Volcanoes keep their playoff hopes alive

The Volcanoes kept their postseason prospects intact with a big 8-3 victory over the Boise Hawks on Friday night at Memorial Stadium.

Ten combined errors were the theme of the night on a cold, windy and rain-filled evening in Idaho, with six of the miscues going the way of the Hawks. Salem-Keizer took advantage of three Boise errors with three runs in the first and did not look back.

Luis Pino (4-1, 1.43) made another fine start, going five innings, allowing only one earned run off of five hits and two walks while striking out one.

The initial three runs came on a Jose Vizcaino RBI groundout and a Dillon Dobson RBI single, but the lead was quickly cut into.

Boise responded via a Luis Castro RBI single in the bottom of the first before, in the fourth inning, a Vizcaino error allowed the lead to be cut to one.

The seventh inning is where it all unraveled for Boise and where Salem-Keizer took control. Three hits combined with another Hawk error allowed four Volcano runs to score and push the lead to 7-3.

A Ronnie Jebavy two-out triple in the eighth then led to a wild pitch and another run scored for Salem-Keizer to give the Volcanoes an 8-3 lead. A combined relief effort of Domenic Mazza, Armando Paniagua and Rayan Hernandez closed out the game and Salem-Keizer took a big series-opening victory.

With their playoff hopes still intact, the Volcanoes battle Boise again tomorrow night, with first pitch set for 5:45 p.m.