Ems Shock Hops With 8-Run Rally In Opener

EUGENE, ORE. -- Everything seemed to be going swimmingly in Hillsboro's season-opener: a strong start on the mound, a big inning, a pair of early home runs. Then came the bullpen and a familiar sinking feeling in the south Willamette Valley.

P.K. Park continues to haunt Hillsboro baseball. The Hops blew a 6-0 lead and a brilliant start from Brian Curley as Eugene rallied for eight unanswered runs behind a heroic performance from their top prospect in an 8-6 walkoff win in the season opener for both teams Friday night.

The San Francisco Giants' top pick in the 2025 draft, shortstop Gavin Kilen drove in the last two of his career-best six runs batted in with his second home run of the night, a two-run blast to the roof of the Sargent Development Building in right field off former Vanderbilt closer Sawyer Hawks (0-1) in the last of the ninth inning.

Kilen's three-run homer off Joangel Gonzalez in the fifth inning completed a four-run frame off the Hops righty reliever, who followed a dazzling four-inning start from the former Georgia Bulldog fireballer Brian Curley.

Featuring a heater that can reach tripie digits, Curley fanned eight Emeralds without a walk, surrendering three hits over four shutout innings in his professional debut.

A Hops squad that suffered from a power shortage in 2025 supported their starter with a pair of dingers, scoring runs in three consecutive innings, including a four-run third.

Yassel Soler--who hit a dozen home runs at low-A Visalia in 2025--blasted a two-run poke off the video scoreboard in left, one pitch after Eugene left fielder Lisbel Diaz dropped Slade Caldwell's deep fly to the warning track for an error.

Knocking out Eugene starter Niko Mazza after 2 1/3 innings, the Hops tacked on two more runs off reliever Cade Vernon on back-to-back, two-out RBI hits from Avery Owusu-Asiedu and Yerald Nin. Both had two-hit games in their Hops debuts with Owusu-Asiedu reaching base three times with a walk and a pair of doubles in his organizational debut after coming from the Phillies in a December trade that sent former Hop pitcher Kyle Backhus to Philly.

Hillsboro catcher Alberto Barriga smacked a solo shot to left off Vernon in the fourth to give Hillsboro what appeared to be a commanding 6-0 lead.

Not for long. The shutout was gone on Gonzalez's second pitch of the night, sent over the center field fence on a towering shot off the bat of Walker Martin in the fifth. One out later, Zane Zielinski ripped a single to left, the second hit of his three-hit night. After a walk to Trevor Cohen, the former Tennessee Volunteer Kilen smacked a no-doubter over the right field wall to make it 6-4 Hillsboro.

Gonzalez was charged with four runs on four hits and a walk over 2/3 of an ineffective inning. Rocco Reid got the final out in the fifth, then ran into trouble of his own in the sixth inning. Martin doubled, former top Dodger prospect catcher Diego Cartaya walked and Zielinski laced an RBI single up the middle. A Cohen grounder to the right side put the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position before Kilen hit a sharp grounder to the right side. Hops first baseman Modeifi Marte made a spectacular diving stop and Reid outraced Kilen to the bag for the out, but Cartaya raced home with the tying run.

Eugene got sterling work from its bullpen over the latter half of the game as Tyler Switalski (3 2/3 innings, eight strikeouts, no walks) and Ben Peterson (1 2/3 innings, no hits, no runs) combined to throttle the Hillsboro offense.

Hillsboro's Jonatan Bernal was sharp in his High-A debut, retiring all eight to face him, including four consecutive strikeouts.

Then in the ninth, Hawks walked Cohen on five pitches, bringing up a familiar face. On May 10, 2025, during a weekend series between then No. 6 Tennessee and No. 10 Vanderbilt, Kilen hit a solo home run to right field off Hawks, who was serving as Vanderbilt’s closer. Kilen tattooed Hawks' 1-0 offering and sent the sellout crowd, many of them Little Leaguers in uniform, home happy.

The teams return to P.K. Park for a 5:05 p.m. game two on Saturday before wrapping up the three-game opening series with a 1:05 p.m. contest on Sunday. All Hops baseball airs live on RIp City Radio 620 AM.