EUGENE, ORE. (Sept. 1, 2026) --- It seemed inevitable—there was simply too much ground to gain over the season’s final week. The Hillsboro Hops, taking it day by day, had simply hoped their playoff aspirations would survive another day.
Alas, they did not. A dropped fly ball led to Eugene scoring four unearned runs in the bottom of the eighth inning on Tuesday night at P.K. Park, turning a 3-2 Ems lead into a 7-2 lead. Hillsboro scored three in the top of the ninth, but fell short, losing the series opener 7-5. That loss, coupled with league-leading Vancouver’s 3-1 win at Tri-City, leaves the Hops six games out with five games remaining in the season.
And with that, the Hops continue an unwanted streak. After making the playoffs a Northwest League-record six straight years from 2014 to 2019, this is the sixth consecutive season Hillsboro has missed the postseason.
Eugene first baseman Robert Hipwell tripled home a pair of runs off Hops starter Patrick Forbes in the bottom of the second inning. Forbes threw 57 pitches and was under stress in all three of his innings, allowing five hits and a walk, but only two runs. Kyle Ayers piggybacked Forbes, working scoreless fourth, fifth and sixth innings.
In the top of the seventh, the Hops still trailed 2-0. With two out and none on, Hops first baseman Modeifi Marte singled off of Ems reliever Nate Nabholz. Abdias De La Cruz then reached base on a throwing error by third baseman Dalton Wentz. Jakey Josepha singled home a run to make it 2-1, sending De La Cruz to third base with the tying run. Jose Mejia then hit a chopper to third; Wentz charged it, but instead of throwing to first for the final out, he elected to go after Josepha, who was rounding second. Josepha was tagged out in a rundown, but Wentz’s choice allowed De La Cruz to score the tying run.
Eugene regained the lead in the next half-inning, the bottom of the seventh. Daniel Rogers singled, Jose Ortiz sacrificed Rogers to second, and he scored on a double by Jhonny Level. It was 3-2 Ems.
And that should have been the score going to the ninth inning, but it wasn’t. In the bottom of the eighth with two on and two out, Ayers faced Ortiz. Ortiz lifted a fly ball to De La Cruz in right. He trotted in and toward the line, the ball hit him in the glove… and popped out. Two runs crossed the plate, and three pitches later, Level homered to bring home two more.
Instead of a one-run deficit entering the top of the ninth, the Hops trailed 7-2. And that became all the more galling as they rallied. Yassel Soler led off the top of the ninth with a single, and with one out, Marte singled. De La Cruz grounded into a force out, and the Hops were down to their last out. Josepha hit a high chopper for a single to make it 7-3. Jose Mejia rifled a base hit into right-center field to pick up an RBI, and a second run came home on the play when the throw back to the infield got away. The error sent Mejia all the way to third base, and with the Hops still down to their last out, number-three hitter Kayson Cunningham came to the plate representing the tying run.
In the type of poetic juxtaposition baseball seems to so often deliver, at the exact moment Cunningham stepped in, Vancouver put the finishing touches on their win at Tri-City, meaning the Hops had to win to keep their playoff hopes afloat.
Four pitches later, Ems hard-throwing reliever Liam Simon struck Cunningham out to end the game.
Ems starter Henry Lalane—acquired by the Giants from the Yankees in a deadline trade on August 3rd—worked five shutout innings. In two starts against Hillsboro, the 6’7” lefthander has allowed one run on seven hits over 11 innings, with two walks, six strikeouts and 18 ground-ball outs.
Ayers took the hard-luck loss, allowing five runs (just one earned) on four hits over five innings. He struck out three without issuing a walk.
All 10 of the Hops’ hits were singles, including three by Josepha and two each by Soler and Marte.
The Hops have two more games in Eugene, then the series shifts to Hillsboro for the final three games of the season. Those games will be Friday through Sunday, as the Hops celebrate the first year in their spectacular new park.
Wednesday’s second game of the three-game set from P.K. Park will begin at 6:35 PM, with pregame airtime at 6:20PM on Rip City Radio 620AM and www.RipCityRadio.com.