VANCOUVER, B.C. -- A pair of undrafted players proved to be unlikely heroes as the Vancouver Canadians defeated the Hillsboro Hops (10-15) in dramatic fashion to end a season-long, six-game losing streak.
Hayden Gilliland hit a pair of home runs, including a game-tying solo shot in the seventh inning and Matt Scannell ended the game with a 10th-inning double as the C's (10-15) defeated the Hops 4-3 Friday in the first of three consecutive "Nooners At The Nat".
Gilliland, one of two healthy catchers on the Vancouver roster, came into the game without an RBI on the season. That changed in the fifth inning when he rocketed a John West pitch over the wall in left for a two-run homer.
It was the first hit allowed by the 6-8 righthander, who walked three and hit three batters over 4 1/3 innings and took a 3-0 lead into the fifth.
All three Hops runs came on longballs. Trent Youngblood greeted Vancouver starting pitcher Austin Cates with a solo home run to right on the first pitch of the game. In the fourth inning, Adrian Rodriguez followed a one-out Modeifi Marte single with a two-out homer to left, also off Cates, who departed after allowing six hits and a season-high four walks with four strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings.
When Gilliland returned to the plate, it was to lead off in the seventh, once again jumping on the first pitch as he blasted Rio Britton's offering out to right center field to tie the game. Britton allowed four hits and one run over three innings with four strikeouts and three bases on balls.
The C's threatend in the ninth inning, loading the bases with one out. But Dawson Brown (0-2), Hillsboro's fourth pitcher of the day, escaped the jam by striking out Dub Gleed and getting former first-rounder Arjun Nimmala to ground out.
In the tenth inning, Carson Pierce (2-0), working on his third inning out of the Canadians pen, escaped a second and third jam with back-to-back strikeouts of Yerald Nin and Slade Caldwell.
It took just three pitches for Vancouver to end it as Scannell drove an 0-2 Brown pitch into the right center field gap to plate Nimmala with the winning run.
Gilliland, an undrafted free agent out of Tennessee Tech, authored his first career three-hit game, matching a career-high with three runs batted in. Scannell went undrafted out of Wake Forest before being signed by the Blue Jays in 2025. Both players made their Vancouver debuts last season, Gilliland's coming against the Hops last April, when he went 1-for-2 with two walks, two RBI and a run.
Youngblood reached base four times for Hillsboro, adding three walks to his second home run of the year. Marte went 2-for-4 with a double and a run scored.
The loss ended Hillsboro's season-long, four-game win streak and dropped the Hops back into a fourth-place tie with the C's.
Another nooner on Saturday before the Hops close out the series with a 1:05 p.m. game before moving on to Everett. Catch all of the live action on Rip City Radio 620, starting with the pregame show at 12:50 p.m.