August 28 (Hillsboro, OR)- The Hillsboro Hops found themselves up 7-0 in the sixth inning against the Tri-City Dust Devils. The Dust Devils rallied for four runs in the seventh, but the Hops scored two insurance runs in the eighth, taking a 9-4 win on Friday night.
Two walks and a hit by pitch loaded the bases with one out for the Hops in the second. A fielding error by Tri-City pitcher Peyton Olejnik scored a run, making it 1-0.
Kayson Cunningham led the bottom of the third with a double to right field. Carlos Virahonda then reached on an error by second baseman Capri Ortiz. JD Dix then doubled to bring in Cunningham, and Yassel Soler followed with an RBI single to make it 3-0. Kenny Castillo grounded into a fielder’s choice double play, scoring the third run of the inning and extending the Hops lead, 4-0.
The Hops strung together three hits and two walks to score three runs in the sixth. Virahonda, Jakey Josepha, and Abdias De La Cruz all recorded singles in the inning.
Junior Ciprian pitched 6.1 shutout innings for Hillsboro, allowing just three hits and striking out five in the stretch. Rocco Reid took over with one on and one out. Reid got the first batter he faced to ground out. He then gave up a walk, which would quickly change the pace of the game. A ground-rule double scored one run, and another walk loaded the bases. A single by Kevyn Castillo for the Dust Devils scored two more runs, and a follow-up single by Kendrey Maduro made it 7-4 before Reid recorded a ground out to get out of the jam. Luke Craig took over in the eighth.
José Mejía and Kayson Cunningham both doubled, Mejía coming home on Cunningham’s double. Cunningham stole third, and a throwing error by catcher Peter Burns allowed him to score the second insurance run of the inning, Hops up 9-4. That was enough for the Hops to seal the deal, and Craig closed out the game with two scoreless innings.
Game five of the series begins at 5:03 PM on Saturday. The pregame show starts at 4:45 PM on 620 AM RipCity Radio and BallyLive.