Lively Riley Leads Hops To Series Sweep

The Hops bullpen will be well-rested as they travel the long, lonely road across Eastern Oregon for a three-game series against the Eugene Emeralds, having won three straight games at Boise.
Hillsboro got a dominant performance from a starting pitcher for the second straight night as Riley Smith shut out the Hawks on two hits over seven innings with seven strikeouts in a 6-1 win. It was the ninth consecutive loss for the Hawks and mirrored the previous night's game in more ways than one.

Connor Grey allowed just one unearned run on two hits and fanned six over seven innings as the Hops won by the same score Wednesday night. They also feasted on Boise's struggling bullpen in both games.
It was a scoreless game in the sixth, when Eudy Ramos singled to center off Boise reliever Brian Browning. One out later, Drew Ellis lined a single over the leaping second baseman Bret Boswell and Daulton Varsho followed with a double into the right field corner, scoring both Ramos and Ellis, who just beat the relay throw home with Varsho taking third. Tra Holmes followed with a sacrifice fly to deep right to make it 3-0 Hops.
The previous night, the Hops extended a 2-1 lead to 6-1 with a four-run seventh inning, making Grey's night easier. Smith allowed just three baserunners and only one runner reached second when Varsho was called for interference on a Daniel Jipping swing in the second and a passed ball moved him to second base. From there, Smith retired 17 of the next 18 batters, striking out the side in the third inning. A spectacular, Maysian catch in deep center field by Tra Holmes robbed Danny Edgeworth of extra bases in the fourth inning, as Holmes made an over the shoulder catch on a dead sprint at the warning track just before crashing into the wall to the right of the batter's eye. 
The Hops added insurance runs in the seventh on a Ramos RBI single, then two more runs in the eighth on an RBI double by Ryan Tufts and a Yan Sanchez RBI single, the fourth hit of the night for the previously slumping All-Star infielder. 
Hillsboro outhit Boise 11-5 in the game and 20-9 over the final two games of the series.Holmes reached base twice on a walk and an infield single, drove in a run and scored a run and stole his eighth base of the season. Varsho went 2-for-3 with a walk and Ramos had a pair of hits.
Friday night's series opener at Eugene is at 7:05 p.m. with pregame airtime at 6:35 p.m. on Rip City Radio 620 AM. It's the final series before the all-star break, with the Northwest League-Pioneer League All-Star Game Tuesday night at Ron Tonkin Field.