EVERETT, Wash. -- Arizona Diamondbacks number six prospect J.D. Dix improved his batting average to .330 since May 6 with his second consecutive three-hit game with the Hops, but the Everett Aquasox (33-32) grabbed an early lead and held it, defeating Hillsboro 5-3 Wednesday night at Everett Memorial Stadium.
Dix doubled and scored in the fifth inning, singled and scored in the seventh, then ignited a ninth inning rally with a one-out single off Everett reliever Lucas Kelly with the Hops trailing by two. Slade Caldwell worked his way aboard with a full count walk, then after a strikeout of Jose Mejia, Carlos Virahonda loaded the bases with another walk.
Everett turned to one of the Northwest League's top relievers, Christian Little, to try and nail down the final out with the tying run at second and the go-ahead run at third.
Kenny Castillo had flied out to the wall in right in the seventh inning with the bases loaded and had another chance to turn the lead around. But after fouling off a 2-2 pitch, Castillo popped weakly behind first base. Everett first baseman Matthew Ellis was slow to react to the ball, but second baseman Austin St. Laurent was not. He raced from near the bag at second all the way to the foul line to snag a ball that never got more than 25 feet off the ground to save the game.
There were a number of fine defensive plays on this night, but none more impressive than Slade Caldwell's catch at the center field wall in the first inning. Hillsboro starting pitcher Wellington Aracena (1-1) had walked the first two batters of the game when Everett shorstop Felnin Celesten hit a deep shot to center. On a dead sprint, the 5-9 Caldwell leapt halfway up the 17-foot fence to snare the ball about eight or nine feet up the wall, keeping the runners on base for the time being.
Everett would eventually score both, but that catch and a fine play at short by Wallace Clark on a ball that deflected off Aracena's glove minimized the damage in a frame where he walked three and gave up two hits and a wild pitch.
The Frogs took a 3-0 lead on a St. Laurent RBi single in the third inning, before Jose Mejia got Hillsboro on the board with a solo home run to center to lead off the fourth.
Hillsboro added another run in the fifth on back-to-back, two-out doubles by Dix and Caldwell to make it 3-2 Aquasox.
Aracena settled down eventually and hit his pitch limit with two outs in the fifth inning after four walks, five strikeouts, a club record three balks and three runs allowed on five hits. He also issued his NWL-leading 10th wild pitch.
Former Oregon Duck pitcher Adam Maier (2-2) departed after five innings, allowing two runs on five hits with no walks and four strikeouts.
Everett regained a three-run lead in the sixth when Johnny Farmelo followed Anthony Donofrio's two-out double with a no doubter, two-run homer to right, his tenth of the year. That came off Hillsboro reliever Teofilo Mendez, making his 2026 Hops debut after missing time in 2024 and 2025 with injuries.
Hillsboro would answer with a run in the seventh, but another big defensive play from St. Laurent meant it would only be one.
Wallace Clark and Dix got on with a pair of singles before Slade Caldwell picked up a base hit to right center. Clark tried to score from second, but St. Laurent pegged him at the plate with a perfect relay throw for the second out of the inning.
The Hops would plate a run after a Mejia infield hit and a bases loaded walk to Carlos Virahonda, making his high-A debut behind the plate. Castillo came up with the sacks jammed and sent a deep shot to right that Carlos Jimenez flagged at the wall to end the frame.
In his first two games for Hillsboro, Dix--selected 35th overall in the 2024 draft out of Whitefish Bay (WI) High School--has gone 6-for-11 with five runs scored, an RBI and three stolen bases in three attempts. Mejia went 3-for-4 on the night with his first Hops homer and has reached base nine times in the first two games of the series. Clark had two hits to extend his current hit streak to six games. He's batting over .500 during the streak.
Farmelo reached base three times, scoring twice and driving in two for the Aquasox, who fought off Hillsboro's attempt to pull even in third place. WIth the defeat the Hops are locked into fourth in the first-half standings heading into Thursday's first-half finale.
Pregame airtime is at 6:50 p.m. and first pitch at 7:05 on Rip City Radio 620 AM.