Hillsboro, OR (August 26th) - The new Hops Ballpark has seen two walk off home runs in its inaugural season, both belong to Yassel Soler. The Hillsboro Hops turned a pitchers’ duel into an extra-inning slugfest Wednesday night, scoring three times in the bottom of the 12th to defeat the Tri-City Dust Devils 11-8 at Hops Ballpark. The game featured 15 combined runs and four home runs over the final three innings, with the Hops twice rallying from behind before Yassel Soler delivered the decisive blow in the 12th. Yerald Nin also had a clutch two-run home run, when the Hops were down to their final out in the 11th inning, as the Hops prevailed 11-8 in 12.
For the first seven innings, neither offense could find much traction. Hillsboro took a 1-0 lead in the second when Abdias De La Cruz doubled home Adrian Rodriguez, and the Hops carried that advantage into the eighth.
Everything changed in the eighth. Tri-City tied the game when Hayden Alvarez launched a two-run homer to left, but Hillsboro answered with a run of its own. JD Dix doubled home Yerald Nin, and the Hops entered the ninth with the game tied at 2-2.
The fireworks continued in the 10th. Tri-City scored four times in the top half, highlighted by Peter Burns’ two-run homer to right field. Hillsboro again responded with four runs of its own. Nin singled, Caldwell followed with an RBI single, and José Mejía’s two-run single to right scored Nin and Caldwell while an error allowed Mejía to reach second.
With the game tied 6-6, neither side backed down in the 11th. Harold Coll put Tri-City back in front with a two-run homer in the top half, but Hillsboro answered the Coll again. With two outs, Nin crushed a two-run homer to right, scoring Kenny Castillo and tying the game at 8-8. It was Nin’s third homer of the season and his second two-out RBI of the night.
That set the stage for the 12th. Caldwell began the inning at second and moved to third when José Mejía flew out. Clark then walked to put runners at the corners, bringing Soler to the plate with one out. Soler drove a pitch to center and over the wall 410-feet, giving Hillsboro its first lead since the eighth and ending a wild three-inning stretch in which the teams combined for 15 runs and four home runs.
Soler finished with five total bases and four RBI, while Nin also collected five total bases with two RBI. Hillsboro went 7-for-17 with runners in scoring position and stole four bases, including two by Caldwell.
The Hops and Dust Devils combined to use 12 pitchers in the marathon, with Augie Mojica earning the victory after working the final two innings. He allowed one hit and struck out two while keeping Tri-City off the board in the 12th.
What began as a 1-0 game through seven innings ended with 19 runs, five lead changes or ties after the eighth, and Soler’s walk-off-style blast sending the Hops home winners, 11-8.