Heavenly Hops Snag Seventh Straight W

EVERETT, Wash. -- On a night where two of their most reliable hitters got a well-deserved rest, the Hillsboro Hops got a big assist from the home team at Funko Field Saturday.

Everett pitchers combined to walk 11 Hillsboro batters, allowing the Hops (7-1) to parlay a season-low four hits into a 4-3 win over the AquaSox (2-6).

Hillsboro has already opened up a three-game lead over three other clubs for first place in the Northwest League first-half standings by its longest post-pandemic winning streak to seven games. Everett dropped its sixth straight contest after winning the first two games of the season at Spokane and currently sits alone in last place, two games back of the middle of the pack.

The Hops took the lead with a three-run fifth inning and got the crucial fourth run on a double-steal in the sixth. The AquaSox had multiple opportunities to tie or take the lead in the final frames, but could not deliver the key blow with runners on base.

With runners at the corners and two outs in the bottom of the sixth and cleanup hitter Demetrio Crisantes at the plate, Jansel Luis made a break for second base. Everett catcher Josh Caron threw a strike to second, but Druw Jones came racing home from third as Luis just beat the tag to give the Hops what turned out to be a critical insurance run and a 4-1 lead.

The Frogs responded in the seventh with back-to-back RBI doubles from Carson Jones and Michael Arroyo to close the gap to 4-3. With one out in the inning and the tying run at second, lefthander Phillip Abner was summoned from the bullpen to try to bail out Jorge Minyety. The third Hops pitcher of the night, Abner promptly slammed the door closed with back-to-back strikeouts of top Mariners' prospect Colt Emerson and Caron to end the rally.

Ih the eighth, Everett's Milkar Perez doubled off Abner with one out. After a walk to Charlie Pagliarini, Abner got another key punch out, fanning Andrew Miller. Brandon Eike followed with a grounder to Luis at third. After slightly bobbling the ball, he threw low and wide of first, but Ben McLoughlin was able to scoop the ball off the turf for the key final out.

Come the ninth inning and it was more high drama. Southpaw Luke Craig--making his team-leading fourth appearance in his highest-leverage situation yet==quickly found himself in hot water. Jones led off with his second consecutive double, nearly oversliding the bag, but holding on with his fingernails to immediately put the tying run in scoring position for the third consecutive inning. Arroyo followed with a slow chopper over the mound. Second baseman Demetrio Crisantes fielded the ball charging in front of shortstop, but it slipped out of his hand as he attempted to throw back across his body. An accurate throw likely would not have beaten the speedy Everett leadoff hitter to the bag as it was ruled an infield hit.

With runners at first and third and nobody out, Emerson came back to the plate and looked at two strikes at the knees. On the 0-2 pitch he hit a slow hopper toward McLoughlin at first as Jones broke for home. The former Arkansas Razorback thew to the plate where catcher J.J. D'Orazio got the sweep tag on Jones just before he crossed the plate for the first out of the inning. Caron followed with a blast to deep left center field that appeared bound for the wall. But instead of green paint it found the leather of Druw Jones's glove at the base of the fence as the runners held their ground at first and second.

One last big hurdle for Craig to get over before the finish line as 20-year-old Cuban slugger Lazaro Montes stepped up next. Already with two homers on the young season and coming off a 21-homer 2024 campaign in which he won California League MVP and Baseball America's Mariners Minor League Player Of The Year honors, the 6-3, 220-pound outfielder hit a grounder toward Luis that led the 20-year old infielder to the bag. Luis tapped third base with his glove and the Hops celebrated their longest winning streak since the 2019 short-season championship year.

Luis reached base four times in the game. In the fifth, he drew the second of three walks in the inning from AquaSox reliever Allen Saathof (1-1). Crisantes worked a full count before roping a double to right center to score Luis and Anderdson Rojas, giving the Hops a 2-1 lead. Angel Ortiz followed with a shot to right field just out of the reach of the diving Montes for an RBI triple and a 3-1 lead. Saathof walked four Hops in less than two innings of work.

With the Hops up 3-1, that gave righty Mason Marriott (1-0) a chance to be the first Hops starting pitcher to qualify for a win. After surrendering two singles and a run in the fourth inning, the Tomball, Texas native overcame a leadoff error in the fifth with three consecutive strikeouts, fanning nine over his five innings with two walks and three hits allowed. Before the final two outs in the fifth, Hops manager Mark Reed sprinted out to the mound, but left his hook in the dugout. After a quick line or two of encouragement, the bearded skipper jogged back to the dugout and Marriott took care of his business in fine style. The Baylor University sixth-rounder's fastball was popping, reaching 97 on the Funko Field radar gun.

One night after six Hops pitchers combined to walk ten Everett batters, Hillsboro limited the damage to four free passes and a season-low three walks, while carding 15 K's for the second straight game.

Everett switch-pitcher Jurrangelo Cijntje, the Mariners' first-round pick in 2024, pitched three scoreless innings with four strikeouts, two walks and a hit batter, surrendering a lone hit on a Druw Jones single in the first inning. Cijntje, primarily a right-hand pitcher as a starter, opened the game on the southpaw side with the lefthanded hitting Rojas leading off for the Hops. He fanned Rojas before switching his custom glove to the left hand for the rest of his outing. His fastball clocked 99 miles per hour during the first inning.

The Hops will try for their first-ever six-game series sweep on Sunday. The game will follow the Portland Trailblazers' season finale on Rip City Radio 620 AM with pregame coverage scheduled for 3:50 and first pitch at 4:05 p.m. After Monday off, the Hops open a 12-game homestand on Tuesday night against the Spokane Indians.