Caldwell Sparks Hops' 7-4 Victory Over Canadians

June 26 (Hillsboro, OR)- The Hillsboro Hops took game four against the Vancouver Canadians 7-4 on Friday night. The Hops were hitless until the fourth inning, when Slade Caldwell started things off in style.

Vancouver struck first, drawing a leadoff walk from Brian Curley. Curley struck out the next batter, but allowed a double after that. A sacrifice fly put the Canadians up one run to none.

Slade Caldwell broke things open in the bottom of the fourth with a solo home run. Trent Youngblood followed with a single, and two wild pitches by Holden Walkerson put Youngblood on third. Kayson Cunningham reached on a base on balls, and a fielder’s choice from Carlos Virahonda put the Hops up 2-1. Jakey Josepha singled to bring in Cunnigham, extending the lead 3-1.

Youngblood drew a walk to start the bottom of the sixth, and Virahonda singled, putting runners on the corners. A fielder’s choice from Yasslel Soler made it a 4-1 ballgame. That ended the day for Wilkerson, who went five and two-thirds with three strikeouts and five earned runs. Jay Schueler entered with two outs, allowing a double to Josepha, who brought in Virahonda for the Hops fifth run of the game. The run was charged to Wilkerson.

Curley threw six innings, allowing only two hits and one earned run. He struck out six batters and gave up two walks. Rocco Reid took over in the seventh, allowing just one hit in the inning. In the bottom half of the frame, Wallace Clark hit a leadoff single, and Modeifi Marte drew a walk to put runners on first and second. Clark scored on a throwing error by shortstop Eric Snow, with Marte out on the play. Caldwell got picked off on first for the second out of the inning. Youngblood drew a walk, and Cunningham flew out to end the inning with the Hops up 6-1.

Rocco Red hit a batter and gave up a walk, and with one out, gave up a ground-rule double to Peyton Williams to make it 6-2. A wild pitch plated another run for the Canadians. A fielder’s choice inched Vancouver closer to Hillsboro’s lead 6-4. He allowed three earned runs on one hit, striking out two in the inning.

Virahonda and Josepha drew walks in the bottom of the eighth. Virahonda got out at second on a double play, and Josepha advanced to second on a wild pitch. Kenny Castillo hit an RBI single to tack on a run for Hillsboro, 7-4. Hawks closed out the game, recording two groundouts and a pop-up in the top of the ninth.

Game five between the Hops and Canadians will begin at 5:03 PM on Saturday at Hops Ballpark. The pregame show starts at 4:45 PM on 620 AM RipCity Radio and BallyLive.