by a final score of 11-10 in extra innings. It was a thrilling night all around, as the Emeralds trailed by 8-1 at one point in the game. They had a 7 run top of the 8th inning to take the lead and they were able to close it out in extra innings.
The Hops jumped out to an early 5-0 lead. In the bottom of the 3rd inning Hillsboro scored 3 runs. Neyfy Castillo capped off the inning with a 2-out single that plated a pair of runs. The Hops added on 2 more runs in the bottom of the 5th inning. Jack Hurley started the inning off with a homerun and Christian Cerda hit an RBI-Single. It was the 2nd straight night the Hops had jumped out to a big lead.
In the top of the 6th inning Eugene was finally able to get on the board. It was Bryce Eldridge’s 5th game as an Emerald, and he led off the top of the 6th inning with a leadoff home run which was his first of the season with Eugene. The baseball traveled 416 feet and had an exit velocity of 107 MPH off the bat. It was fantastic to see Eldridge get one on the board, but his night was far from being over.
The positive momentum didn’t last all too long for the Emeralds as the Hops answered back with 3 runs of their own in the home half of the inning. Kevin Sim and Jose Fernandez both recorded a base hit to start the inning. Cole Roberts drew a walk to load up the bases. Those 3 batters all scored that frame and the Hops had extended their lead to 8-1.
Heading into the top of the 7th it felt like the game was too far out of reach for Eugene. But the one thing about this team is no matter how many runs they’re down they’re going to keep on fighting until the very end. In the top of the 7th Thomas Gavello and Alex Suarez started off the inning with a base hit. The next 2 batters weren’t able to get much going but Bryce Eldridge changed the momentum of the game with 1 swing of the bat. He ripped a single to the outfield to score both runners. While the deficit was still 5 runs, the game felt like it was at least in arms reach for Eugene.
Ems reliever Tommy Kane pitched a scoreless bottom of the 7th inning to send the game to the 8th inning. Trailing by 5 runs with only 6 outs left in the game, the Ems bats had to be near perfect to find their way back into the game and they were able to do just that. Rodolfo Nolasco got the hitting started in the 8th with a single and a stolen base. Tanner O’Tremba followed it up by reaching base on a throwing error by the Hops shortstop Tommy Troy that put a pair of runners on the corners with just 1 out.
The first runs of the inning came off the bat of Thomas Gavello. He ripped a 2 strike pitch to the opposite field gap to score both base runners and cut the lead to 3. Alexander Suarez was able to reach on a fielder’s choice. The Hops pitcher, Listher Sosa, tried throwing Gavello out at 3rd base but he fired the ball into the crowd. That sent Gavello home and Suarez to 2nd. The next batter Quinn McDaniel skied a ball out to the center fielder Jack Hurley. Hurley wasn’t able to find the baseball in the lights and it dropped for a double. That brought Listher Sosa’s day to an end and the Hops turned to a new arm out of the bullpen.
Jonah Cox hit an infield single that scored Alex Suarez on the play and put Quinn McDaniel on 3rd base as the game tying run. Jonah Cox stole 2nd base on the next pitch with Bryce Eldridge up to bat. Eldridge was playing in just his 5th game as an Emerald, yet the Hops elected to intentionally walk Eldridge to load up the bases. Onil Perez came up to the plate and went down swinging on strikes for the 2nd out of the frame.
Justin Wishkoski hit an infield single and was able to beat out a throw from the 3rd baseman Jose Fernandez to tie the game up. It was great base running from Jonah Cox who was running from 2nd to 3rd base on the play. He hesitated long enough where when Fernandez was throwing Cox was running in front of him which made Fernandez have to double pump and Wishkoski beat out the throw to tie up the game and load up the bases.
Rodolfo Nolasco drew a bases loaded walk to bring home the go-ahead run. The next batter Tanner O’Tremba drew a walk to bring home the 7th and final run of the inning. It was a great inning for Eugene and they had scored 9 unanswered runs in a row to take the lead.
In the bottom of the 8th inning Christian Cerda hit into a groundout that scored Gavin Conticello to cut the deficit to just 1 run. In the bottom of the 9th inning the drama continued in a big way. Jean Walters hit a pinch-hit double to reach scoring position as the game tying run. The next batter Jack Hurley singled to first baseman Eldridge. The runner at 3rd base, Kevin Sim, tried scoring from 3rd base. Eldridge threw home to try to get the runner out. It was a close play at the plate and Sim was ruled safe. Onil Perez, the Ems catcher, popped up after the play to talk to the home plate umpire. While turning, Perez made contact with Hovick who then immediately ejected Perez. Zach Morgan came into the game to replace him.
Cam Cotter was able to strand the 2 batters on to send the game to extra innings. Justin Wishkoski ripped a 1-out double to score Bryce Eldridge to start the top of the 10th inning. The Emeralds weren’t able to get much going after and they held a 1 run advantage heading to the bottom of the 10th.
Cam Cotter had pitched the 8th and the 9th inning for Eugene, but he trotted out to pitch the 10th inning. Cotter was absolutely lights out, and sent the Hops down in order to earn the victory in tonight’s game.
It was an electric win tonight for the Emeralds. The two teams combined for 21 runs, 28 hits and 7 errors. It was an incredible resilient effort for the Emeralds as they have now tied up the series at 1 game a piece.
The Ems will look to take the final game in Hillsboro before heading home for 3 more games at PK Park. First pitch is set for 7:05 P.M.
The Eugene Emeralds are the High-A affiliate of Major League Baseball’s San Francisco Giants. The Eugene Emeralds are dedicated to providing the best in family entertainment and creating a fun, safe environment for everyone to enjoy watching a baseball game. For more information, please visit our website at www.EmeraldsBaseball.com or call the Emeralds front office at 541-342-5367. • Emeraldsbaseball.com • Facebook.com/EugeneEmeraldsfanpage • Twitter.com/EugeneEmeralds
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